Chimney Swifts

The Driftwood Wildlife Association "promotes the conservation of Chimney Swifts through public education, preservation of existing habitat and creation of new nesting and roosting sites". They are once again plotting chimney swifts' movements northward over the next few months and are asking folks to let them know when you spot the first one in your area. To post your sighting go here. Also on their site is a chimney swift web cam, an online newsletter (Chaetura), plans for building your own chimney swift tower, and much more. Check them out....it is a worthwhile organization.

Let the Nesting Begin

I found 5 powder-blue colored bluebird eggs in my box today! Not sure when the clutch began so it will be hard for me to determine the hatch date. Bluebird eggs are laid one per day until the clutch is complete- a total of 4-7 eggs. This is followed by 12-14 days of incubation. Egg laying at times can be delayed if inclement weather persists, if food is scarce or if the parents are young. Since incubation doesn't begin until all eggs are laid I'm thinking I have a completed clutch because when I opened the box the female was sitting atop the eggs. I also checked the box I placed on my neighbors property and found one egg in it. This means it was laid today, which will help in determining the hatch date here. I'm very fortunate to have nesting bluebirds in both boxes so soon. Also it looks like the soap did the trick because I found no more wasp nests.

The Persistent Sparrow

Having a purple martin colony has its joys and its pains. One of the pains comes in the form of a tiny bird known as the English Sparrow. This non-native bird was introduced into the United States back in the mid 19th century to "aid people against the encroachment of insects." Little did they know that this introduction was the beginning of something ireversible and detrimental to our native songbirds. As W.L. Dawson wrote in 1903 "Without question the most deplorable event in the history of American ornithology was the introduction of the English Sparrow."
Over the years I've learned one important lesson while dealing with these "weeds of the air"- they are very persistent, and I don't say that lightly. When they build their nest in a gourd or house it is literally jam packed with grasses, candy wrappers, cigarette butts, etc. to the point that you wonder how the hell they even get inside themselves. I have removed these packed nests only to find within a 24 hour period that they have repacked it. I remove it again.....and they repack it. This goes on over and over again until finally due to my persistence along with the help of my martins pestering them (the sparrows are outnumbered 5 to 1) they finally give in and leave.