Written by: Alphonse Hanlo
2026
There are over 70 nest boxes across the golf course in Zwolle. In 2025, in collaboration with Avifauna Zwolle, a significant number of older wooden boxes were replaced with more robust nest boxes made from wood concrete, a mixture of wood and concrete. The advantage of this material is its durability.
There are now over 75 boxes installed, some of which are still wooden. The boxes are primarily suited to starlings and tits, with a number of semi open boxes designed for flycatchers, robins and wrens.
In mid February 2026, all nest boxes were inspected and cleaned. The new wood concrete boxes for starlings and tits had all been occupied, while the semi open boxes had not yet been used. Approximately 50% of the older wooden boxes were occupied. The barn owl nest box was also checked, and at least one barn owl was present. A further check in May will confirm whether breeding is taking place.
There are also plans to number all boxes to enable more effective monitoring of occupancy by species.
