Nest Box Update for June 2021

We have six nest boxes on our bluebird trail. I inspect the nest boxes once per week following the same sequence each week; Cow Pasture, Explore the Wild, Into the Mist, Parking Deck East, Parking Deck West, and Butterfly House. This is a compilation of the nest box inspections for the month of June.

June 9

There are two active nest, one with incubating house wrens and the other with hatchling bluebirds.

The Cow Pasture nest box contains a house wen nest, but the nest is empty.

Empty house wren nest at Cow Pasture (6.9.21).

Two empty nests are in Explore the Wild and Into the Mist.

The six house wrens eggs in the parking deck east nest are being incubated by the adult house wren. If all goes well there should be six nestlings on next week’s inspection of the box.

House wren nest at parking deck east (6.6.21)

Over on the west side of the deck, three fresh-hatched bluebirds rest atop two as yet unhatched bluebird eggs.

Three bluebird hatchlings at parking deck west (6.9.21).

The other two eggs will probably hatch later today (6.9.21).

You can just see one of the unhatched eggs under hatchlings (6.9.21).

The final nest box on the inspection route is at the Butterfly House back lawn. This nest box has had a partial bluebird nest in it since the first week. Nothing, however has been added to the nest since.

So, during the first week of June the only active nests are located next to the parking deck, one on the east side, the other on the west side of the structure. One contains house wren eggs the other bluebird nestlings. Both nests should be full of nestlings by next week.

See you then.

June 15

We now have two nests with nestlings, though 2 eggs did not hatch in one nest. Three of our nest boxes are still empty or have had nest material placed in them but haven’t been active in well over a month. One previously dormant nest has seen some recent activity.

The house wren nest at the Cow Pasture looked the same as it did last week. One change, an adult house wren was calling the whole time I was at the nest box. The bird came in quite close as I opened and inspected the still eggless nest in the box.

Unused house wren nest at Cow Pasture (6.15.21).

The nest boxes at Explore the Wild and Into the Mist were both, as they have been since the beginning of the season, empty.

All six eggs have hatched at the house wren nest on the east side of the parking deck. The birds’ eyes are not open yet so the birds are probably no more than three or four days old.

Six house wren nestlings at parking deck east (6.15.21).

I only counted three nestlings in the bluebird nest on the west side of the parking deck. I could see at least one unhatched egg under the newly hatched young last week. Previous to that there were five eggs in the nest.

I count three bluebird nestlings in parking deck west nest (6.15.21).

I tried to scoot the nestlings over to see if the two other eggs were in the nest beneath them. They wouldn’t budge. As to not disturb them any more that I already had, I shut the nest box access door and let them be.

The Butterfly House nest box remains untouched, no activity.

So we currently have 9 nestlings, six house wrens and three bluebirds. One long inactive house wren nest may be coming alive at the Cow Pasture. I’m not, though,  going to count the eggs before they’re laid.

June 22

There are still two active nests, one house wren and one bluebird. All other nest boxes are quiet.

The Cow Pasture nest box has a complete house wren nest inside. A house wren came down close in objection to opening the nest box for inspection, but there are still no eggs in the nest.

A complete house wren nest but no activity (6.22.21).

The Explore the Wild and Into the Mist nest boxes remain, as they have been all season, empty.

The house wren nest in the nest box on the east side of the parking deck held six nestling wrens last week. I can only see five birds in the nest at this time, however, the sixth may be under the mass of other nestlings (at the center of the image).

Are there five or six nestlings in house wren nest at parking deck east (.6.22.21)?

Walking over to the west side of the parking deck, I expected to see three bluebird nestlings inside when the inspection door swung open. I only saw two birds (see below).

Appears to be two bluebird nestlings in parking deck west box (6.22.21).

Again, there could be another bird under the two that are visible, but these birds look nearly ready to fledge and I didn’t want to push them out of the nest by shuffling them around and forcing an early departure. Though, the third bird may have already fledged. These birds seem to have all their feathers.

So, there are two active nests, one with house wrens, the other bluebirds. The wrens may be gone by next week’s inspection, the bluebirds will surely be gone. They may be in the bush as I write this sentence.

Till next week!

June 29

Seven birds have fledged, and as a result, all of our nest boxes are empty.

The house wren nest in the nest box at the Cow Pasture is still unoccupied.

Both the Explore the Wild and Into the Mist nest boxes have been empty all season and remain so.

Five house wrens have fledged from the nest box on the east side of the parking deck.

Two bluebirds have fledged from the nest on the west side of the parking deck.

And, the partial nest behind the Butterfly House is still unused.

So, we’ve had seven birds fledge this week, five house wrens and two bluebirds. The nest boxes will be cleaned and gotten ready for any further nesting

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