Ask an RSPB expert: your September questions answered

Starting in September and peaking in October, a Jay’s habit of caching acorns (to store away for future food) can be crucial to surviving tough winters. Jays scour woodlands, parks and gardens, collecting around three to four acorns at a time, then return to their territory to store them away. It's estimated that a total cache from an individual bird can contain upwards of 5,000 acorns.   

As well as being clever enough to bury acorns for future use, Jays need to be able to find them again. Jays are incredibly smart birds and use visual cues to locate each of the acorns. But with so many acorns cached, it’s understandable that not all of them will be found. This is highly beneficial to the oak tree, as any unclaimed acorns will become seedlings. Jays bury acorns in a variety of areas which in turn helps establish oak trees in new areas: a win-win for both Jays and oaks. 

So, the next time you hear a raucous call from the trees or a flash of blue in flight, you may have just entered one of nature’s very special larders.  

Travelling around 60km an hour, Turtle Doves cross mountains, deserts and oceans to reach their wintering sites in West Africa. It's a journey that is now much safer, with unsustainable hunting having ended due to the work of the RSPB and international partners.

Overall, this journey will take around 31 days and will cover 5,000km. Unlike their spring migration to the UK, the birds are not in a rush so take their time on this journey. Heading south through western France and into Spain, they will often refuel here for a few weeks, feeding on seeds within the countryside before continuing. They will then begin their crossing over the Mediterranean Sea into Morocco, aiming for Mauritania, and finally ending in areas such as Senegal, Gambia, Mali and Guinea to feast upon the newly lush habitat from the rainy season.   

A Turtle Dove’s wintering range will focus in and around a roost site, often within acacia trees, with their long thorns giving the best protection. The birds will venture several kilometres each day to feed on grains and seeds amongst farmland and grassland habitats. They fuel up through the dry and hot winter, until April rolls around again and they begin their journey back to the UK and other parts of Europe.

Sometimes, there can be incidents when eggs don’t hatch or perhaps a nest was abandoned during the spring. It is always sad to see when this occurs and often there can be no obvious reason. If you do find any unhatched eggs, you must dispose of them and not keep them. Due to egg collecting laws, eggs, even those abandoned naturally, are still protected by law. In England and Wales, General Licences permit unsuccessful eggs to be removed from 1 September and 31 January, and in Scotland between 1 August and 31 January.   

Once the box is clean and dry, you can place a handful of shavings or clean hay at the bottom to create a cosy place for the potential inhabitants.  

There are, however, three species you don’t need to worry about. If you have a nestbox for Swifts, Starlings or House Sparrows, these can be left for the birds to clean. Thank you birdies!