Bob reported a Great Tit tapping on the door. I have a related problem: some
of the buildings on my garden railway (32mm track, scale 16mm to the foot)
regularly get pecked. I make the buildings myself from expanded polystyrene
(preferably the denser sort, as most of it is too loose and fragile) and
paint them with masonry paint. Several times a year I have to fill in dents
which have been pecked in the chimney stacks and roofs (but not the slate
roofs, of course). The worst affected is the pub roof (see photo), which is
made of polystyrene textured to imitate thatch. I have only once seen a
Great Tit actually tapping it, but when our bird feeder is empty, they often
give its plastic tube a smart tap, presumably to dislodge any sunflower
seeds which have stuck to the inside. I imagine that Great Tits tap the
model buildings for the same reason, to see what falls or crawls out.
I don't mind at all, because the damage is easily repaired with ready-mixed
filler, but I would like to know why they tap on some buildings,
particularly those which get more shade, and not on others. You can see from
the photo of the pub and the shop that the shop has remained practically
unscathed for 4 years, while the pub which is only two feet away is
constantly attacked. The school is in permanent shade and has a proper slate
roof, but the chimney stack and porch are regularly pecked (see photo). Bob:
is your back door which got tapped sheltered from the light? I imagine that
Great Tits are more likely to tap it than window frames which get plenty of
sun.
Laurie Wright