Nest Box Update 4.30.19

We now have 4 bluebird eggs and 4 bluebird nestlings. There are 8 chickadee nestlings. Two nest boxes have the workings of house wren nests.

The Cow Pasture nest at the meadow next to the Train Tunnel is filled with twigs, the handiwork of a house wren. There are still no eggs in the nest. House wrens are famous for building nests they don’t use, but I heard the male singing back in the brush as I inspected the nest box so the nest may be used after all.

Twigs in entrance hole (Cow Pasture 4.30.19).

It’s difficult to photograph down into a house wren’s nest without destroying it but I could see no eggs within.

No eggs yet at Cow Pasture (4.30.19).

The nest box on the service road leading to the outdoor classrooms in Explore the Wild is also under consideration by house wrens. This box was first occupied by chickadees, was taken over by bumblebees, and is now a house wren prospect.

House wren starting nest at Explore the Wild (4.30.19).

Last week the bluebird nest on the service road leading to Into the Mist contained 4 eggs. It still contains 4 eggs, but this week the female was in the nest and incubating. They should hatch sometime this week.

Female watching me approach her nest at Into the Mist (4.30.19).
Four eggs being incubated at Into the Mist nest (4.30.19).

Late week I wrote that there were 5 nestlings in the nest box on the east side of the parking deck. I wasn’t sure at the time whether all five eggs had hatched as the birds tend to huddle close together and on top of one another making the counting of heads difficult. The birds are all feathered out and easy to tally. There are four. They will surely fledge some time this week.

Four nestlings (not 5) at parking deck chickadee nest (4.30.19).

The nest box on the west side of the parking deck contained 5 bluebird eggs last week. It now has 4 healthy and hungry bluebird nestlings within its cedar walls.

Four hungry bluebirds at parking deck – west nest box (4.30.19).

Again, as with the chickadee nest at the parking deck, I stated last week that the Butterfly House nest had 5 nestlings, that all 5 of the eggs in the nest had hatched. It appears there were only 4 eggs successfully hatched. The four partially feather chicks are in the photo below.

Four nestling chickadees at Butterfly House nest (4.30.19).

We have 12 active nestlings, 4 bluebirds at parking deck-west and 8 chickadees, 4 each at parking deck-east and Butterfly House. Four eggs have yet to hatch (bluebirds at Into the Mist). Two nests are being constructed by house wrens, one each at the Cow Pasture and Explore the Wild nest boxes.

See you next week!

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