Nestlings and more (12 June 2017)

Shara and I stopped at the Ziibiwing Center last night (12 June) to check on the bluebird nesting boxes.  First up was the single Eastern Bluebird nest.  Here is what they looked like yesterday.

Eastern Bluebird nestlings on 12 June 2017 (photo by Shara LeValley)

For comparison, the same nest on June 6th.  Those little buggers have grown a lot in a week!

Eastern Bluebird nestlings on 06 June 2017 (photo by Shara LeValley)

 We also checked on the four Tree Swallow nests.  One nest had chicks that appeared to have hatched in the last 24 hours.  The chicks in the other three nests are a five to ten days old.  Here is a picture of  one of the older nests.  Unfortunately most of the other photos were too dark and blurry.

Tree Swallow nestlings on 12 June 2017 (photo by Shara LeValley)

The birds were not the only babies that we found.  While walking across the lawn, we noticed a patch of Common Milkweed and out of habit began to search for Monarch eggs and caterpillars.  We found one - our first caterpillar of the year!  Because grounds was at that time mowing the lawn, we knew this caterpillar would not survive where it was found.  We collected it and took it home to rear.  We'll release it once it metamorphoses as an adult.

Monarch caterpillar (photo by Shara LeValley)

Finally, we discovered paper wasps creating a nest on the underside of a sculpture.  Wasps create these nests by chewing up wood fibers and mixing it with their saliva to create a paper-like substance.  The hexagonal shape of each cell allows the wasps to fit the maximum number of cells in a small space.

Paper wasps (photo by Shara LeValley)

Paper wasp nest on coneflower sculpture (photo by Shara LeValley)

Another baby picture

Just one more picture of baby birds...

Yesterday afternoon, Shara and I checked all of the bluebird nesting boxes at the Saginaw Chippewa Academy.  To our surprise, there was very little nesting activity.  We only found two boxes (out of ten) with active nests.  Both were occupied by Tree Swallows. 

Tree Swallow nestlings (photo by Shara LeValley)

If you look closely, there are six nestlings in this picture.  Five of them are obvious while the sixth on is partially obscured by the feather on the bottom right of the image.  At this stage, the nestlings basically do nothing but eat and sleep.  Both parents were fully occupied with catching enough flying insects to feed their growing brood.

We did see an adult male Eastern Bluebird in the field where the nest boxes are located, but did not find a bluebird nest.  He kept flying toward a nearby woodland so it seems likely that this year the bluebirds found a natural cavity to nest in.

Tree Swallow nestling

Continuing with the theme of baby animals...

Yesterday after work, we stopped to check on the nesting boxes at the Ziibiwing Center.  We only looked into three of the seven boxes.  In two cases the female bird was sitting on the nest when we opened the box - we quickly closed those boxes back up to avoid disturbing them further.

In the third box, this is what we found...

This Tree Swallow nestling was no more than a few hours old.  The rest of the eggs should be hatching within a day or two.

Bluebird and Swallow eggs

Yesterday (24 May), we stopped after work to check on the nesting boxes at the Ziibiwing Center.  Out of seven boxes, we found five active nests - one Eastern Bluebird (Sialis sialis) nest and four Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) nests.  The remaining two boxes showed evidence of House Sparrows and were cleaned out.

Here are photos of four of the active nests; the fifth nest had a swallow in the box and we didn't open it.

First up is the Bluebird nest.  This box was also used by a pair of Bluebirds in 2016 - last year they successfully raised five young.  The colder weather this spring has delayed nesting for many birds.  At this point last year, the Bluebird chicks were a week old.  As of yesterday they were still eggs.

Eastern Bluebird eggs (photo by Shara LeValley)

Next is a picture of a Tree Swallow nest.  You'll notice the difference in nests right away.  Bluebirds construct their nests of fine grasses.  So do Tree Swallows, but then they line their nests with feathers.
This nest got a late start - the bird have only laid one egg so far.

Tree Swallow nest and egg (photo by Shara LeValley)

The final two active nest both contained six Tree Swallow eggs.

Tree Swallow eggs (photo by Shara LeValley)

Another Tree Swallow nest (photo by Shara LeValley)

We'll check on the boxes again next week - hopefully there will be baby birds to show.

Where have all the blog posts gone?

The past two weeks have been some of my busiest weeks of the year.  I had two major events that I was responsible for organizing, the International Migratory Bird Day Celebration at the Ziibiwing Center on Saturday May 13th and our annual Environmental Education Day on Friday May 19th.  Planning for each of these event begins about a year in advance, but the two weeks immediately prior to both events are hectic with last minute details such as confirming presenters and ordering and organizing supplies, not to mention the actual day of the event.  As a result I have had very little time to think about writing new blog posts.  Things are slowly starting to return to normal.

