April 1, 2021

This is the slowest start to a nesting season since I began maintaining our bluebird trail back in 2010 when the nest boxes were spanking new.

In the past week there’ve been no changes in any of the nest boxes. Three boxes are empty, two have partial bluebird nests within and one still has four yet to hatch bluebird eggs.

The Cow Pasture, Explore the Wild, and Into the Mist nest boxes remain empty. I expected to see some activity in one of those nest boxes. Because of their locations, these boxes are more suited to forest/edge birds like chickadees, titmice and nuthatches.

House wrens have not arrived from their winter quarters yet. They will happily nest in one of the vacant nest boxes. They may even take over occupied nest.

The nest box on the east side of the parking deck has a partial bluebird nest inside. It has not been added to since the 3.10.21 nest box inspections.

The nest box on the west side of the parking deck still has 4 unhatched bluebird eggs. The female was seen flying out of the nest as we approached it this morning. If the eggs are fertile, they will most certainly hatch within the next few days. Incubation has been going on since sometime before March 24 when a female flew out of the box as the inspection door was opened.

Lastly, the Butterfly House nest box contains a partial bluebird nest. It hasn’t been touched in several weeks.

So, we only have one active nest. It contains bluebird eggs ready to hatch. They may be hatching as I write. But we’ll have to wait till next week to find out. All the other boxes are empty or show no activity. House wrens should be arriving by the following week if not before. For better or worse, they tend to shake things up a bit.

Till next week…