FCUK!

It's Friday! It's a beautiful sunny warm day in early June! Angie's birthday is tomorrow. We start the Peregrine Falcon fledge watch next week. I wasn't going to blog for a bit but after this morning's events, I have to, I need to get it out of my system. And reaching out to others who give a shit like myself might help. I'm sure the blog title gives enough away that something bad happened. I decided to check the boxes close to home before the busy days ahead. I'm stoked about the Bluebirds, staying positive despite the setbacks. I checked a few other boxes first and saw my first hatched Tree Swallows. There are 6 in this box. It's a crappy phone photo but it's for the record and to share here.

I check another Tree Swallow box and once again find myself face to face with this female. This is the third time in 4 weeks where I've checked this box and she has been inside every time. What gives?

I pass another Tree Swallow nest box and eyes are upon me.

As I near the Bluebird area, I see an adult male. It must be dad!

I was happy to see a few Butterfly species including Monarch, Canadian Swallowtail and a Black Swallowtail. It's been a while since I saw this species, meaning a couple years. What a treat! Man I am having such a great morning. I am distracted from my purpose of this outing because of the Black Swallowtail. I happily snap some photos and got a couple cool accidental captures. Neat that I got a couple other insect species flying in with the first shot.

Traditional still pose.

In flight and respectably clear for my old camera body.

Okay, back to what I am here for... check on the young Bluebirds. I open the box and am shocked how much they have grown in the last 7 days. They stirred with my quick peek but went back to sleep.

I close the box back up and am about to make a fast exit, hoping I haven't upset the parents too much when I spot something in the grass and it's got blue feathers. Talk about a really hard slap to the face, taking that grin from me in a flash. This is what I found.

Bluebird remains. FCUK! But who is it? Is it mom? I haven't seen her today, but I did last Friday. Is it dad? Did I not just see him? Or is that another male? The remaining feathers are very dark blue which I don't associate with females but I really don't know. I'm very confused. I'm trying really hard not to be sad about this. I am having moments where I wish I never knew about these Bluebirds that have tried to nest near our home. I wish whoever set these boxes up never did. I wish I never threw myself into this, trying to ensure they had proper nest boxes to raise young in. I mean, I was doing a good job of that as the nests did stay dry through the wet Spring and none fell off their posts after some minor repairs. But what I couldn't do was protect them from everything. Those negative things I thought, the feelings I'm battling with, I turn around momentarily. I think about the joy of seeing these beautiful birds so close to our home. I've spent a lot of time focusing on them, not just when in their presence and territory, but even after the fact, thinking about them while working and elsewhere. It's been some real highs and some of the lowest of the lows I've felt while watching over wild birds and their young. It makes me nervous about next week with our Peregrines. We've had 50% mortality 2 years in a row. I helped one morning at the Mississauga site, almost like a bit of a warm up, and sadly one of their two young birds lost it's life to a window strike earlier this week. It's a dark reality and I try really hard to suck this up, mentally prepare for the choas that can occur at the Falcon watch; but this Bluebird stuff has really hit. It's not about liking Bluebirds more than another bird species. It's the emotional investment. I don't know if I have enough to share among everything at this time of year. It's suddenly too much in such a short span of time. Bluebirds, Tree Swallows, Peregrine Falcons, my Pigeon friends and local Raccoons at home. *sigh* I wonder what got this Bluebird. To me it does seem to be a victim of predation as it's picked pretty clean. I've seen Cooper's Hawks in the area since I discovered it. I found a Screech Owl here last November. This is the Screech in a tree very near where months later I found the Bluebirds and the box

I ask myself if these young Bluebirds need help? Since I don't know, I won't do anything. I have to remind myself as well that this is nature. This stuff happens all the time. Nature is beautiful and harsh. But I can't write this off just yet. Let's see how this plays out in the coming days. I won't be waiting another week to check on them. Unfortunately I cannot sit there and watch the box all this afternoon either and try to assess this any further. It will be a mystery until next visit. Let's hope I find the 2 still alive and well. Thanks for reading this as unhappy as it's turned out to be. Thank you for following me on this journey. Stay tuned... work becons now.

Sweep!

