Forgotten Land 6-6-6

A quick sweep of the Forgotten Land as I knew by now that the 3 pairs of Tree Swallows would have all their eggs laid and it's 6 in each of the boxes. Let's hope they have total success in every nest.

Tree Swallow standing it's ground as I neared the box. Photo is cropped a fair amount. This box had 6 eggs when I checked on Sunday. There is the possibility of there being 7 eggs as that is what was in this box in 2018. I let the bird and box be, and maybe next visit I might have another look inside.

Tree Swallow near one of the boxes I really wanted to inspect. This pair were very agitated at me invading their home. Even as I passed her box on my way out, not even looking at it, and staying on the path some 12 to 15 ft way, she still swooped my head numerous times until I was well away.

The last nest I checked. Tree Swallows sure build a pretty nest!

The horrors of what once were the Forgotten Land will never fade or so it seems. I found a pile of old nest boxes in the grass and this dead baby bird on top. I can assure you 150% that it's death and the broken box are not related. Interesting place to find it though, rather symbolic too. I remember taking down this particular box. Seriously, putting up bird boxes or houses as some call them is only a good thing if you take care of them and be certain that you do all you can to predator proof them.

I will re-visit the Forgotten Land in 2 weeks. The t-posts are greased. Everything looks good. So now it's up to the birds.

See you after the weekend with another update from another area.

Cheers!

Updates Updates Updates!

We've been on vacation this past week and it gave me a few opportunities to check the nest boxes through the 4 areas I am monitoring. I'm torn between doing one big update on all of the areas or breaking it down. Reason is some great news at two of the boxes. I will start keying this blog and see where it takes me. I hope you follow this one to the end however it goes.

For starts, The Forgotten Land. There are three Tree Swallow nests on the go. One box has 6 eggs while the other two boxes currently have 3 eggs each and I expect 2 or 3 more in each of these boxes (Tree Swallows normally have 5 or 6 eggs in a nest).

Next up is Area One. It was long overdue to get up there and go through the 21 boxes. We can blame the cold wet spring and some personal issues at home on not getting there sooner. Area One is the furthest location from home that I monitor.

As I key this, there are 12 Tree Swallow nests in varying stages of development. They range from still building the actual nest to eggs and I've seen anywhere from 1 to 5 eggs. Once again, we can blame the cold wet spring on how delayed some of the nests are. I'm hoping the early stage nests will continue but won't know for certain until my next visit in about 7 to 10 days.

Here's some odd bits about Area One. I found a few dummy House Wren nests and Tree Swallows have built their own nests over top of them. Last year we got overrun with dummy nests but none appeared until after the Swallows were done nesting and out of the boxes. Mid-summer seemed late for Wrens to start doing this but it happened. The boxes were cleaned and ready to go this spring so having some Wrens beat the Swallows to the boxes was unexpected. Both these nests shown below have Tree Swallow eggs in them. You can see the Wren nests beneath which are made of a lot of sticks. Tree Swallows use grass and feathers.

I also found that we have two active House Wren nests in Area One. I don't hate these Wrens but if you've been following my nest blog the last couple years, you know they've caused me and two pairs of Chickadees some heartache and frustration.

Next up, let's go over to Lambton. One active Tree Swallow nest that I checked on May 26th and there's 4 eggs in the nest.

But here's the BIG news starting with a recap. I had Chickadees building a nest in another box. A male House Wren came along and destroyed that nest. Days later the Chickadees were back in the box and tried again. Then along came that Wren and once again destroyed their nest. I made a hard decision, deciding to take down that nest box. I felt it was cruel to keep it up and have the Chickadees continue to try and nest in it. I set up a PVC tube nest a few hundred feet west of this spot. Someone had given me this a few years ago to try out and I had no luck at home, so I hoped the Chickadees here would find it.

A few days later I checked the box and all the wood chips were removed but I saw no birds. I could hear the Wren calling up the path a ways and wondered if it was him that cleaned it out. That was approximately 2 weeks ago.

My latest visit to the nest tube had me see an adult Chickadee fly out from it. I had a quick peek inside and was thrilled to see 7 tiny eggs. Please send your best wishes to the Chickadees at this nest and hope for absolute success.

