Eight birds have fledged over the past week, 5 eggs are being incubated, and one “new” bird has been discovered.

The house wrens at the Cow Pasture nest are incubating their 5 eggs. They should hatch this week.

The 4 chickadee nestlings that were in the nest box at the Explore the Wild nest have fledged.

Likewise, the 4 bluebird nestlings in the Into the Mist nest have flown the coop. I must say, bluebirds leave a messy nest behind when they fledge. Compare the chickadee nest above with the bluebird nest below.

The Parking Deck nest remains empty as does the Woodlands nest.

For the past several weeks I’ve counted 4 bluebird nestlings in the nest box at the Butterfly House. I was wrong, there are 5 nestlings. Where had the fifth come from? Well, it had to have been there the whole time. I simply missed it. That’s one more potential bluebird than expected for the Durham avifaunal population.

So, we’ve added 8 more birds to the local landscape, 4 chickadees and 4 bluebirds (Explore the Wild and Into the Mist nests, respectively). We will soon add another 5 bluebirds (Butterfly House nest). And, we’re waiting to see if the 5 house wren eggs hatch in the Cow Pasture nest.

I’ll see you next week. I have a few nest boxes to clean.