As expected, last two Bluebirds left the nest box

 

The sole nest box that had any Eastern Bluebirds is now empty. I did not see the young or the parents. The pair raised 7 young in two clutches. From a week ago:

The box was one with a hole so I had to open it every time to check the nestlings. The slotted nest boxes are easier to check.

Now we have 5 fledged and 2 left in box in good health

I did not see all the nestlings last time, but there were several. One was puffed up and covered the ones asleep.

Two have fledged and two are left. They should leave by the end of the week. You can see the blue on the feathers. The tail gets a little longer and flight feathers grow a bit more.

Swallow nestlings are very similar until the bill gets longer, when birds are about a week old. But they never get the blue, they are gray in the box. Tree swallows as adults can have a bluish tint, but not when in the box.

Bluebirds Total: 6 fledged

(Note: only 5 have fledged by 7.11) There was only one nesting pair. That pair raised 6-7, the total for all the boxes. There was this one left in the box, awake. As it turned out it covered one or more siblings. See entry for 7.11.

Four hatched over the weekend

 There are now four chicks with eyes closed, the fourth is hidden under. (I lost track of the number for one post, see the 7.11 post for later count)

I won't check on them very much. In about two weeks we can check off this clutch as a success.

Eggs still eggs. Hatching maybe by next week.

 I've been limiting these summer visits due to pests I need to avoid. I did check them today, and the eggs still have not hatched. They have been there at least 11 days. Incubation is normally 12-14 days. Then 15 more days in the box.

Schedule is here:

https://pioneersparkbluebirds.blogspot.com/2016/05/bluebird-timetable.html

I found two adults in the area, one seemed to be a juvenile, the May clutch.

Eggs

The box now has axle grease on the pole to keep any ants out. I always do that with active boxes.

More eggs! Only a single pair nested, but now more eggs

 The pair on the South side that raised three young left the box empty for a while. I checked that and the one next door. No swallows had taken that one all thru May. Since the box was cleaned and empty, they built a nest in the same box where two young died. This rarely happens, they usually move.

I have not seen the parents but once. This is the female.

I will check the box again about two weeks from now, as the pests in the prairie get worse now. I don't feel like walking much through grass. But in two weeks we should have partly grown young, probably eyes open but not much past that. If it goes long past that, I will check once in July.

Swallows

 I checked four boxes around where the single flock of Bluebirds was raised. No new nest was found.

I had worried about the fate of several nests in the burn area (see previous post). Checked two likely boxes. It looks like the swallow chicks survived. They may have been eggs during the burn, so there may be no smoke risk.

Swallows are finishing up nesting. These birds are ready to go in a week. You can see full body feathers and quite alert birds, usually 5-7. 

They are not ready to fly but are flapping wings. You can see the tip of the wing feather going from pin feather to full feather.

Total fledged birds 2022: 3

The birds I saw on Monday all seemed alert, but I probably saw only three. I had a final check today and there were three fledged but two remained behind, now dead. We had two days of cold weather.

This box is on the South side. It is one of the Xs here. It has an empty box next to it that swallows showed interest in. But did not nest in. I will need to see if the pair that fledged 3 will feel the need to renest. They will nest in the other X, not the box that had two die.

The hatched area had a prairie burn a week ago. Rather late. It may have produced smoke that affected chicks. I have not checked the swallow nests that are in the burn area. There may be more dead chicks.

The tally for Bluebirds Across Nebraska will be 3 fledged. No nests on the North side by the Nature Center.

5 Bluebirds Ready to Go!

 The chicks are fully grown. I had three birds staring at me, but could not capture that in a photo, as they would have flown out if I opened the door more. The photo through the hole shows the blue tails.

Mom bringing food:

Elsewhere in the park, mom Wood Duck with ducklings.

I have one broken nest box to take back in a week, but by then no bluebirds will be in nests.

ONE NEST! USUAL NUMBER IS 4-6

The one nest with eggs has the five chicks now. Their eyes might be open, but they were asleep. Or at least the eyes will open within days.  I did not think of getting more exciting pictures, so this may be all we see of them. In a week they will be almost grown and a week later fledged. No other nests found. 3-5 Swallow nests have eggs.

Life Goes On

After a disastrous year in 2021, Bluebirds are back. There is one nest with 5 eggs so far. The Tree Swallows are selecting boxes and there are some half way finished nests with no eggs. They wait to the end of May but do claim the boxes.