I hung around the area for about 45 minutes. I watched and listened. No Wren to be seen or heard. For the sake of the Chickadees, I hope the Wren has moved on or at the very least is happily nesting elsewhere. I'm super stoked about this but know I should not let my emotions get too invested.

Lastly, over to The Creek. Angie joined me for this walk as it's our normal Sunday morning spot to go. The company was nice and she rocked at bird spotting, getting us a few new species for The Creek's list which included Black-billed Cuckoo and Cliff Swallows as well as pointing out a Mink.

The two crappy old boxes both have Tree Swallow nests inside. One box has 6 eggs.

The other has at least 2 so far. I don't care for these boxes as I believe I mentioned they are old and a tad brittle. Also, to check or clean either box, one must remove the whole front of the box completely off. So during nest season it's best to try and see from cell phone photos taken at the entry hole.

The stretch of the creek where I set up 4 boxes, I have one Tree Swallow nest on the go. The female would not vacate the box when I opened it up, so obviously she is on all the eggs she will have. I took a quick photo and then closed up the box, silently apologizing for disturbing her.

It's funny that I really thought this stretch was going to rock for nesting birds and I only got one nest out of four boxes. Maybe next year?

Here's the kicker. I had a couple "not so great condition" boxes at home and took them to another section of the creek. I thought the area was okay but not promising like I thought of the above mentioned spot. I figured no harm in setting up these two boxes as it was better than them sitting in my shed. Well to my surprise, both nest boxes have Tree Swallows in them. One box has 5 eggs and the other is still in development by another pair we watched this morning bringing material inside.

The cool thing is the one box was given to me by my friend Patty.

Some years ago we had a decorative bird house in our backyard that was in the design of an outhouse. Chickadees took to this box 3 separate times over the years. I was fortunate enough to see the young fledge one of the years.

That box was very special but after years in the yard, sitting outside through all the seasons, the box was brittle. I took it down and tried to find another box just like it, but never could. I still have that old box in my shed on the shelf for memories. Then one day Patty contacts us, that she had a surprise to bring over. It was an outhouse nest box similar to our old one. AWESOME! The box sat out back for a few years but the Chickadees never took to it.

You might be wondering what's the deal about the outhouse? Well, we've got a few actual bird boxes in the yard and the outhouse was just a unique looking ornamental box we picked up while road tripping in St. Jacobs. It was comical to us that of all the places to nest in, some birds chose the outhouse.

"Patty's House" as I call it unfortunately got some unwanted attention from a Squirrel or two as it sat outside. The outhouse sign was stolen. The wood chewed in a few spots. I took it down until this spring when I decided to put it up along the creek. It may not be the prettiest but it will help these Swallows nest this season and probably a few more years to come. The fact it was a gift from a friend and is now finally getting some use from a couple nesting birds is wonderful. Future blogs about this nest will probably be regarded as "Patty's House" updates.

I've wondered how much interest there is from others about this nest blog of mine. I'm sure I won't have to wonder about Patty's House having at least some interest from one person I know when she hears the news.

Okay, that's it for now. Thanks to those who read right through to the end of this blog. I'm currently at 20 Tree Swallow nests for this season and one Black-capped Chickadee nest. Yes, I haven't forgotten about the two House Wren nests but I don't look too hard at those ones as it's difficult to see what's going on in those nests without being really invasive and possibly destructive.

Creek Nest!

A stroll through the Creek over the long weekend, I was delighted to find a Tree Swallow nest in one of the new boxes I had set up this spring. You may recall this is a new area I am trying with 4 boxes I bought from someone through the OEBS.

There was 2 pairs of Tree Swallows battling in the area and with 4 boxes nicely spread out, I hope they can find some peace and both pairs have nests.

One of the old boxes set up further east has the beginning of a Swallow nest as well. No eggs yet so we'll see what I find with the next visit.

Cool sighting was this sleepy Coyote in the field.

A Blue-winged Warbler was heard numerous times along the hillside, up in the trees, but we never spotted it. The call is very distinct. A new species for the Creek's list.

The Battle in Lambton

If you've been following the Chickadee vs Wren nest box drama the last couple weeks, well here's another update for you.

