Three new eggs

I did not have the bike with me, necessary to check the South side, but on the North side there is one new set of eggs.

This in a box where a wren next door broke all the eggs in May.

Swallow activity was ongoing in 5 our of 18 boxes. The last one I did not hike to. I managed to quickly peak into a small box (swallows are hard to see in a big box), and the nestlings were about a week to 10 days old.

Miserable May: only 9 Bluebirds Fledged

In a typical year, some 20 bluebirds fledge from 5-7 nests. There were so far 5 nests, but two were failures, on the North side. Three nests with some success were on the South side. Those are on the limestone bike/hike trail. See map.

There are now no bluebird eggs in nests. I cleaned some boxes, took note of wren activity and put grease on those nest boxes that could possibly get a second brood. It's red axle grease. Keeps the ants from the box for a week or two.

There is really nothing to do now but check some 10 likely boxes a week from now. Many boxes still have swallows, they are not checked if active. One swallow nest seemed to have started early, so i hoped they had had success. No idea, the female was still inside the nest. Is she still incubating?

Strange spring of low activity

Swallow nesting is way down in the South end, normal by Nature Center. Bluebirds seemed to have finished nesting for now, with only 11 chicks soon to be fledged. No new eggs were found. Box 4 team is ready to fledge with 7 days.

Box 6 four chicks fledged, one egg never hatched. Box 11 has one fully grown bird, it only had two.

I have a feeling more bluebirds will appear in June, but nothing is happening now. There was some ant activity, but not in nests with bluebirds. I will have to take care of the ants in a week or so. The one ant colony was in a wet spot and sought the box as dry ground.

A bit of cool weather, but no harm to Bluebirds

On the South side, Box 4 all hatched, you can count 5 bills here:

Box 6 had sleepy chicks, a few days ahead of Box 4.

Daddy looks on as I open the box:

Box 12 has just 2 chicks.  Near that a turkey hen (there are usually geese) nesting nearby attacked me.

On the North side just one chick in Box 8, with 3 siblings any hour now, very new to this world.

It's in the middle of the prairie. Swallows are late, but one box had chicks, 5 had eggs.

And on the South side we STILL have one mouse with her one pup in a box.

I also found an owl with her/his nearly full grown owlet in the North prairie.

Three nests with nestling, one set of eggs destroyed by a house wren

I was afraid of a wren being too close to the North side nest last time. It is in the previous post. Now it destroyed all 5 eggs in the nest up there. I tried a cardboard wren guard but the rain blew it off. Also on the North side I found a dead tree swallow in a box, an adult.

In better news, on the South side the eggs in Box 4 hatched. This box is to my liking in timing. The others two are fine so far as well.

These were napping, I could not get any interest to move and pose for me. The mom was in a tree nearby with a spider ready for lunch for them. She kept it in mouth the entire time I was there.

Two Nests With Nestlings

It's a bit early, but of the four nests built, two have hatched the chicks or part of. It's not even too late to build a nest and lay eggs. I am expecting Box 14 on the South side to do that. It has had a bluebird nest at least three years.

In one box, the three nestlings have hatched within a day, and two eggs are still to hatch. A little risky, as a week of cold weather may spell disaster for bluebirds.

On the North side, a shiny new box has five eggs. I may have to put a wren guard on that box. 

Next door to it, with an empty box, a house wren was busy inspecting it. It will fill it up with small sticks in a few weeks. I don't really want it invading the bluebirds next door.

Two nests with 5 eggs

Nesting  continues on the South side. I will check the North side boxes a bit more carefully next time, but we only get a couple of Bluebirds interested there.

On the South side there are two boxes with 5 eggs and one box with two. This pair nested in the box closer to the road of  Box 3 and Box 4. That box has been a successful location several years in a row. The back box always has swallows, Box 4.

I'm not used to keeping track of mouse nests, but I believe a deer mouse carried several of her babies up the pole back to a box. Her young are rather grown now. Time to leave! The other two mice left their nest box. All mouse nests have been on the model shown in the front in the above photo. Mice do not nest in boxes that have the slot at the top.