I did a sweep of the boxes before the weather turned cool and damp once again, hence this blog title. I was due anyway for "Area One". In my mind, I had it figured that all the birds would be settled. The nests would be built. All the eggs would be laid. How wrong I was! It was a mixed bag of what I found from one box to another. Six contained female Tree Swallows incubating. I felt bad for disturbing these birds. They just lay there in their nests, glaring at me, one even lightly hissed. I took quick pics with my phone of a few and then closed the boxes up. I'm sure I lightly said "sorry" as I did. I still cannot figure out what is wrong with this blog and paragraph spacing. I guess it doesn't totally matter since this is more of reporting than story telling anyway. I will break it up with photos and share a bit with a few... Nice start with 4 eggs!

Tree Swallow on nest. Where did that Blue Jay feather come from?

Six eggs! Now we're talking.

Bizarre find in this box. Last check there was 2 eggs. Now the nest is double in depth and I could not find any eggs. A pair of Tree Swallows were annoyed with my invasion and swooping me.

Five eggs. Are we done?

Sorry for disturbing you.

Halfway through my checks of Area One, I discovered a House Wren nest.

The Wren nest is quite close to a Tree Swallow nest. I sat on a log just over the pond and watched the birds. They seem to be ignoring each other which is a good thing.

My view of the two boxes from where I sat across the pond.

The Wren was quite busy going back and forth, gathering more nesting material.

This nest box was abandoned since my last check.

Another 5 eggs.

Another nesting bird I disturbed.

The "Love Shack"! I found 2 eggs within.

I felt really bad for this bird. One, I disturbed her and she is the one who hissed at me. Second, there is an ant invasion in the box. In early April I moved this box, but did not grease the t-bar. I could not pound it into the ground and had someone take care of it a few days after I moved it. Then getting the grease to it... well, didn't happen. It's since been applied and hopefully will help with the situation. I should have photographed the mass of ants just under the nest inside the box.

I made the best of this lovely morning. I had a leisurely pace about the area. I took in all the sights and sounds around me, even trying to list all the bird species I saw and/or heard that I recognized. I ended up with about 30 species and there was a number of calls I just couldn't nail. I had a few mammal sightings through the woods as well. This Eastern Cottontail led me up the path.

This time of year I'm always looking and hoping to spot a Raccoon family. Area One had been great for years but not the last few. I did find one sleeping adult.

I spotted a Belted Kingfisher as I crossed the river heading to the next set of boxes.

The Swallows could see me coming a mile away.

No shortage of curious Red-winged Blackbirds in my travels.

As I trekked through the woods, I heard the call of a couple Wood Thrushes. At least I am quite certain they were Wood Thrushes only going by sound. I admit I have been mixed up between Thrush songs in the past. I'm calling it "Wood Thrush" unless someone corrects. Regardless it was a nice time out, listening to the soundtrack in the woods. Play the song of the Wood Thrush while I lay on my death bed and I will peacefully go. I took a short video, recording the call. I've made this more than just a nest blog update, haven't I? It was my intention to show that it's not just work, although it's good work in my opinion. It's another reason to get outdoors, to go for a walk, to enjoy the natural world around us, to take in all the birds and wildlife. Nothing wrong with that, is there? I visited the other areas I'm monitoring boxes. I had to check the Bluebird nest as I was very curious if the other 3 eggs hatched. Unfortunately that does not look like it's going to happen. Here are the 2 chicks at approximately 7 days old.

We had 10 eggs, 5 and 5 from 2 Bluebird nests. I prefer to look at it as we've got 2 hatched Bluebirds over we lost 8. And in the Forgotten Land, I discovered a third Tree Swallow nest. There were 2 eggs within.

