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| Tree swallow nest with 5 eggs |
All
eleven nest boxes are in use this week. A new bluebird nest was made in the
past week in the empty box, for a total of seven boxes occupied by bluebirds.
However, in that new nest is one speckled cowbird egg.
There
are 21 bluebirds of all ages in six other boxes. I did not open two of those
boxes, because the nestlings are old enough that opening the box might startle
them into fledging too soon.
I
also did not open the nest box with the chickadee inside for the same reason.
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| Four over-a-week old bluebirds |
Three
other boxes contain eight tree swallows over a week old, and five tree swallow
eggs (in the box that was under attack last week; they appear unharmed, and the
mother swallow flew out as I approached). One of the tree swallow nests had
previously been stuck to the nest box door, so I’ve opened it very, very
carefully each week. This week, I barely opened it a sliver, and saw two tree
swallow nestlings, their beaks against the door, ready to tumble out if I
opened it any wider.
