SPRING CLEANING – AGAIN!!
by Brian Reid
It is a bit boring and sometimes dirty, but it is work that has to be done.
I’m talking about house cleaning – well, bird house cleaning to be more precise.
The Samuel Wilmot Nature Area Management Advisory Committee maintains and monitors 85 bird nesting boxes throughout the nature area. They are cleaned out every year in late fall, at which time we are also able to check occupancy rates. They are checked again from late March to early April in preparation for the next nesting season. It is at this time that any needed repairs are done, poles are straightened – and some unhappy mice are evicted!
In the photo below, Committee members Carmen Aeillo and Rod McArthur
make final adjustments to a box on the west side of the Cobbledick trail near the wildflower garden.
Historically, about 95% of the boxes are utilized each year, with some containing more than one nest! The main residents have been tree swallows, but some wrens and an occasional member of the sparrow family have made use of the boxes. In fact, we deliberately installed a few wren boxes two years ago. And THIS year, much to our delight, we have spotted three eastern bluebirds checking things out – including a pair that were seen taking nesting material into one of the boxes – on March 22nd! This is very encouraging since these beautiful birds are not as common in our area as they once were. Tree swallows began to arrive almost two weeks ago.
Samuel Wilmot Nature Area News 