I also discovered another House Wren nest in the area. So right now I've got 14 Tree Swallow nests, possibly 15 if that nest where the 2 eggs disappeared turns into something again, and 1 Bluebird nest (still hoping for a 2nd... there's always hope) and 2 House Wren nests. I'm not really monitoring the Wrens but since they are in vicinity of the other boxes, I will observe. There may be a delay for the next nest update here as very soon the fledge watch will begin for our resident Peregrine Falcons in Etobicoke (Islington/Bloor site). They have 4 chicks once again and let's hope it will be a better year than the previous 2. We have had 50% mortality both years. It is truly heart breaking stuff. But we carry on for the ones who do survive. One of our birds from 2015 has surfaced in Ohio. That was amazing news since that was one of the years where we lost 2 of the 4. Perhaps I will do a Falcon fledge blog here at some point? It is nest monitoring. Okay, time to end this long blog. Thanks for staying with me! If for some reason you are still in the mood for some reading, here is a link to my latest blog on my original blog page Rob and the Animals. And my wife Angie did one about our weekend at home which you might also enjoy, see here.

First Hatch!

Okay, so I had another secret... a 2nd Bluebird nest... somewhere. Why do I keep it a secret? Well anytime I talk about seeing Bluebirds, someone (times a few) asks me where they are. No one ever asks where that Tree Swallow box is. No one cares where a Robin's nest is. Those birds are in so many parks. But Bluebirds... Is that selfish of me? No. As excited as I am about having Eastern Bluebirds nesting in the area, I am not spending any more time with them than any of the other boxes I am monitoring. The birds need the distance. They deserve the respect. So about every 10 to 14 days I am checking in on how things are going. On May 1st, I discovered 2 eggs in the box they chose. May 12th I was delighted to now find 5 eggs. Then on May 26th I find this! Two newly hatched Bluebirds and hopefully their siblings are soon to follow.

There are a good number of Eastern Bluebirds in Southern Ontario this Spring. The Bluebirds nest earlier than most other songbirds. Some think this is an adaptation, getting in early and doing what they have to do before the other birds start up. Bluebirds really do have a hard go at nesting time, competing with other cavity nesters. It makes sense but who really knows? Sadly, with the cold wet Spring we are having this year, there is a lot of mortality with the young Bluebirds. A combination of the adults struggling to find insects in this weather plus keep their young warm. People are checking their boxes and finding all the young dead. Devastating. But there are survivors out there too. It's just with how many are not making it is overwhelming. Let's hope many of these adults re-nest, which some do, and produce a second clutch. I was happy to see the female fly out of the box as I approached. I then saw the male as I left the area.

This gave me the push I needed to go check on the first Bluebird nest which I had a tragic discovery within the other week. I had mixed opinions on what to do with the nest after removing the dead male. Leave it and possibly the female would keep up with it or dump it and start over. I was not ready to dump the eggs. I held out hope as I saw the female in the area days after. Opening that box, seeing the 5 eggs still there, I accepted that this nest was a failure and it was time to clean it out. I removed the whole nest in one piece and set it out in the tall grass. I figure something else will come along and make use of the eggs at some point or they will just go back to the Earth.

I am anxious to visit the existing Bluebird nest again. And soon! But Mother Nature doesn't rush things. Good thing I have other boxes and areas to check in the meantime.

Discovery

On May 21st I went out for a walk through the Forgotten Land. It's overwhelming the number of nest boxes that are there and while I do what I can, when I can for the boxes I see, be it remove them, repair them, replace them or just make them unusable until I can deal with them... I just can't get to them all. I walked to the farthest point west, where they begin, shaking my head at how low some are (2 ft off the ground is ridiculous) and then there was this one in particular.

Who in their right mind thought this was a proper nest box to set up? Entry holes on either side! In my waking moment here I think about a day like today; heavy rain and high winds getting in and going right through that box. This is not a deluxe feature having both a front and back door. Then I saw a sight very much like this photo I took on our vacation recently down in the Long Point area. A Tree Swallow sitting on a post.

It suddenly took flight. Then from a nest box nearby, out flew another Tree Swallow. Hence the title of this blog "Discovery".

So obviously there is a nest going on inside and I had to give the box a once over. It was hanging off the t-bar by one screw. The walls were coming apart. The front wall had a large gap as it was also coming away from wear over the years. I opened it up and this is what I found inside.

Woo hoo! But I felt bad that they are using this crappy box I did not get to doing anything about. I closed it back up and did my best to tighten it up with a couple extra screws I took from some of the other dilapidated boxes around me. The wood is so old and dry, it was making cracking sounds as I tried to add a support screw to the back wall along the t-bar. I decided it was best to not go any further. I did not want the box to break apart due to my efforts to secure it. Now I know where the box is, I will leave it be and not check it again until later in the Summer when I know the young birds would be out of it. I don't want to risk it with that brittle wood. Also in my walk, I checked a box I repaired and it has a Tree Swallow nest now. There were 3 eggs. How many more to come?

