Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Como Park Bluebird Trail Update: June 25th

Post contributed by Sharon, volunteer bluebird trail monitor:

Seven bluebirds and one chickadee fledged in the past week. Two boxes are now empty and another has what may be a new bluebird nest on top of the old one. The bluebird nest with the cowbird egg in it remains the same—no bluebird eggs have been laid, so perhaps the bluebirds got wise to the intruder and went elsewhere. If there is no change in the cowbird egg by next week, I will remove it and the nest.

In four other boxes there are 14 more bluebirds. I did not open three of the boxes since the young birds are too near to fledging.

The remaining three boxes have tree swallows in them. Two, I did not open, but as I passed I could see two tree swallow heads poking out in one, and another in the second. I could not see into the third box for all the feathers. There were no parents defending the nest, and as far as I can tell, the mother was not camouflaged inside. Perhaps next week will provide a clearer view. If not, a little probing may be in order. (This is the box that was being vandalized two weeks ago.)