Mealworm mystery

Okay, this only needs the briefest of scene setting and then if somebody could elucidate further, it might begin to make sense.

So when we strip a roof down it is rare if there is no evidence of birds present. There can be one nest to several multi story layouts. These can be smelly and removing all this build up of crud certainly sweetens up the property concerned.

This is a cumulation of birds building a nest, hatching their young – and just asking yourself how many dead birds do you see when you’re out during the day – answer NONE, because birds breed in the spring / summer but roost in the autumn / winter — so they are always present in most properties and generally die on the nest. Then another bird repeats the cycle – and another until you get a series of impacted nests so dense that they come out like breeze blocks.

Anyway in most of the nests we find, are riddled with mealworms, which are a type of beetle larvae and if looked up on the internet also are an excellent source of protein with every garden centre selling these nutritious mealworms which most descriptions are a bird table favourite for many garden birds!

So the big question is.. if birds love these so much, why aren’t they eating the ones in their own nests.

Answers, not on a postcard but I’d welcome any comments or suggestions just why this is, sent to fasciaquote@fastmail.com.

And that’s it!