It shows the Forgotten Land has potential, and that the birds will try to use these nest boxes even as they age and start to fall apart. While in the natural world, natural cavities do not get maintained, and life goes on one way or another; it's still unfair for any cavity nesting bird to have a failed nest when trying to use a box humans put up but did not maintain. It is really frustrating that this blog will not separate my paragraphs in the final publish. I'm not doing anything different than what I do on my regular Rob and the Animals blog, which never has these issues. It all looks fine as I key it out but then everything condenses. Anyone familiar with Blogger and what might be my problem? I noticed a "send feedback" option and did just that now. Hopefully I can get this straightened out. Apologies for the mess here.

Updates and Set Backs

Hey all who may be stopping in for an update on things. Here I am, going to try and be brief because we are on vacation right now. Angie went out for part of the day so it gave me the opportunity to check all the nest boxes and hopefully finish this blog before she returns and we head out back for the remainder of the day. We do hope one day her mobility issues will not be such an issue and she can join me on one of the nest box walks in the future. Okay, here we go... I started off with a box I knew of but have not mentioned about it on here so far. It was going to be kept secret until end of season and have a special blog about it. Eastern Bluebirds have been seen in our area this Spring and I found their box of interest. Sadly, checking in today after a couple weeks, I found the male dead within the box.

He was on top of 5 Bluebird eggs.

It was a crushing moment. And a mystery as to what happened. Friends believe he was defending the nest from another bird, maybe another male Bluebird, maybe a House Sparrow or House Wren? I've not seen nor heard either of those species in my walks about the area but can't rule it out. I did notice the Bluebird male fighting off a Tree Swallow last visit but the Swallows have set up in a box about 35 ft east of the Bluebirds. That's ample space for the two if I'm not mistaken. I removed the male from the box but left the nest and eggs inside. Rest in peace little one.

Thank you for the joy you have given me the past month!

I had seen a female Bluebird about so we shall see what or if anything comes of this now. It's a very sad moment for me though as I was very excited about having these birds so close to our home. It reminded me of last year with my first monitoring walk and finding the 5 dead young Tree Swallows at my first box check. I hope this is not an on going thing having me dread the first walk in years to come. But now I've got a Tree Swallow nest to keep an eye on here. I continued my trek into Area One. I was amazed to discover out of the 13 nest boxes we have in one field, that 10 are active with Tree Swallows! I ventured to the other field where we set up 4 boxes and 3 of them have active Tree Swallow nests. In 2016 we had a total of 7 nests for Area One. Now we have 13. Incredible! Add that other nest I have under my watch... 14. I'm going to be a busy boy. Tree Swallows lay an average of 5 eggs, sometimes 6, sometimes 4, but usually 5. We have the potential for 70 fledges this season if everything goes perfectly. That would double last year's. Here are some photos from my walk about. I found a single egg in a couple boxes.

Most were well under way and pretty much ready for eggs.

One box had 3 eggs in it already.

Hooray, Wood Duck Alfie's box has a nest! Trust me, there's one in there.

Double hooray as our "Love Shack" has a developing nest as well!

Incoming Tree Swallow, at my head, as I approach his nest box.

Standing ground until the last steps I take.

I don't like stressing them out but it's been 3 weeks since I've checked how things are here.

I'm applying yellow vinyl tape to the posts this year, keeping the red bands from last year, just for my own curiosity about nest boxes being used 2 years in a row. I probably should have applied the tape first but you can see last year's red band still.

As always, I thank everyone who stops in to have a read about the nest monitoring. Let's wish all the Tree Swallows a great nesting season and maybe hold out a little hope for the female Bluebird now without a mate.

I don't know why Blogger is being a pain today, not allowing me to separate my paragraphs. Grrr... This is why I've gotten creative and bolding out every other sentence. Hope it's helped with reading. Back in about 2 weeks with another update after my next round of box checks.