Today’s Bluebird Monitor Trail Results

This was the first day on the route that the weather seemed spring-like.  I saw my first dandelion on the trail.  Only one dandelion – as if it was brave enough to come out while the others continued to snooze a bit longer under the covers.

Red-wing Blackbird

Boxes #1 and 2 remain empty, though it’s obvious the Tree Swallows are pairing up and showing interest.

Tree Swallow considers occupying a nest box meant for an Eastern Bluebird pair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Box #3 has the base of a grass nest and at this time I don’t know if it’s a bluebird nest or a Tree Swallow nest.  It appears to be an Eastern Bluebird nest, but as the construction gets further along, the appearance of feathers to line it will assure it belongs to a swallow pair.  Nothing to do now but keep an eye on it.  A bluebird pair was active around the box as were the swallows.

Box # 4 also had active Eastern Bluebird and Tree Swallow couples inspecting the box, and it had a few shreds of grassy material on the bottom, though nothing resembling a formed nest.

Box #5 – empty

An Eastern Bluebird egg rests in its nest.

Box #6 – The first egg of the season in this well-formed bluebird nest.  I’m assuming it was laid early this morning.  Oddly, I have yet to spy any bluebirds at this site.

Box #7 – empty

Box #8 – empty

Nests!

It’s still unseasonably cold.  It was 32 degrees – freezing – when I stepped onto the Bluebird trail this morning to monitor the nest boxes.  Last week they were still empty with no sign of Bluebirds.  This morning I spied a female Bluebird diving to the ground for insects from her perch on a low shrub.  Hum-m-m!  Good sign!  And when I came to box #6 … low and behold … an almost fully built-out Bluebird nest!  Yes!  These birds really do know what time it is!

Ralph & Alice’s Nest, top view

So late this afternoon, I walked out to the Chickadee nest box in my backyard.  Recall that last week I saw Ralph and Alice taking a serious look inside and outside the box.  Well, the Honeymooners have definitely decided to take the place for the season!  They know it’s time to get going though it’s still very chilly out.  I found a pretty well-built-out nest in their apartment, uh, I mean nest box.

Last year Lucy and Ricky had a lot more moss as a base to their nest.  I wonder if the cool spring has made moss a premium commodity.  But there is a lot of soft material lining the nest.  It has the classic deep cup toward the back of the box to make it safer against predators.

Ralph & Alice’s Nest, side view

A side view shows Ralph and Alice removed all those wood chips I put on the floor to simulate a vacated woodpecker hole as they might find in a tree.  They piled up classic Chickadee moss and layered in grass and some pine needles.  Alice is lining the cup with what appears to be animal hair and plant fiber.  The lining materials are still in clumps, but she’ll have it all straightened out soon.

My new bluebird friend, Ralph and Alice, and more!

It’s been a crazy-busy weekend!  Our northern Illinois spring has been rather winter-like.  But the days are getting longer and I know one day the sun will shine, it will be warm, and dandelions will dot the landscape overnight.

Saturday, April 13

It was winter-like with snow swirling as I took my new bluebird friend, Ken, for a tour of my bluebird monitor route on Saturday morning.  Ken is a new monitor in our forest preserve district natural resources volunteer group and he’ll be taking the second route I had for the last two years.  Ken seems like a more experienced birder than I, but since he was unable to attend the annual data analysis and training session in February, he didn’t know much about our monitoring program.  We walked the route and Ken practiced the proper way to approach and open a wild bird nest box.  We went over data collection and reporting.  We rummaged through the gear in my backpack … flashlight, auto mechanic mirror, paint scraper, deodorant soap, eco-friendly household cleaner, weak bleach solution, brushes, plastic gloves, silicon spray, old towel to wipe silicon, duct tape, scissors, old plastic grocery bag, volunteer parking permit tags.  We didn’t spy any bluebirds but we saw some Sapsuckers and some White Breasted Nuthatches playing tag in the forest. It was fun to see Ken’s excitement about the experiences he’s likely to encounter.  Later that day he emailed me about going out to his route to prepare the boxes for the season.

I checked my chickadee nest box as I have been every weekend since I put it up in my yard on Valentine’s Day.  It seems as if some of those birch bark chips have been removed.  It’s still too cold for nesting, but time is moving on and I have not yet spied those Black Capped Chickadees at the box!  I wonder if Lucy and Ricky will be back this year.

Sunday, April 14

Hummingbird Feeder In Readiness!

The day dawned cold, windy and gray.  But the weather man was right.  Later on the sun came out, the sky was blue and it was fairly warm.  I went about filling bird feeders including my humming bird feeder for the first time this season.  Those hummers are still showing far to the south on the hummingbird migration map.  Still down in Central Illinois.  But as I always do, I put up the feeder in mid-April which is about when, on average, they show up in my part of the world.

While tending to my bird feeders, what did I spy?  A chickadee pair yonder in the pine tree taking turns flitting in and out of the nest box!  OMG!  Are Lucy and Ricky back?  I grabbed my camera and zoomed in to see what I could see.  No!  It’s not Ricky and Lucy.  It’s.  It’s.  Why, look!  It’s Ralph and  Alice!  I got a shot of Ralph waiting patiently for Alice to exit before he took his turn in the box.

