Nest Box Check Results!

Yesterday I had a stressful business day. When I got back to the house I was exhausted. But, the weather was lovely (almost hit 80 degrees F for the first time this year with full sun.) I knew that the weather was about to turn bad. The forecast was accurate. We had a tornado watch and a severe thunderstorm warning last night. It rained for a long while and the front brought a huge drop in temperature. Today, the high is 44 F, it’s cloudy, windy, and COLD.

Yesterday after work I could barely get my camera ready for the trip because of fatigue from the challenging day, I knew that I would feel better if I went out to be in Nature in the warmth and sunshine. I wrangled my husband to accompany me, so that we could check the nest boxes together. I’m grateful to have a spouse that is willing to engage in my hobbies.

We currently have 36 bird houses available to the resident birds that nest in cavities.

The most exciting news, is that we found Bluebird eggs in four boxes.

Box P

This is a standard wooden box. On 4/15/23 it contained five lovely eggs. The male is keeping an eye on the precious contents of their nest. I suspect his mate will begin incubating soon, if she hasn’t already.

Box U

Box U (our Gilbertson model box) contained a nest with four eggs. Curiously, there was an Eastern Meadowlark atop the box and the Bluebird couple were in a tree about 30 feet from it. Apparently, they didn’t consider the Meadowlark (that was using the platform top as a stage for his singing) a threat or the male Bluebird would have definitely chased it off the box. Photos below are the Meadowlark (top), the male Bluebird (second) and his mate (third image.) The final image is of their nest which, since the female wasn’t inside it means she’ll probably lay another egg or two before she starts incubating them.

Box W

This is one of our homemade PVC boxes. We found that it contained 5 eggs. The female flew out of the box (both yesterday and two days earlier when I drove the golf cart past the box) which suggests that she is currently incubating the eggs. Exciting! I observed the male in a nearby tree as well as atop the box when I checked the activity over the past week.

Box A2

This is another of our homemade PVC boxes. It contained 5 beautiful eggs on the check yesterday. On April 12, I observed the male arriving with food and I thought that perhaps the chicks had hatched. However, the female flew out when we approached to check the status yesterday and we didn’t find any chicks. She is still incubating and when her mate arrived with food a few days ago, he was actually delivering her a snack. Good hubby.

Other Activity

Robert and I discovered that four houses contained Bluebird nests in progress.

Boxes 8, R and T

Box 8 is a standard wooden box in our southwest hay field. Boxes R and T are our homemade PVC boxes located on the eastern property line.

Box S

I was thrilled to see a pair of Tree Swallows perched very near Box S, which is another of our homemade PVC boxes. I’ve been waiting for the Tree Swallows to arrive in numbers. I have only seen three or four birds, none which were perched atop of box. It was quite late in the evening and the sun had dropped below a massive wall of clouds (which turned out to be an intense thunderstorm a few hours later.) Still, I’m going to share these poor quality photos because they are the first I have of the species for this season AND because of my very curious focusing issue that captured a Brown Thrasher instead of the Tree Swallow I was aiming at! I didn’t even know that the Brown Thrasher was in the tree! Apparently my camera’s auto-focus likes Thrashers better than Swallows.

I really didn’t want to chase the tree Swallows away from what I hoped was a nest box they were claiming. We chose to be patient. Not long later they flew off to hunt insects over the fields I felt more comfortable approaching the box. I prefer using a minimally invasive process during nest box checks (if we spot eggs, we will open to take a quick picture. Robert inserted a scope into Box S and saw many large feathers. That’s a clear sign that the Tree Swallows had begun their nest. Yippie! I can’t wait for others of the species to show up and raise their broods here, too. Last year we had no less than four pairs all of which raised at least two broods.

Box J

Box J is just behind our dog training building. I’ve been watching a Bluebird couple in and around that box since April 3, but there are no eggs, yet and the nest doesn’t appear to be complete. Still, yesterday I captured pictures of the birds on and near the nest box, again. The first three photos below are from April 3rd. The remaining are from yesterday; early evening. I don’t know if the birds I filmed earlier this month are just slow movers, or perhaps they never built a nest and the bird I filmed yesterday is the male of a different couple that took control of the box and that female is now building their nest.

Box L

This is a bird house we purchased at the local farm store several years ago and it has survived far better than any of the wooden boxes we acquired years later. A Bluebird couple used this box the first year we hung a few bird houses at our new house in 2017. It’s very ‘primitive’ in design and doesn’t have a door that opens for observation. That said, it seems to be a very desired model for Bluebirds, House Wrens and Chickadees that have all used this box (or the second one we purchased of the same type the nest year.) Since the House Wrens seem to covet it, we have moved it to a location that is fairly close to a stand of trees. That is described prime House Wren nesting territory. We hope it offers the wrens a house they prefer so that they don’t feel they need to compete with the Tree Swallows or Bluebirds.

Regardless of our good intentions to offer all the species plenty of housing options so that they don’t feel the need to perform hostile take-overs of their neighbors’ house, a Bluebird couple seems to have some interest in the box. That worries me, since it’s a bit too close to the Wren territory. We came upon this pair of Bluebirds while we were going about our status check. The male is in customary position atop the box hoping to woo his mate to consider the option. The female was about eight feet away in the long shadows of late afternoon cloud-cover. The photos I took just aren’t worth adding to the post as due to the poor light. We can only check this model box using a scope (see photo below.) Upon inspection, there was no nesting material inside this box. Perhaps the female will reject the male’s request for her to consider Box L for their brood and I won’t need to fret about House Wren competition.

Box K

This is a wooden box that seems a bit too small for Bluebirds, as they have never used the box in the three years we’ve had it. It was a gift from a friend and probably was manufactured with style in mind over other attributes. That said, a House wren couple used it last year and I have had to manage the House Sparrows away from claiming it, probably because it is located about 100 feet from our barn which is another House Sparrow territory that we have to attempt to control as they are a harmful, invasive species. On April 8th, I filmed a Carolina Chickadee couple taking nesting material into the Box K. Four days later, I came upon a House Sparrow sitting on top of the box. My heart sank. House Sparrows are notorious to violently take over (including death to the occupying birds or their eggs or chicks) of nest boxes. Moments later the Chickadee couple flew in and a serious skirmish ensued. In the end, the House Sparrow assumed control of the bird house and I observed one of the Chickadees “licking” his wounds by preening himself in a nearby tree while he also called to his mate. A post with images of this event is forthcoming.

Yesterday, I was surprised to hear the song of a House Wren for the first time this year. Then, I was even more surprised to see a House Wren moving in and out and round Box K (which House Wrens have used in the past, as previously mentioned.) Time will tell if they choose Box K, which is only about 20 feet from Box L where the Bluebird couple was seen yesterday. My guess is that the Bluebirds will find a more remote box in an open area to avoid the Wren’s competition. The good thing is that we have plenty of boxes which meet those requirements that are also 300+ feet from other Bluebird couples.

Just the Start of a Season

Over the past few weeks I have observed a male Bluebird atop a very tall post which is located about 30 feet from Box L. He uses the position to sing to his mate or perhaps to attract a mate. I’m not certain whether that Bluebird individual is a part of the population of Bluebirds that have nests or eggs that we identified on yesterday’s status check. Photos below are from 4/8 and 4/14/23. Perhaps, this Bluebird represents an additional pair that will begin nesting in one of our other boxes that are available for the 2023 nesting season! The more the merrier. That’s what I say!

Here’s my Nest Box Status spreadsheet