From Kendal Resident (and Bird Monitor): Renate Chapman:
Out of 24 nests on the Kendal Trail, 21 are currently active, either brooding or still laying as of yesterday. Out of those, three are bluebirds, one is a chickadee, the rest are tree swallows. As far as those are concerned, my helper and I are public enemy No. 1, they are swooping around pretty close to us, with impressive vocals.
The chickadee is in a box that was put in a tree just for decoration, there is no access to it without taking the whole thing almost apart, so I don't know anything about number of eggs, dates, etc. My tentative probing with a finger was convincingly repulsed by the bird in residence. The owner is keeping close watch and will notice hatching.
There is one box on the trail where the owner has unequivocally forbidden us to go anywhere near her box and molest her birds, if any. She herself does not check and does not know what is going on either - nature does not need our help, thank you very much.
My helper's name is Louise Hasselman, she lives in one of the cluster cottages on the other side of campus. She has become more and more interested (as is her husband), so that now I have given her several blank sheets for record keeping and she will try to monitor the (5?) boxes in her neighborhood. The thrill of finding little warm eggs in one of the nests is all the reward we need.
We had some discussions about what is a "completed nest"? For instance, in one box there was what we thought was at best a good beginning, but the tree swallows thought it was good enough and started laying. Other boxes had been half full with nice cushy nests for a while, before the first egg appeared. There is one of the nice blue boxes, with a guard and platform, but the only reason why birds seem to visit it, is for use as an outhouse. I have cleaned it out twice, they persist. I have never heard of birds that foul even a potential nest, have you?
The first nest to have a clutch of five eggs was on April 23, so by tomorrow (May 7) there is a chance of hatching. Next are several where hatching may occur by May 12. Lamentably, most of our boxes are on fence posts and inadequately protected against predators. Heartbreak may follow.
At one point I found a dead tree swallow inside a box, no discernible injury. The owner gave it a burial. There was also a dead tree swallow in the grass near the fence, that was too far gone to see whether there was injury.
Out of 24 nests on the Kendal Trail, 21 are currently active, either brooding or still laying as of yesterday. Out of those, three are bluebirds, one is a chickadee, the rest are tree swallows. As far as those are concerned, my helper and I are public enemy No. 1, they are swooping around pretty close to us, with impressive vocals.
The chickadee is in a box that was put in a tree just for decoration, there is no access to it without taking the whole thing almost apart, so I don't know anything about number of eggs, dates, etc. My tentative probing with a finger was convincingly repulsed by the bird in residence. The owner is keeping close watch and will notice hatching.
There is one box on the trail where the owner has unequivocally forbidden us to go anywhere near her box and molest her birds, if any. She herself does not check and does not know what is going on either - nature does not need our help, thank you very much.
My helper's name is Louise Hasselman, she lives in one of the cluster cottages on the other side of campus. She has become more and more interested (as is her husband), so that now I have given her several blank sheets for record keeping and she will try to monitor the (5?) boxes in her neighborhood. The thrill of finding little warm eggs in one of the nests is all the reward we need.
We had some discussions about what is a "completed nest"? For instance, in one box there was what we thought was at best a good beginning, but the tree swallows thought it was good enough and started laying. Other boxes had been half full with nice cushy nests for a while, before the first egg appeared. There is one of the nice blue boxes, with a guard and platform, but the only reason why birds seem to visit it, is for use as an outhouse. I have cleaned it out twice, they persist. I have never heard of birds that foul even a potential nest, have you?
The first nest to have a clutch of five eggs was on April 23, so by tomorrow (May 7) there is a chance of hatching. Next are several where hatching may occur by May 12. Lamentably, most of our boxes are on fence posts and inadequately protected against predators. Heartbreak may follow.
At one point I found a dead tree swallow inside a box, no discernible injury. The owner gave it a burial. There was also a dead tree swallow in the grass near the fence, that was too far gone to see whether there was injury.