Top Photo: Eastern bluebird eggs.
After last week’s total of five occupied nest boxes we now have only two. The good news is, we saw 18 birds fledge this past week.
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The nest box at the Cow Pasture fledged four eastern bluebirds. What was most surely a newly arrived male house wren, built a prospective nest for itself and a mate while the nest box was still warm from the bluebirds.
It remains to be seen whether this nest will be used. Male house wrens tend to build one or more nests in spring prior to the arrival of females on the scene. They (the females) will decide what nest to use, or they may build their own.
There are at least four fresh nestlings in the chickadee nest in Explore the Wild. There may be another nestling, or yet to hatch egg, under the birds visible. I didn’t want to disturb the birds longer than necessary and the parent was off to the side protesting, so we shut the door and departed with a count of four nestlings.
Into the Mist nest box is inactive.
The bluebirds in the nest box on the east side of the parking deck are fledging today. There were only three in the nest box when we arrived and they were on the way out the door when we peeked in on them. A hasty retreat by us to leave them to their own departure schedule.
The five chickadee nestlings that were in the nest box on the west side of the parking deck can now be referred to as fledglings. The nest is empty. The birds are gone.
The final nest box on the inspection circuit is the Butterfly House nest box. Last week it held four chickadee nestlings. It’s now empty, all the birds have fledged.
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We’ve seen 18 birds fledge over the past week, 9 chickadees (5 from the Parking Deck West box and 4 from the Butterfly House box) and 9 bluebirds (5 from the Parking Deck East box and 4 from the Cow Pasture box).
A house wren may be using the now vacant Cow Pasture nest box for its first brood of the season. At least 4 of the original 5 eggs have hatched in the chickadee nest in Explore the Wild.
See you next week.