For the second time now, the House Wren has come in and destroyed the Chickadees' nest, completely emptying out the box. The bird has not put in any of his own nest material as I figure he's waiting for a female to come along before he starts building.

The Wren spends his time hundreds of feet away across the rail line as I've heard him calling with my visits, always from the same area. One would think he'd be much closer to this nest box if he really wanted to use it.

I feel bad for the Chickadees. They have tried twice and lost both times. Would they try again? How far along would they get before the Wren comes in? So I did what I thought was best, and had reassurance from some other nest box monitoring folk... I took the box down. Of course as I did this along come those two Chickadees, flying over my head, looking rather stressed about what I was doing. I wish they could understand. Nature is cruel and harsh, I know that this thing happens often out there. It's a constant fight for territory and survival with all creatures. I put this box up so I feel some responsibility. If the Wren was nesting, I would have left the box.

The new tube nest box is still vacant and not too far away, I hope they find that one.

I brought this box home as it needed a little TLC. I'm going through various ideas on what else I can do. I am open for suggestions.

Taking Back

Yesterday, May 9th, I returned to Lambton and set up a tube style nest about 200 ft from where the Chickadee/Wren box is. It bothered me that much with what had happened, see here if you missed it, that I had to do something, and fast. It would be a long shot but doing something is better than doing nothing.

Someone I know made these a few years back and gave us one. It was set up in our yard but never got used. Others have had great success with theirs being used by Chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches. It's a PVC pipe with a 1 1/8" entry hole, perfect for these smaller bird species. I read somewhere that Wrens don't like the tube style. Now we wait.

On my way out I walk pass the other box and thought to have a look at what's going on. I could see nest material sticking out from the side. Hmmm? Wrens use sticks and not grassy stuff. To my surprise, the Chickadees are back and working hard at it!

I did not see or hear a House Wren anywhere. Did it move on? One would think such a territorial bird would not give up the box so easily?

The Chickadees had an inch or so deep start to the nest again. I should have taken a photo but was too in the moment. I attached the nest hole entry reducer ring. It won't stop a Wren but will keep bigger birds out.

I will keep my distance for the next week as I am sure the birds don't need the stress of my presence right now. Let's hope

Frustration

With little nesting activity going on so far this spring, I was pretty stoked about the Chickadee nest in Lambton. In just a few days the nest doubled in size. I had returned late last week to put in a screw in the access door to give the birds some security.

I bought a metal ring for the entry hole over the weekend. I was going to attach it to the box sometime this week. The ring would reduce the size of the entry hole to keep larger birds out as well prevent Squirrels from chewing at the hole.

Yesterday I went to put the ring on and was shocked to see that the Chickadee nest was gone. There was just a few mossy bits at the bottom and nothing else. Many thoughts circled my head about what happened. Then moments later the answer came to me. A scolding male House Wren sat nearby, unhappy that I was at his box.

As soon as I walked away, he went right to the nest box.

Frustration sums up how I am feeling right now. You may recall House Wrens destroyed a Chickadee nest in Area One last spring. Four newly hatched Chickadees killed and 3 remaining eggs pipped (pierced). Thankfully there were no eggs in this new nest. I didn't think I would have to worry about Wrens here since the box was out in the open.

I'm working on something else for the Chickadees after a bit of research and some conversation with others on social media.

Unsettling

As the spring season took an unwelcoming backwards step, making many days feel like the late days of October, it's left me unsettled. I was seeing Tree Swallows at all 4 areas I monitor two weeks ago. Now no Swallows are to be seen or heard. I spoke with an acquaintance who monitors nest boxes in another park near me and he's experienced the same thing.

This weather is a challenge for these insect eating birds and I hope I am just missing them as they fly about in search of food and there is a delay with nesting until the weather improves.

Some good news is a pair of Black-capped Chickadees have been working on a nest in one of my boxes at Lambton. This is what I found yesterday and Chickadees were busy about the vicinity of this box.

The interesting thing is that last year Chickadees started a nest in the same box, but abandoned it early on. I found a natural cavity nest nearby weeks later. I cannot say for certain it was the same pair but chances were good. That cavity is no longer as it came down in an intense storm last summer. Will they continue here this year?