Meanwhile, nature continues with its usual springtime activities.  Flowers continue to bloom.  Trees are mostly leafed out.  A robin built its usual nest on our house, laid eggs, the eggs hatched, and the babies fledged.  And lets not forget that the bluebirds and tree swallows are nesting in natural cavities and man-made nesting boxes.

During the Bird Celebration at the Ziibiwing Center, Shara was able to sneak off for about a half hour to watch the birds at the nesting boxes.  Here are a few of her photographs...

Hey, you kids, get off my lawn!  (Photo by Shara LeValley)

What is that?  (Photo by Shara LeValley)

I've got my eye on you!  (Photo by Shara LeValley)

Oh, you're still here!  Run along, you!  (Photo by Shara LeValley)

Baby Bluebird Update (31 May 2016)

The baby Eastern Bluebirds at the Ziibiwing Center continue to grow quickly.  They have begun to spill out of the nest cup.  At a minimum these nestlings are 15 days old.  They could fledge (leave the nest) any day.

It's getting crowded in here... (Photo by Shara LeValley)

Baby Eastern Bluebirds (Photo by Shara LeValley)

One of the other nest boxes has a Tree Swallow nest.  When we opened the box, Mama Tree Swallow was sitting inside.

A female Tree Swallow sitting on her nest (Photo by Shara LeValley)

Meanwhile, in one of the nest boxes at the Saginaw Chippewa Academy a clutch of Tree Swallow eggs has hatched.

Tree Swallow nestlings (Photo by Shara LeValley)

Signs of Spring - Tree Swallows have returned

This morning (08 APR 2014) I saw my first Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) of the year.  This was exactly one week earlier than last year (15 APR 2013).  The birds were perched atop nest boxes at the Saginaw Chippewa Academy.  These are not the first Tree Swallows to return to the area - a look at eBird shows Mid-Michigan sightings as early as March 27th this year.

A pair of Tree Swallows (June 2009)

I have written several posts that included information about Tree Swallows.  Look at the links below for more information.

• A profile of Tree Swallows
• A post about sexual dimorphism
• A post about a nesting pair of Tree wallows
• Plans for a nest box 

A singing male Tree Swallow - note the swollen throat (June 2009)

 For more information about Tree Swallows visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website.

Environmental Education Day & Tree Swallows

Tomorrow, 17 May 2013, the Isabella Conservation District is hosting its annual Environmental Education Day for 3rd grade students.  We invite every 3rd grade classroom in Isabella County to attend.  We have just over 600 students scheduled to participate. To make this program work, we invite different organizations from the local area and around Michigan to participate.  With just a few exceptions, these organizations donate their time and resources to help support environmental education.  I plan on writing a longer post next week to acknowledge all those who participate, but right now my schedule is a little busy. 

I thought I would show you a few new pictures of a pair of Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor)from earlier this week.  This was one of five nesting pairs using nest boxes at the Saginaw Chippewa Academy.  This pair had six eggs in their nest.  For more information on Tree Swallows check here.  Nest box plans and information can be found on this page.

This pair let me approach to about 8 foot from the box - these pictures were taken with my short telephoto lens at 135mm - before they took off to circle around me while I checked the nest.  The male then landed in a nearby tree and let me take several more pictures.

Male (top) and female (bottom) Tree Swallows on nest box

Male Tree Swallow

For the Birds

One of the easiest things that you can do to help birds is to put up places for them to nest.  Many bird nest only in abandoned woodpecker holes, knotholes, and other cavities in trees.  Unfortunately for many cavity-nesting birds, appropriate nesting sites are few and far between, and there is great competition for those sites that do exist. 

Most appropriate nest sites are found in dead or dying trees where it easier for woodpeckers to excavate a hole.  If these are in the middle of a woods, they may stand for many years and be used by many different species.  But if they are along a fencerow, on the edge of a woods, or in someone's yard they are not likely to last for more than one or two nesting seasons.  Many people view dead trees, especially one with holes, as ugly or even dangerous.  They don't think about the value of such trees to wildlife.

A trend that has been happening for many years, but that seems to be accelerating here in Mid-Michigan, is the removal of fencerows between fields.  Farmers do this to maximize agricultural production, but unfortunately it removes valuable habitat for many species, including cavity-nesting birds. 

So things might look bleak for cavity nesting birds, but there is one easy step that can be done to help them: build and install artificial nest boxes.  Do it right now before nesting season begins.  The birds will find the boxes and use them. 

There are many available plans that can be built from a single board with simple hand tools.  This plan is one that we have available in our office for people to take. I have found this same plan available on numerous websites, and do not know the original source of the plan.

Simple one board nest box plan.