All of our nest boxes are empty. Most have some sort of nest material inside of them, but they’ve not been utilized, added to or occupied in several weeks or longer. One nest box had four young bluebirds fledge today (8/6).

The nest box at the Cow Pasture started out the season with chickadees. The little gray, black and white parids laid 2 eggs in the nest before house wrens took it over. The wrens raised two broods in the box this season.

Also started as a chickadee nest, the nest box in Explore the Wild was quickly taken over by a bumble bee. I don’t know whether it was abandoned by the chickadees first, or vacated after the bee moved in. I removed the bee. Soon after a wren placed nest material in the box. It was never used for nesting by either species.

The Into the Mist nest box saw one brood of four bluebirds fledge early in the season and was not used since.

In May, four chickadees fledged from the nest box on the east side of the parking deck. A house wren placed nest material in this box after the chickadees departed, but it was never used for nesting.

Two broods of bluebirds were raised in the nest box on the west side of the parking deck. When the last brood fledged a house wren topped off the bluebird nest with its own favorite nest material, twigs.

The nest box at the Butterfly House fledged two broods. First, four chickadees, then four bluebirds.

As I approached the nest today (8/6) two of the nestlings were peeking out of the box. Two adults were up in the branches egging the nestlings on, it’s time to fledge. My approach forced the young bluebirds back into their nest box where I was able to get the photo below.

The nestlings finally flew the coop.

Totals for the 2019 season are:

Since 2012 we’ve averaged 27.86 birds per year.

That comes down to,

17.57 eastern bluebirds

8 Carolina chickadees

2.29 house wrens

House wrens are definitely on the increase, probably due to habitat change.