A Carolina Chickadee (one of a pair) inspects a potential nest-hole in Catch the Wind.

If there was any doubt as to whether or not winter is behind us, the cheerful singing of the cardinals, titmice, Song Sparrows and chickadees should belay those thoughts.

Woodpeckers and nuthatches are working on drilling nest-holes, and titmice and chickadees, who are not as well equipped for drilling into wood, are hunting for old nest-holes left over from last year’s spring flurry of activity by the woodpeckers and nuthatches.

The photo above is of a Carolina Chickadee giving the once over to a tree cavity that was excavated by a nuthatch last spring. The chickadee and its mate apparently were serious about moving in, I watched them throughout the day as they went in and out of the hole removing bits of debris, spring cleaning.

I may have missed some nest box activity. Birds don’t wait for me to arrive at the Museum each day before they start their daily routines, and they continue their chores long after I leave, so I’m sure there’s quite a bit of these bird’s lives that I’ve not witnessed. With that said, I find it strange that I’ve not seen any young actually fledge from those boxes, or parent birds feeding young in the vicinity of those boxes, until now!

The mother bluebird tries to entice the two fledglings to come down to the suet feeder. The two youngsters apparently would prefer the suet brought to them. (8/19/10)

This young bluebird begs, no insists, that it be fed.

I don’t believe that all of the birds that used the boxes were successful in fledging young. I would’ve expected to see family groups of the birds in question, which I did not. Some of the attempted nests were abandoned for reasons that I can only guess at. I’ve not witnessed predation on the nest boxes, but as I’ve said, I’m not on-site all day, every day.

I’m glad, though, that I finally was able to see a bluebird family at the Bird Feeders in Catch the Wind, the same bluebird family that had been using the nest box just behind the feeders. At least we can be sure that this bluebird family made it through the egg to fledgling process in good order.

Good for them!

Male Eastern Bluebird inspecting one of the new nest boxes.

The female inspects the box while the male (out of the picture) sits on a branch just above and behind the box.

Immediately after posting “Bluebird Boxes” I went out to Catch the Wind and this is what I saw!

Both the male and female had several peeks inside the boxes. It’s still uncertain, however, whether or not they will choose to use this particular box. But, two of the other boxes are being very carefully inspected by chickadees, it may be too late for the bluebirds to move into those. Wait till the House Wrens arrive!

As before, I will keep you posted as things develop.

Not mentioned previously was a male Belted Kingfisher which has been seen in the Wetlands for the past week. The female is seen nearly daily, the male only during spring and occasionally during the summer. It looks as though there may be another attempt at nesting by our resident female kingfisher.

One of the bluebird boxes donated and installed on 20 February. This one is next to the Ornithopter in Catch the Wind.

We’ve recently acquired five new nest boxes. The boxes are intended for Eastern Bluebirds but I think that Carolina Chickadees, House Wrens, or Tree Swallows (a long shot, but you never know) could use the boxes. I’d be happy with any of the above.

The boxes were donated by Ken Kernodle, Steve McDaniel, and John Boone and installed by them with the help of Anne Baugh, Exhibits Research Specialist here at the Museum.

Four of the boxes are in Catch the Wind and you’ll probably spot them as you meander through that area. It’s a good idea not to approach nest boxes during the breeding season. The birds will be less stressed if not disturbed and the scent from your foot prints leading to the nest box will be a signal to any would-be predator that lunch is ahead. Most wildlife have long ago learned that wherever there are people, there’s sure to be a free meal.

Keep your eye on the nest boxes, however, and let me know what you observe. I’ve already seen Carolina Chickadees going in and out of two of the boxes and a bluebird carrying nesting material, although I didn’t see the bluebird go into one of the boxes with that material.

I’ll update you as the season moves along, please let me know what you observe.

Elsewhere at the Museum, as I came in to work this morning a Brown Thrasher was serenading all who would listen from a lamp post on the right side of the main Museum building. This bird, and another in Catch the Wind, have been singing each morning for the past week or so, but they usually don’t make themselves so obvious as this one was. It’s nice to hear the song each morning as I come in to the Museum.

Also there to greet me was a large group of Cedar Waxwings (about two hundred) in a birch tree just above the hollies that run along the south side of Loblolly Park. The birds are determined to strip the hollies of their berries. After all, it IS late winter; the waxwings descend upon us each year at this time.

