Well my 7 year old granddaughter and I did a nest box update today;
1) 2 occupied by bluebirds, one with 5 nestlings and one with 5 eggs
2) 3 occupied by tree swallows; one with 7 eggs (a 1st with that many for us) and one with 6 eggs. A 3rd box was being closely guarded by the parents and when we opened the box 3 feathers were blown out by the wind, so we decided to leave the box and moved away. The parents then proceeded to retrieve the 3 feathers and return them to the nest box - pretty cool to see that!
3) we also had one box claimed by house wrens with 3 eggs. That box is probably to close to nearby trees
4) we also have about 20 bird house gourds and small nestboxes spread around on the edge of trees, with lots of house wren activities, but I don’t monitor those closely
5) the nest box where Great Crested Flycatchers have nested the last 2 years is currently unoccupied, but the flycatchers are calling around the yard, often nearby to that box, so we’ll see. The good news is that the starlings don’t seem interested in the box
6) the other 5 large nestboxes spread around the yard have been closed for the season. Due to a recent successful hip replacement surgery 3 months ago, I was just not able to monitor them and defend against a starling invasion. We’ll open them for the fall and winter so the flickers can roost there for the winter.
Besides checking the boxes and seeing eggs and nestlings, my grandaughter gets a kick out of the notebook I use to keep track of things. When we check things together, she gets to sign the page - another budding naturalist!
Still haven’t seen many warblers this year, but we have lots of cardinals, rose-breasted grosebeaks, baltimore orioles and gray catbirds visiting the feeders, as well as all the common woodpeckers.
Dan Getman, Kirksville, northeast MO
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