I had thought the one nest in 2022 might be the low point of our nesting years. There was a winter time disaster in the SW where millions of birds, including bluebirds, died a few years back. East coast bluebirds may not have been affected, but ours were. No, the low point was this May. There were no Bluebirds. There has been local drought, so the Tree Swallows were down too. Maybe only half the boxes were in use. Some swallows stay in the area with the boxes even though the young have left.
Strangely the nesting was rather uneven for them. They tend to be rather uniform from box to box for several weeks. Here we had a grown nestling (alone) in a box...
....and a clutch just hatched not even a week ago in one box. The majority of Tree Swallows had finished, with only a few dud eggs left.
The nest boxes were not cleaned out other than a few that were opened. I am not going to continue this volunteer job for Pioneers Park for 2024. Someone else will take over.
This is pretty much the end of the blog. I will keep it open and may add one more photo in 2024 or 2025. Hopefully there will be some signs of recovery. I did see a few bluebirds in the county this spring but not really many. When visiting Missouri, a few more there than here in Lancaster county. The Eastern Bluebirds from the Mississippi river to the East Coast have been doing better, they did not suffer the SW US disaster several years ago.
ADDED 6.13.23
Swallows still in box, a few pairs taking care of grown birds.
