Bluebirds Shopping for Home

February 10 Final Check Prior To Nesting

Note: please do not open boxes even to show the children the old nests (there are none). Boxes can be opened in the fall again.

I see I set up the blog with Blue Bird as two words. It's bluebird. No matter.

The nest boxes were checked out today. All seemed in working order, even though not all the poles are quite steady. They are supposed to have a 2 foot rebar (concrete reinforcement metal) bar inside, to keep the pole (hollow) in place. Some are just the hollow poles stuck some 6-8 inches into the ground.

Boxes on the North side had some house sparrow activity. These birds had stuffed nesting material in three of the boxes. There is nothing much we can do. The North side boxes need some metal rods, shown here on a bar that had bent from years in the wind, hammered back in. It is sort of straight now.

In the South end, some of the most remote boxes had a pair of Bluebirds examining the boxes near the trail. There is not much foot traffic here. I checked both boxes as it was not yet time, and there were no nesting materials inside yet, The nest will be built in the next few weeks and eggs may appear in April, my guess. I do not have Nebraska data on these yet. CLICK the picture to get a bigger view.

The competing tree swallows (blue and white birds) are not here yet. But they did take at least half the boxes in the past. We will see.

Esa Jarvi, Lincoln

Blue Bird Boxes Cleaned Out

Pioneers Park Nest Boxes in Lincoln Nebraska

Nest boxes are located in two areas:

The North boxes are in the area by the Nature Center and parking lot, some right behind the school.

I  received this job just this year and since the birds nest in spring, quick repairs were made and the nest boxes were made as ready as possible for this 2016 spring. When I went out there the first time the poles were steady enough, as they were in frozen ground. Some were crooked, though.

There are 14 boxes behind the bridge in the Southern fenced area. The trail leads to the SW corner of the park and the boxes are in pairs. You can see them on the trail to Coyote Point, Most pairs had one bluebird nest and one tree swallow nest, as intended when originally set up. The swallow nests all have a feather lining:

The books say there is no advantage to keep old nests inside so all the contents were removed. We can also have a fresh start and monitor what nests in what box.

Though a bit run down, the South side 14 boxes are in prime location, far from trees and also more away from people traffic than the North set by the Nature Center,

At some point this area of the park will be closed for some months for bridge repair. We will monitor after the repair and see what was in there nesting, as the two nest types are distinct.

This was in January.

Esa Jarvi, Lincoln.