Things have come a long way since last month, indeed, a long way since last week! One nest has fledged, the rest have chicks in various states of readiness. From freshly hatched, to ready to fledge, that’s where we were as of 6, May.
The three bluebird nestlings at the Cow Pasture nest are advancing well. The little bluebirds were sleeping when I looked in on them, but I could see feathers on their wings. They may be ready to fledge by sometime following next week’s inspection, but I doubt sooner.
The chickadees in the nest next to the Bungee are ready to jump ship. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see them fly out of the box as I walked away from them. See for yourself, below.
When I peeked into the nest box at the Sail Boat Pond, it was empty, no chickadees. The birds looked to be a day ahead of the Bungee chickadees when I first spied them on April 22, two weeks ago. They probably fledged the day before (5/5).
The bluebirds at the Amphimeadow nest box hatched sometime between April 29 and the 5th of May. They can’t be more than a few days old (see below).
On April, 29 as I looked into the nest box at the Picnic Dome there were five eggs staring back at me. This week, they were birds.
Moving over to the Butterfly House I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. On April 22, the female bluebird that resides there was sitting on eggs. I didn’t know just how many eggs because she wouldn’t leave the nest when I opened the side door. On April 29, she let me have a peek. There were four eggs in the nest. Today (5/6) I saw three tiny hatchlings and one unhatched egg.
So, there you have it, three chickadees have fledged and three are ready to fledge. The remaining four nests are occupied by bluebird nestlings. I doubt that any of the bluebirds will fledge by next week’s inspection but these little birds grow quickly and I expect the nests will be tightly packed and quite messy by then, with at least some of the birds edging towards the exit. It won’t be long before second broods are started. But wait, I’m getting ahead of myself again.
Till next week, have a good one.