Black Capped Chickadee at Chickadee Bird House Entry

Bluebirds, Hummingbirds, and Chickadees!  Just another typical spring weekend.

Thank goodness they’re late!

You know the feeling.  You’re expecting company and you’re not quite ready.  A few last-minute details remain.  You think the doorbell will ring momentarily.  You panic.

The phone rings.  “Hi, we’re running a bit late.  We’ll be there within a half-hour.”

Whew!  Saved!

Nuthatch (Photo credit: StevoKebabo)

That was how I felt when I realized I’m only a week away from the mid-April date when I hang out my hummingbird feeder.  OMG!  I’m still watching my winter feeder visitors.  The Pine Siskins, the Red-breasted Nuthatches, the Dark-eyed Juncos.  I have not even thought about unplugging the cord from my heated bird bath.  And all of a sudden it hit me …. mid-April is almost upon me!

Well, I’m not really late.  Not yet.  I have a week to mix a batch of nectar and put up the hummingbird feeders.  I hope the wintering Pine Siskins won’t mind.  Their winter Nyjer seed feeder is about to be relocated.

I’ve been saved by the late arrival of the Ruby-throat Hummingbirds to my part of the world this year.  Thank goodness for the online hummingbird migration map.  Last year they were spotted here in Northeastern Illinois around March 21.  As of today, they have not even penetrated the Southern Illinois border.  But they’re close.  They’re just south of the Ohio River in Kentucky.  They’re near Metropolis, Illinois, home of Superman!

Scrambled, Hard-boiled, Tie-dyed, or Marbled?

Hum-m-m-m-m.

Uh.

Make mine marbled, please.

I tried my hand at marbling Easter eggs this year.  They turned out better than I expected they would.  The marbling that is.  Hard boiled eggs always taste great!

 

Marbled Easter Eggs

Happy Easter!

 

Bluebird Season Begins Anew

Spring has sprung.  At least it says so on my March 2013 calendar.  But even though  I’m still wrapped in my hooded down jacket, winter boots and ski gloves for my week-day commutes, I decided it was “officially” time to change my blog header and background to spring redbud colors.  Who cares if the weather has been unseasonably cold?

The last two years I agreed to take responsibility for two bluebird monitor routes since the forest preserve district program didn’t have enough volunteers to go around.  I’m back to one bluebird nest box route to monitor this season. This is a good thing.  I need the time to spend on other endeavors.

I began my 5th season on March 16th when I opened and cleaned out the eight boxes on the trail.  I removed the duct tape over the entry holes, washed out the insides, and rubbed bar soap on the wooden interior top to prevent wasps from building nests there.  Thankfully, no mice were able to find any wiggle room to get inside and build nests over the winter.  It’s a messy job and I needed to tote a couple of gallons of water to the boxes to rinse them after scrubbing.  Not much fun on a cold March day.

Today when I made the rounds, I spent time to right one box that was leaning over.  Its mounting pole had been in soil that was softened too much by rain and snow melt.  The box is standing tall now.

I haven’t spied any Eastern Bluebirds.  But I know they’ll come.

Wish the bluebirds good luck on the trail this year!

Seeing Red

I worked from home today.  That gave me a chance to look out at my wild bird feeders from time to time as I made trips to the kitchen to refill my coffee mug and have lunch.

 

English: Common Redpoll (Carduelis flammea), male, Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area, Quebec, Canada. Français : Sizerin flammé (Carduelis flammea), mâle, Réserve nationale de faune du cap Tourmente, Québec, Canada. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

I was treated to the sight of a male and female Common Redpoll pair on the nyjer seed feeder outside the kitchen window.  I saw a male Redpoll earlier this winter.  He was fairly bold and allowed me to get quite close.  It’s a treat to see these birds.  They come in the winter from their Arctic summer homes to as far south as the Central U.S.  I’ve seen highly experienced birders get terribly excited over the site of these LBBs (Little Brown Birds) with the red caps during bird count events.  In addition to their distinctive red caps, the males have rosy red patches on each side.  They may be having an irruptive year traveling farther south than usual.  I think this could be the case since even the few sightings I’ve had are a lot for my winter feeders.

 

English: Red-winged Blackbird, Point Pelee National Park, Ontario, Canada Français : Carouge à épaulettes, Parc national de la Pointe-Pelée, Ontario, Canada Русский: Красноплечий чёрный трупиал (Agelaius phoeniceus), Онтарио, Канада (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

And just when I thought I had my treat for the day, I spotted two visitors sporting red patches in the tree outside my living room window.  This time it was a pair of male Red-wing Blackbirds singing their little hearts out and displaying those handsome red epaulettes.  I suspect they’ve been here before since they seemed so familiar with the feeder location and comfortable perching at the sunflower snack bar.  I’m sure they’re eying the marshy area out back to establish their summer breeding territories.

 

So, watch for birds with patches of red.  If you’re in the northern tier of U.S. states or in Canada, the redpolls are in your neighborhood.  And those Red-wing Blackbirds are making their way back into nesting territory.

 

I saw signs of winter and spring outside my windows today.  It’s March.