About half done

South Side

On the South side, Box 7 has fledged as well. So we have two nests that successfully fledged and two that still have nestlings less than a week old. The empty Box 7 on the right.

Also on the South side are very similar nests, Box 2 that I saved from the ants last time:

They look content and fed around noon. Then there is Box 9 that has about four nestlings the same:

I only ran into the mom of that box once, but most likely both parents are there. On the North side it is a different matter.

North side

The nest box is near the nature center. For two weeks it had four eggs. Then it had 5 and a female on eggs. Then it had at least four nestlings. Now it has three. I interpret this as a very possible single parent feeding three nestlings. At noon they were still hungry and begging food. Nestlings are more alert to sound and movement when they are hungry.

There are numerous swallow nests with eggs on the North side. Then there is one box that keeps getting filled up with sticks. This is the work of a male house wren:

There was no nest. I decided to remove the entire box. The wren was likely to interfere with the swallows nesting next door. I though this would discourage the wren from hanging out at all. Wrens are small birds and usually find a natural hole to nest in. We probably have 100 house wrens in Wilderness park. They will nest in back yards as well.