Top Photo: Eastern bluebird, male. Only one of our six nest boxes is empty. One of them has the beginnings of a chickadee nest inside and there are 15 chickadee eggs and 5 bluebird nestlings in the remaining boxes. A word of caution, house wrens have NOT arrived on the scene. The Cow Pasture nest box is empty. There’s been no sign of activity. The nest box at Explore the Wild has 6 fresh chickadee eggs in among the moss,Read more
Posts tagged: #fledgling
Nest Box Update 3.28.26
Top Photo: Eastern bluebird (male). We now have 6 eggs (chickadees) and 5 nestlings (bluebirds) to observe. Carolina chickadees occupy three nest boxes and eastern bluebirds one. Two nest boxes remain untouched (Cow Pasture and Into the Mist). The Cow Pasture nest box has seen no activity. It’s still early in the season so I suspect we may still see some interest in this location near the Train Tunnel. Explore the Wild nest box was empty last week. It nowRead more
Nest Box Update 3.21.26
Top Photo: Male eastern bluebird. Our 6 box Bluebird Trail has seen positive activity this past week. We have seven eggs, five bluebird and two chickadee eggs. Additions have been made to another of our chickadee nests, but still no eggs in that one. The Cow Pasture nest box remains empty with no birds showing interest at that site. Explore the Wild is spotless with not a beakful of moss, or grass stems in the case of bluebirds. The sailboatRead more
Redbud, Swallows, and Elm
Top Photo: Redbud lights up the spring forest. It’s when the redbud trees bloom that you realize just how many of the small trees there actually are in and along the forest edge. It blooms well before many other flowering trees, even before it sends out its own leaves. The tree’s leguminous magenta flowers brighten up the spring, and are so much more pleasing than the white, and stinky, Bradford pear blossoms. The pears are planted everywhere you look alongRead more
Nest Box Update 3.14.26
Top Photo: Male eastern bluebird surveys his domain. Things are looking up, three of our nest boxes have activity, one which had a bluebird nest last week now has four bluebird eggs. Two nest boxes contain nest material placed inside their walls by Carolina chickadees. The Cow Pasture nest box, located near the Train Tunnel is empty, no takers yet. The Explore the Wild nest box is also empty. This box is usually occupied by chickadees. We’ll have to waitRead more
Bluebird Nest Box Season
Top Photo: Eastern bluebird, (male). This is the first nest box inspection of the season on our 6 nest box Bluebird Trail. All the boxes had been previously cleaned and readied for occupation. Only one of the boxes showed activity. The Cow Pasture nest box is empty, no activity. The Explore the Wild nest box too, is empty. The nest box on the service road to Into the Mist has an empty berry basket inside. Not surprisingly, the nest boxRead more
Aphids on Oaks
Top Photo: Myzocallis aphids on scarlet oak leaf. There are more than 1300 species of aphid in North America. It seems like every plant species or variety has its own specialized aphid, sucking the juices from the plant and often causing serious damage in the process. Other times the damage is minimal and the plant is relatively unharmed. Such is the case with the aphids shown here (Myzocallis). I found and photographed several small groups of this Myzocallis aphid onRead more
Nest Box Update 6.24.25
Top Photo: Eastern bluebird eggs. All of our six nest boxes are empty, though one has the remains of an intended nest by a house wren, and one has an abandoned bluebird nest having just fledged five of the colorful thrushes. ——————————— The Cow Pasture nest box still has the scanty attempt at nesting by a house wren at the end of April. The nest was never completed. The Explore the Wild, Sailboat Pond, Into the Mist, and Parking DeckRead more
Nest Box Update 6.17.25
Top Photo: Eastern bluebird eggs. We have one active nest with what looks like five nestling bluebirds. All five remaining nest boxes are empty except one which hasn’t been touched in weeks. ————————————— The Cow Pasture nest box still contains the twigs placed in the box by a house wren, but it hasn’t had any other activity since they first appeared in the box earlier in the season. The ETW, Sailboat Pond, and Into the Mist nest boxes are allRead more