While some of the bluebird families which fledged young over the past few weeks were out learning how to survive life in semi-suburban Durham, others were busy starting new nests. Four of our six nest boxes here on the Museum’s 84 acres are empty, awaiting occupancy, the other two have been claimed by bluebirds. The bluebirds in the nest box at the Cow Pasture fledged their young sometime during the week of 5/13 – 5/20 and a new nest wasRead more
Posts tagged: #fledgling
Bluebird Update 5/27/14
Although none of our six nest boxes contains nestlings, nor even eggs, there is still exciting news to report. A new nest has been started, and the last remaining nest which held birds is now empty. The Cow pasture nest box now contains a second bluebird nest. Perhaps we’ll see eggs by next week. All the other nest boxes, Bungee, Sail Boat Pond, Amphimeadow, Picnic Dome, and now Butterfly House boxes, are empty. The Butterfly House nest having fledged its four youngRead more
Bluebird Update 5/20/14
All’s quiet of the Bluebird Front. While last week we had two empty nests, those nests having fledged six chickadees, and four nests full of nestling bluebirds, we now have only one occupied nest. The Butterfly House nest is the only active nest at this time. It contains four bluebird nestlings who are ready to make their way out into the world. They won’t be there next week, that’s for sure. I did manage to find one unhatched egg inRead more
Bluebird Update 4/29/14
There are six chickadee nestlings, three in the Bungee nest and three in the Sail Boat Pond nest. A fourth egg in the Bungee nest, for whatever reason, failed to hatch. We now have three bluebird nestlings and 15 eggs in the remaining nest boxes, Cow Pasture, Amphimeadow, Picnic Dome, and Butterfly House boxes. One of the eggs at the Cow Pasture nest hadn’t hatched as of Tuesday (4/29), and one egg that had been in the nest last week was missing.Read more
They’re on their own.
Our green herons are now on their own. I saw one bird at its nest tree this morning (8/24), but they are all free flying birds and have been experimenting with different fishing sites around the Wetlands. Here’s some photos of the crew. The rest of the images are from August, 24, a Saturday. I’m assuming that all seven of the herons fledged. The most I was able to see at any one time was five and they were spreadRead more
Green Herons Ready for Action!
I’ve been off for several days but I felt compelled to come in briefly last Thursday (8/15) to see how the herons were doing. They’re doing fine and seem to be ready to go. The birds are still hanging around the nest tree but both groups of herons look able to fend for themselves, almost. On to the second nest, the nest next to the Wetlands Overlook. On August 10, the birds appeared to have quite a way to goRead more
What are the herons up to?
I’ve not been able to locate one of the nestlings in the first heron nest. Originally there were three nestlings. I’ve only seen two nestlings since the birds moved off the nest. Two of the birds hatched earlier and so were larger. At one point I witnessed the two larger birds pushing the smaller nestling to the edge of the nest. Perhaps that’s what happened to the third bird, it was pushed over the side. On a brighter note, the otherRead more
Bluebird Update 7.2.13
I was anxious to check the nest boxes this morning. With all the torrential downpours we’ve had lately I worried for the nestlings in the two remaining active nests. As it happens, it wasn’t the rain I needed to be concerned about. The birds in the Cow Pasture nest next to the Train Tunnel seemed content as I opened their nest box. It’s difficult to see but it appears all five birds are still present. They will surely fledge beforeRead more
Bluebird Update 6/25/13
The season is coming to and end. All we have active at this time are two nest boxes, one at the Cow Pasture near the Train Tunnel and the other at the Butterfly House. Each nest contains five nestlings. All other nest boxes have been cleaned and readied for use but I’m afraid they won’t see any more activity until next spring, except perhaps as night time roosts. The Cow Pasture birds will probably still be in the nest nextRead more