Nest Box Update July 2021 (the final count)

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 July. July 6 Though there are two nest boxes containing nest material, one with house wren twigs (Cow Pasture) the other with bluebird grass and pine needlesRead more

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 houseRead more

Nest Box Update for the Month of May 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 May. May 5 There are currently three active nests, though no eggs. Two nest boxes have been taken over by house wrens. The house wren nest inRead more

Nest Box Update 6.1.20

It’s been just about nine weeks since I last reported on the progress of the bluebird trail at the museum. I haven’t had access to the trail. I don’t know what transpired during that time period. A full tally of successful nestlings fledged won’t be possible this year. The Nest Box Update from nine weeks ago, March 31 I did, however, visit all of our six nest boxes on Monday, the first day of June. Here’s what I saw. When IRead more

Nest Box Update

Five of our six nest boxes contain nests. Four have eggs. Two contain chickadee eggs and two, bluebird eggs. Two nests had adults incubating, a bluebird and a chickadee. One nest box is empty. The nest box at the Cow Pasture near the Ellerbe Creek Railroad Tunnel has two bluebird eggs within. I expect there’ll be a few more by next week’s inspection of the box. The chickadees that started the nest in the nest box on the service roadRead more

Nest Box Season

It’s nest box season. While that in itself is exciting, only two of our six nest boxes show activity. The nest box at the Butterfly House has an almost complete Carolina chickadee nest inside. A bit more moss, some fur and or feathers to top it off and it’ll be ready for eggs. The nest box on the east side of the parking deck has just a few small pieces of moss. This nest box typically starts off with chickadees,Read more

Nest Box Update 7.23.19

We currently have 8 nestlings in two of our six nest boxes. Four of those are house wrens, the remainder bluebirds. Four bluebirds have fledged and a new nest started atop that nest. There are, as best as I can tell, four house wrens nestlings in the nest box at the Cow Pasture near the Ellerbe Creek Railway Tunnel. There had been five eggs in the nest but as you can see from the photo, it appears only four hatched.Read more

Nest Box Update 7.9.19

There are now, as there was last week, three active nests. Two have eggs and one is occupied by four nearly ready to fledge bluebirds. The house wren nest at the Cow Pasture still has five eggs. I heard an adult calling in the nearby brush as I approached the nest box so it’s possible the eggs are being incubated. I may have come along as the adult was taking a break from that chore.   The Explore the WildRead more

Nest Box Update 7.2.19

There are now three active nests. One nest is full of bluebird nestlings, one with house wren eggs, and another with a fresh bluebird nest. The nest at the Cow Pasture has five house wren eggs. This is the second brood for this nest box as it has already fledged five house wrens. The Explore the Wild and Into the Mist nest boxes are empty. The nest box on the east side of the parking deck has twigs placed inRead more

Nest Box Update 6.25.19

A new nest and four new nestlings are the stories of the day. After discovering last week that the house wrens that had occupied the nest box at the Cow Pasture had fledged, I tossed the old nest, cleaned the inside of the box, and placed a new berry basket where the old one had been. When I opened the box this week it had a completely new house wren nest inside. I was surprised to see the new nest.Read more