Top Photo: Eastern bluebird eggs (previous season). Each year I monitor six nest boxes placed in various locations throughout the museum’s 84 acres from March to August. Over the last 10 or so years that I’ve done the project habitat has changed, new exhibits have been built, and nest boxes have been moved to accommodate it all. I check the nest boxes once a week (Tuesdays) in the same order, Train Tunnel or Cow Pasture (TT), Explore the Wild (ETW),Read more
Posts tagged: #fledgling
Nest Box Update July 2021 (the final count)
We have six nest boxes on our bluebird trail. I inspect the nest boxes once per week following the same sequence each week; Cow Pasture, Explore the Wild, Into the Mist, Parking Deck East, Parking Deck West, and Butterfly House. This is a compilation of the nest box inspections for the month of July. July 6 Though there are two nest boxes containing nest material, one with house wren twigs (Cow Pasture) the other with bluebird grass and pine needlesRead more
Bonus Features
Top Photo: A green heron contemplates its next move. While making the rounds on my weekly bluebird trail nest box inspections I often come across other creatures besides the bluebirds, chickadees, and wrens that use the nest boxes on the trail. Red-shouldered hawks nest in the woods next to the train tunnel as they have been off-and-on for years. The one pictured is a product of this year’s effort. I have to pass by the parking deck on the southRead more
Nest Box Update for June 2021
We have six nest boxes on our bluebird trail. I inspect the nest boxes once per week following the same sequence each week; Cow Pasture, Explore the Wild, Into the Mist, Parking Deck East, Parking Deck West, and Butterfly House. This is a compilation of the nest box inspections for the month of June. June 9 There are two active nest, one with incubating house wrens and the other with hatchling bluebirds. The Cow Pasture nest box contains a houseRead more
Nest Box Update for the Month of May 2021
We have six nest boxes on our bluebird trail. I inspect the nest boxes once per week following the same sequence each week; Cow Pasture, Explore the Wild, Into the Mist, Parking Deck East, Parking Deck West, and Butterfly House. This is a compilation of the nest box inspections for the month of May. May 5 There are currently three active nests, though no eggs. Two nest boxes have been taken over by house wrens. The house wren nest inRead more
Bathe and Graze
Top Photo: Adult robin attempts to coax one of its offspring (left) to bathe in the water below waterfall at Red Wolf Enclosure. There are numerous bird families flying and foraging about our campus. Fledglings need to learn to cope with life before they go out on their own and the adults are doing their best to show them how. Finding food, bird song, and even bathing are all on the list. I came upon a group of American robinsRead more
Nest Box Update 6.9.20
An easy accounting of the nest boxes this week, there’s only one active nest. The nest box on the west side of the parking deck held four bluebird eggs last week. An adult male flew out of the box as I opened the side access door this morning. Presumably, the male had been incubating. There should be chicks by next week’s inspection. This may be a good time to clean out the old nests in the inactive nest boxes andRead more
Nest Box Update 6.1.20
It’s been just about nine weeks since I last reported on the progress of the bluebird trail at the museum. I haven’t had access to the trail. I don’t know what transpired during that time period. A full tally of successful nestlings fledged won’t be possible this year. The Nest Box Update from nine weeks ago, March 31 I did, however, visit all of our six nest boxes on Monday, the first day of June. Here’s what I saw. When IRead more
Nest Box Update
Five of our six nest boxes contain nests. Four have eggs. Two contain chickadee eggs and two, bluebird eggs. Two nests had adults incubating, a bluebird and a chickadee. One nest box is empty. The nest box at the Cow Pasture near the Ellerbe Creek Railroad Tunnel has two bluebird eggs within. I expect there’ll be a few more by next week’s inspection of the box. The chickadees that started the nest in the nest box on the service roadRead more