Three nests continue, one a mystery...probably raccoon got it

I mentioned that I never see the young a week later. There was one time I documented the fledged birds:

2017 ENTRY ON YOUNG OUT OF BOX

I checked the four remaining nests, all on the South bike-hike trail. Box 2 had chicks on  7-2. They were probably 3-4 days old. So let us say they hatched on 6- 30. They would be now 10 days old. Now there were none. The schedule for birds is normally:

• Day 12: almost completely feathered. except for mid-ventral region. Incomplete bill-wiping movements and head scratching first observed.
• Day 13: Mid-ventral region is feathered. sleep with head on scapulars. Can tell sex by bright blue color of primaries and retrices, and white on retrices. Sleep in typical adult manner.
• Day 14: no unfeathered areas visible. Wings are longer. Capable of weak, short-distance flight. Bird can right itself and make short shuffling movements backwards and forwards.
• Day 15: completely feathered. 

 So the ten day old chicks would not have flown out of the box. The box itself was pushed down. A raccoon hanging on it, and twirling on the pole could have moved it down. One other box (no nest, swallows earlier) had also been dragged down. Raccoon predation is rather rare, this one is the first I suspect racoons of.

Of the three remaining nests, Box 4 had chicks a few days old.

The other two have nestlings with eyes just opened. I did not get the eyes in the picture, but in Box 5, one of the 4 eggs never hatched.

Four birds fledge, Blogger caretaker gets a B for this BUT WE ARE FINE

I recommend the nest boxes that have the slot at the top. I've never had any predators get in, and if you have a smart phone, you can check on the birds' welfare without opening the box. Just slide the phone top in, use a flash.

Those are in fact swallows peeking out. Anyway, I did not follow my own advice. I had already photographed the Box 16 nestlings and seen that they were fully grown. Just then the thought came that I would never see these again. Only a few times have I seen the fledged birds hang out by the nest box for even hours after they fledge. So I opened the box to get a little better view with sunlight. The parents had been freaking out about me. I should have known they knew the chicks would fledge today.

And with my improved photo, the first one flew out:

I tried to carefully (you don't want to slam the door on any bird no matter what) close the door, but a second one slipped out as I got the nail back on. Then I went to check the wrens and ten minutes later (camera in slot) the remaining two had gone. I can only presume I did the parents a favor. They need to coax (feed less etc.) the birds to leave at the end. They landed all over, and hid in the grass and flowers at first. Stepping very carefully, I retreated. The birds will need to make it some 20-30 feet to the tree line by the golf course to be safe in the trees.

House wrens (6) are coming along nicely, and will be out in a week or so. The bills are already getting longer wren shape.

Three nests with chicks, two with eggs

On the South side, at the far West end, some chicks just hatched maybe yesterday.

Another box had similar young birds. Two other boxes had just eggs.

On the North side, the Box 16 family is coming along fine, both parents ready to attend the young as soon as I left. The eyes are now open but I did not get them to open the eyes or react in any way.

Next door there were some House Wren chicks, about six. They look just like Bluebird chicks when a few days old, but clearly smaller.

North Side Nest and other birds

I did not have the bike, so only opened a few boxes. The chicks in Box 16 were napping. The cropped photos shows pin feathers coming through, but the birds still have pink skin with no body feathers. The eyes are closed (not fully developed).

Today I had more interaction with the parents. The male alone in a tree, the female with insect or spider in mouth.

Click the photo for a bigger view.  She would not go inside till I left. Both were on top of the box at one time.

A bit of video, but no entry to the box.  I did not see the insect when I took the video, so there was in fact food.

Other than that there was the male house wren singing next door, you might hear it in the video, and some meadowlarks and a Baltimore oriole hidden in some flowers.

Orioles are usually more visible:

Purple Martins (as well as a house sparrow) have one or two chicks in the Martin house.

Still just one second clutch growing, Four nests at egg stage

I went back by bike to check the known nests on the south side. No development there, all four had eggs, But at least no eggs were broken.

The North side nest is coming along fine, you can easily count four chicks.

Interestingly, with eyes closed, the birds sense more light. The box would not open otherwise, so not sure this is safe to be poking a bill out.

A bit of video

The wren next door (male) has not bothered Box 16 since he now has his own eggs to guard. House wren eggs are very small and brownish.

Some bluebirds hatched

I was not really spending time here, on my way back from birding. I checked a few tree swallow nests, ones I had seen with swallows 1-2 weeks back. Most were empty. I am not cleaning these till much later, but you can tell the history easily.

The nest is a swallow nest, because it's lined with feathers, like goose feathers. There is poop in there, so they nested. No dead chicks and no unhatched eggs.

The bluebirds second clutches are coming along. These four on the North side, Box 16, hatched 1-2 days ago.

I got a little video, but none of the neck sticking up kind when they think I am the parent.

Several New Clutches, Last Swallows in Boxes

There are still several fully grown tree swallows in some boxes, though most boxes are vacated.

This family, I think 4 left inside, are in a small box with a slot. All four come to the slot when the parent is heard. I think the slot is more democratic than a nest hole. On the 21st, at least 3 boxes still had swallows.

There are new clutches of eggs. These are bluebirds, though white. They are in one of the boxes the mice had thru May. On the North side Box 16 had 4 eggs, same on Jun 21st. About time to hatch!

There are few boxes needing more stable poles and one silly box on the South side left in a lot of forbes and sumac. I can walk through some grass, but this just needs to be moved, finally. There is a wren nesting in it now, first wren nest with eggs.