All six of our bluebird nest boxes are spoken for, three have been claimed by Carolina Chickadees and three by bluebirds. Although there was minimal work done on two of the bluebird nests in the past week, just a few needles added and moved around a bit, the chickadees have been working in earnest. The little parids have completed three nests and in one instance began building on top of one of the bluebird nests before the bluebirds recaptured it. ThereRead more
Posts tagged: #Eastern Bluebird
Bluebird Time?
It may be a bit early for bluebirds to start nesting but it’s not too early to get out and clean their nest boxes, and that’s just what I did first thing Saturday morning here at the Museum. All of our 6 nest boxes have been brushed and scraped of any left over debris from last season and any other accumulated dust, debris or insect or spider larvae/pupae. I went ahead and installed a predator guard on one of theRead more
Bluebird Update 6/11/13
I was a bit apprehensive as I started my nest box inspections this week. Last Friday we had a day of very heavy rain and thunderstorms and I wasn’t sure of what to expect when I opened the nest boxes. Some areas received five plus inches of rain! I had also been told by Ranger Rock that, out of curiosity, he had looked inside the nest box next to the Bungee Jump on Saturday morning and had found three deadRead more
Bluebird Update 5.28.13
Last week we had three active nests and three empty nest boxes. Now, there are four active nests. Only the nests at the Cow Pasture and Picnic Dome are unoccupied. The nest at the Bungee Jump still has the same four eggs as it did last week at this time, but it appears as though the female is incubating. I saw the female poke her head out of the box on Saturday (5/25) and just as quickly go back inside.Read more
Bluebird Update 4.9.13
Lots of news to report today. We’ll start at the “Cow Pasture.” Last week this nest box contained a completed nest but lacked eggs. It now has 3 beautiful blue eggs. The nest box at the meadow next to the “Take Off” which was empty last week now has a completed chickadee nest with eggs. The bird was incubating when I approached the nest, flew out of the entrance hole and scolded me from a nearby tree while I openedRead more
Bluebird Update May 17, 2012
I got a late start with the nest box inspections this week as I was out for a few days. I did, however, have a peek inside all of our six nest boxes on Wednesday (5/16) and there are a few things to report. The nest box up near the Train Tunnel, which last week had a half completed pine straw nest, now holds four pristine eggs. This nest, I’m happy to report, was dry as can be. We’ve experiencedRead more
Bluebird Update May 3, 2012
It seems that my concerns about the bluebirds in the nest box near the Train Tunnel were well founded. As I neared the nest box Tuesday (5/1) for the weekly inspection I could see flies buzzing around the entrance hole, not a good sign. As I got closer, I caught the unmistakable scent of death. As I slowly opened the side panel of the box a nestling shot out past me, “Good, at least one survived.” The nest, and inRead more
Bluebird Update April 5, 2012
We currently have six bluebird nest boxes here at the Museum. All of the boxes were donated by Ken Kernodle and friends back in March of 2010 with the addition of two new boxes installed this year. The boxes were checked as to their current occupancy on April 3 & 4 and were all found to contain nests. Four of the boxes contained bluebird nests with four to five eggs each, one box contained a Carolina Chickadee nest with fourRead more
Bluebirds Doing Well!
Ken Kernodle, one of several people that installed nest boxes for bluebirds here at the Museum last year, stopped by yesterday to inspect the boxes. As we walked up to the nest box in Catch the Wind next to the Flap the Wings exhibit a male bluebird flew in with a juicy worm in its bill. Of the five nest boxes on the Museum campus, four are occupied. Three boxes hold bluebirds with 4-5 nestlings each. One nest box containsRead more