Nesting Great Tits/wall insulation.

[Gemini21]

Hi everyone, I need some help with this dilemma. I have just postponed a visit by a company that was going to install cavity wall insulation to our house. I told the company that the birds have started nesting in a hole left in the wall where an old overflow pipe was removed near the roof of the house.
I do not want the birds disturbed and the company said that they will avoid the area near the bird nest. The insulation is a mineral fibre that is blown into the cavity at approximately 1m intervals. I am not convinced that the work will not disturb the tits.
The company says that they must carry out the work by next week or the funding will no longer be there. I wish that they would carry out this work in the Autumn/Winter. I want this work carried out, because it is for the benefit of my elderly/disabled mother, and last Winter was so cold.
For the last few years, the Great Tits have raised their young here and it's a real pleasure to see maybe six to eight of these birds feeding in the fruit trees in the garden.
Is this insulation work likely to scare them off despite the company saying they will avoid the nest area?

[Dogghound]

Im not sure that they can do anything now there is a nest. You would need to make sure none of the insulation goes near these birds in the wall plate.

[Gemini21]

Thanks Dogghound. The more I look into this the more I think it might not be such a good idea to have this insulation work carried out.
I checked out an article by Geoff Howell from the Sunday Telegraph, and he says that blown mineral insulation may lead to damp problems too.
With the Government grants available, I'm guessing that quite a few birds nests located in walls may be affected. It's not ideal that the grants towards this work are released at the start of the new financial year in April and there is a big rush to start the work soon afterwards, conflicting with the mating/nesting season. I'll bet that some contractors will even press on with the work, despite nesting birds - and keep quiet about it.
The birds in my wall can stay there as long as they like. It's really nice to have them sharing my garden.

[nightshade]

Originally Posted by Gemini21

Hi everyone, I need some help with this dilemma. I have just postponed a visit by a company that was going to install cavity wall insulation to our house. I told the company that the birds have started nesting in a hole left in the wall where an old overflow pipe was removed near the roof of the house.
I do not want the birds disturbed and the company said that they will avoid the area near the bird nest. The insulation is a mineral fibre that is blown into the cavity at approximately 1m intervals. I am not convinced that the work will not disturb the tits.
The company says that they must carry out the work by next week or the funding will no longer be there. I wish that they would carry out this work in the Autumn/Winter. I want this work carried out, because it is for the benefit of my elderly/disabled mother, and last Winter was so cold.
For the last few years, the Great Tits have raised their young here and it's a real pleasure to see maybe six to eight of these birds feeding in the fruit trees in the garden.
Is this insulation work likely to scare them off despite the company saying they will avoid the nest area?

When they blow the material in it does tend to stay quite local to the application hole. an alternative is they can put a "brush-restrictor" down the cavity this is like a long, long bottle brush and is used to stop your insulation falling into a neighbours cavity wall in a semi-detached situation.
I don't know what you think but if the birds are settled and the sitting bird has been on the nest all night, a very early start by the company,would cause minimum stress if they did that area first and moved progressively away allowing the birds back as quickly as possible.

[Gemini21]

Thanks Nightshade. That certainly helps. I am having a think about what to do. The brush restrictor sounds like a good option to keep the nest area undisturbed, and working progressively away from the nest is too.

[actionfinch]

Good luck i hope all works out for u and the birds dont get to disturbed.

[Gemini21]

Cheers actionfinch