Left 2 sections: 12th Bluebird nest box used by Chickadees. Showing 4/15/02 nest and 1 egg. Right 3 sections: Chickadee babies on: 5/4, 5/10, and 5/19.

2003

Chickadee nesting attempt #1 in box #12
Box mounted	Birds on box	Nest start	Egg start	Hatched	Fledged (left nest)
7/25/01	-	5/4 (destroyed)	5/4 (1 egg found destroyed)	-	-
Overall notes: Nest box has apparently been raided. A broken Chickadee egg was found below it. Only about 1" of settled moss and small pcs of snakeskin in box. Entrance is 1.5".

Tree Swallow nesting attempt #1 in box #12
Box mounted	Birds on box	Nest start	Egg start	Hatched	Fledged (left nest)
7/25/01	-	5/4 (started)	5/22, 5 warm eggs	?	4 of them long before 6/23
Overall notes: Tree Swallow was on fence next to box on 5/4/2003. On 6/23 the nest was checked. No signs of Blow Flies but there were small unseen invertebre under the feather dander. There was also a young, dried up baby in there.

2002

Bluebird nesting attempt #1 in box #12
Box mounted	Birds on box	Nest start	Egg start	Hatched	Fledged (left nest)
7/25/01	7/3/02	7/11 (done)	7/18, 3 warm eggs	about 8/1 3 babies	3 babies found dead 8/9
This will be the 2nd BB nesting attempt for theis pair, and 1st for this house. This mother BB acts like the previous one that nested in that box pairing. She seemed somewhat tame and this nest was also made of fine, pale, grasses. On 8/9 the 3 babies were found dead with no signs of adult/offspring predation. They did contain various stages of fly larvae. I think they died on 8/2 when temps were 99F. They looked like they reached a few days in age and then died.

 

Chickadee nesting attempt #1 in box #12
Box mounted	Birds on box	Nest start	Egg start	Hatched	Fledged (left nest)
7/25/01	4/6/02	4/6	4/15, 1 egg. 4/26, 6 eggs	5/4, 4 babies. 5/10, 5 babies	5 fledged between 5/19-5/25
Overall notes: A 1 1/8" metal portal was placed on the entrance to stop possible House Sparrow attacks. The egg was 1" under the the fur & hair nest top and it was not warm. I put it back under there. On 5/25 the nest was empty and had 1 cold egg in it which was 1/2" long. It also had blowfly pupae throughout it - I smashed the pupae. Also removed Chickadee portal so entrance is 1 1/2" wide.

 

Left 2 sections: 11th Bluebird nest box with 5/4/02 nest and 5 eggs on 5/16. Right section: Protective mother Bluebird sitting on egg[s] on 5/10.

Bluebird nesting attempt #1 in box #11
Box mounted	Birds on box	Nest start	Egg start	Hatched	Fledged (left nest)
7/25/01	5/4/02	5/4/02	5/10 [?], 5/16 - 5 eggs not so warm	5/25, 3 babies / 2 eggs, 6/1 5 babies	6/14[?] before 6/18
Overall notes: Peterson-style box mounted in late summer of 2001 and wasn't used that year. Above: Possibly eggs...on May 10, the mother would not leave the nest so I could check if there were eggs. I've heard of this happening with Bluebirds once. This is the 1st time for me. There were no signs of Blowfly capsules after taking apart the used nest.

2001

Placed too late in season.