Weather over weekend took its toll

Though the weather was only a bit cool for us, wearing a jacket a few days, it was not good news for bluebirds. Friday and Saturday were cool and the next days the night time low was still 40s to low 50s. Bluebirds need to be fed every day, whereas swallow nestlings can stand some cold days by going into torpor.

South Side

Let's just start from the end where there were some good news. Box 13 has swallow eggs in it and box 14 has nestlings. Box 14 had five eggs and looked like a swallow nest in the beginning. But box 13 also has swallow eggs and the typical feathered nest. The boxes are some 20 feet apart. It is not common for two pairs of swallows to nest so close.

Inside are the eggs (far box) and the nestlings in the closer box:

Then we come to box 9. These were the earliest bluebird nestlings to hatch. They died over the weekend. The nestlings looked almost fully feathered. Two bad days was enough to seal their fate.

In Box 7, bluebird nestlings were alive, but I am not quite comfortable with them, they seemed less responsive. 

In Box 2 on the South side, first box you would come to as you cross the old bridge, all nestlings had died.

North Side

There we have just one box of bluebirds, 13, and they were in good spirits. Perhaps being up on the ridge and in the open, the temperatures were just a bit higher. I think we had 4 and now there are just 2 or maybe three.

Video of them screeching.

Other than that, the North side has a number of empty swallow nests and a few with a lot of eggs:

It seems the swallows are slightly delayed in laying eggs.

Follow Up on three nests

(Click picture for bigger view)
I did not get to the North side today, but the three South side nests are doing OK.

Box 2 has the nestlings that just opened their eyes and the feathers are coming along. The pin feathers contain the material to fold out to a full vane. The central stem is called a rachis and the feathery parts that will unfold from them are called barbs, Barbs attach to neighboring barbs to give a smooth surface. All baby birds have this yellow bill at this point.

The male parent is sitting at the box that they are in. They were not being fed anymore by noon, but will be fed more during the day.

Box 7 had the three nestlings last time and now has four nestlings. It's a big job to raise the head up and open the mouth for food and they caught on to the fact I had no food. Or perhaps they had just been fed and were resting.

Box 9 has quite developed birds. The feathers are part pins part feathers. They were not flapping their wings yet so I dared to open the door and look at them. If they are completely developed, they can flush out and leave a day or two early. It's best for them to be as fat as possible to survive the cold of the first night out. Fledging in the morning is good, gives them time to learn to fly.

All But One Bluebird Eggs Now Hatched

Click the pictures for bigger view!

South Side

Here the first box along the trail, 2, has all five eggs hatched. The Nestlings have not opened their eyes yet. But they are quite alert and active.

Coming along in Box 7, a fourth egg was laid and three hatched. They were wiggling a little. The fourth should hatch today after I left.

Box 9 had the nestlings last time and now the eyes are open. If I don't keep track, they can easily fledge in a week.

Box 14 had 5 swallow eggs and they have now hathed, probably the first swallows.

Box 13 had some bluebirds hanging around it but there were no eggs.

North Side

The one Bluebird nest has four hatched chicks. Not very old yet.

More on the nestlings, 4 nests

It's been only a few days but checked the four nests again. Only one new egg and the nestlings still have eyes closed.

South Side

Box 2  has the same four eggs. Put some tape on the pole to stop ants, as we had a problem there last May.

Box 7 still has just 3 eggs.  The male of that pair was in a nearby locust tree

Box 9 not far away, the closest I have had two pairs of bluebirds. It has the nestlings inside and a female standing by, She was not currently feeding as they usually nap at noon.

Inside, five nestlings in a pile, the same two begging I presume.

Trying to add a video clip here:

North side

Here is the pair of bluebirds. The nest has 4 eggs.

Swallows have a nest next door.

Four Bluebird Nests, one hatched

Much like last year, we have four nest boxes with bluebird eggs. And like last year, three good nests are on the South side and just one on the North side.

South Side

Three nests are active. The boxes are numbered, but not very well to see. As you cross the bridge to the prairie, the path goes right by two boxes before joining the wlak-bike path. The very first box looks like this and has 5 eggs and had a female incubating this week.

Then further West on the gravel path we have a nest with I think 5 nestlings. There were 5 eggs last week and they were sleeping in a pile until the camera flash went off and two woke up to beg food.

The third box has 3 eggs so not quite the full 4 or 5 yet.

North Side

Box 13 has 4 eggs. Walking past the school house, the boxes are numbered and can be seen off the service road or maybe the school side. I forget what side the the number can be seen from.

Swallows

I have a good idea of where the swallow nests are. They are best left to hatch and then estimate a count. They dive bomb my head if they have claimed a box, even if it has just a nest with no eggs. One has eggs. I also know what boxes are empty. More swallows will claim them.

First Eggs and Nests of 2017

NATURE CENTER SIDE

The North side boxes were numbered and some moved to new locations along the maintenance road. The very last three boxes had nothing. The rest have either swallow nests started or in one case a grass nest by bluebirds. No eggs in it yet.

SOUTH SIDE

The south side was burned by the staff and looked barren a month ago. Some plant life is returning. The birds are fine with it. Swallows only catch flying insects.

Bluebirds like some trees like this around for roosting and waiting to find pray on the ground. One pair has selected this black box that is on a rather tall pole:

It had the full five eggs. I believe this is the male of that pair on a locust tree branch:

One more pair of bluebirds seems to have a nest in that middle part. No eggs in it.

SWALLOWS

Near the Western end of the new gravel road there is a fluff clutch of swallow eggs. No bird was incubating on it. They may wait a week or two and the eggs may survive.

Another pair had built a full nest that had been taken over by ants. They were angry at me for taking it apart and destroying the ants.

I ended up putting reversed duct tape on the pole, as well as the neighboring pole.

Lastly, a nest box had been driven over by workers with a tractor. It had a grass and feathers swallow nest in it but luckily no eggs.

Signs of Nest Box Selecting

I met someone that asked about the bluebird boxes today, and she shared some experiences. Usually the conversation starts with "bluebirds, aren't those nasty?" No, those are Blue Jays! Then I explain that these are small thrushes and have blue and orange. Then the person responds, "oh, I've never seen one," We try to look for them but see only swallows.

I only went through the North side 18 boxes today. pairs of tree swallows are flying around the boxes and some pairs seem to have chosen a box and are defending it.

This is box 9 in the middle of the prairie. The swallows do not lay eggs till May, but may build the nest this month. In any case they guard it against other swallows.

One pair of bluebirds has claimed a box near the school house on the top of our prairie. The trees of the golf course fence are nearby. Of the two boxes, they chose the more worn out one, 13. The new looking box 14 behind it may take a year to have appeal. It is also unncessarily large. I hope they stay.

 We only had little success on the North side with bluebirds last year. The two boxes nearest the Nature Center, 1 and 2, are claimed by house sparrows.