We now have five occupied and active nest boxes containing a total of 25 eggs, 12 Carolina chickadee and 13 bluebird eggs. Of those five nests, three had incubating adults fly out of the nest box as I approached them. Each of those nests contained six eggs. Those birds are done laying.
The Cow Pasture nest, which held no eggs last week, now has five. I didn’t witness adult activity while at the site. The female may or may not be done laying. We’ll have to wait till next week to be sure.
Containing only three eggs last week, the Bungee Jump nest now has a full compliment of six chickadee eggs. The female flew out of the nest box just as I opened it to inspect her progress. She was incubating.
The Sailboat Pond nest box remains empty after last week’s eviction of bumble bees and ants.
The Amphimeadow nest box, which has traditionally been bluebird territory, and which I had predicted would remain so this year, is now the exclusive property of chickadees. The nest contains six chickadee eggs, and they are in the process of being incubated.
All bluebird from the start, the nest box on the path to the Woodland Classrooms is the home of bluebirds. They are sitting on top of 6 eggs. There was a single egg in the box last week.
Finally, the Butterfly House nest. This bluebird nest, void of eggs last week, now contains three. There were no birds present at the time of the inspection, so the female may add a few more eggs. The female doesn’t start the incubation process until all the eggs are laid. Only she knows how many eggs there will be.
So, there you have it, five active nests with a total of 25 eggs, two with 6 chickadee eggs each, and three bluebird nests with 5, 5, and 3 eggs. The Bungee and Amphimeadow nests each contain 6 chickadee eggs and were being incubated at the time of inspection.
Fourteen bluebird eggs are divided amongst the Cow Pasture nest (5), the Woodland nest (5), and the Butterfly House nest (3). I saw an adult at only one location (Woodland) so the other nests may be added to this week. We shall see.