And finally, I thought I heard the call of the dastardly and dreaded Brown-headed Cowbird (dreaded by many bird lovers that is, I don’t necessarily dislike or fear them, although it is a bit disheartening to see a warbler feeding one of the twice-the-size offspring of these wandering nest parasites – I mean parasite in a purely scientific way, of course). When I looked up, there were four of them speeding over the parking lot in the direction of Catch the Wind.

More to follow…

Elm buds have been showing for a few weeks, this one was close enough to the ground to photograph.

Red Maple is in full bloom.

Wax Myrtle is showing buds.

A Gray Squirrel partakes in a tasty snack of buds or flowers, or both.

A Carolina Chickadee inspects a natural cavity in a sycamore. This tree is within 12 feet or so of the boardwalk. If the bird decides to use this for nesting it may make for good photographic opportunities.

A Red-winged Blackbird checks out the Wetlands. This bird was in the company of three others and was just passing through. There is, however, a lone male who sings daily in the Wetlands.

Apparently always excavating holes in trees at this time of year, a Brown-headed Nuthatch continues its work.

I noticed this bird circling above Catch the Wind (2/5) performing a "courtship" flight. I later found the bird (Cooper's Hawk) in a pine calling loudly kak, kak, kak, kak...it's time to think about nesting.

A winter resident at the Museum, this Ruby-crowned Kinglet searches for food among the branches of a willow in the Wetlands. Kinglets often start singing before leaving us for points north, I haven't heard their song yet.

Get outdoors and have a look around for yourself, and let me know what you see!

After a seven-month absence, a Green Heron was back on station on 28 April. As if it had never left the Wetlands, this colorful little heron (it’s very likely the same heron that was here last year) was trying to snag fish and tadpoles from the water while perched on one of the stumps just off the boardwalk in front of the Black Bear Exhibit. Welcome back!

The first Chimney Swifts of the year were seen foraging over Catch the Wind on the 26th of the month. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were seen, first at the Butterfly House April 22nd and in Explore the Wild a few days later.

A Great-crested Flycatcher was heard on 4/23 and thereafter. The first Red-eyed Vireos were seen on 4/27 and, although seen earlier in the month, two Rough-winged Swallows were seen perched on a snag in the Wetlands on the same day.

The first singing House Wren of the season was heard on 25 April. Ruby-crowned Kinglets have been heard singing their rapid, buzzy, whistly songs around the Explore the Wild/Catch the Wind Loop. They often begin singing before departing for points north and their breeding grounds. Wood Thrushes are back (4/25) as are Gray Catbirds, the first squeaky notes of a catbird being heard on April 22nd in the swamp adjacent to the Wetlands Overlook. If you want to see and hear what a Gray catbird looks and sounds like, check out this YouTube video.

Cedar Waxwings are still being seen. A group of 60 or so were seen in the trees above the main entrance to Explore the Wild.

Several singing Northern Parulas, a Black-throated Blue Warbler, and breeding plumaged Yellow-rumped Warblers were all seen on 26 April. Yellow-throated Warblers were first spied on 4/18 along with a single singing Prothonotary Warbler. Although at least one Yellow-throated Warbler remains in the area, the Prothonotary was not heard from again. An Eastern Palm Warbler showed up on the 22nd and a Yellow-breasted Chat was briefly heard on the 26th behind the Ornithopter.

A Rose-breasted Grosbeak was heard and then seen feeding high in the canopy on 26 April.

Like the Ruby-crowned Kinglets above, White-throated Sparrows are tuning up their vocals before leaving our area for their nesting grounds further north. Their sweet, plaintive, whistled songs can be heard from the underbrush or along wooded edges. They often get only half their song out before starting over again or quitting altogether, as if practicing so as to get it just right for their debuts on the breeding grounds. It is a pleasant song.

Common Grackles have been observed flying back and forth from the Wetlands to some uknown location behind the Ornithopter. Their bills are empty on the trip to the Wetlands, full on the way back. A Baltimore Oriole was seen on the same day and in the same tree as the grosbeak above (4/26). The grosbeak and oriole no doubt came in on the same winds.

Pine Siskins are still being seen at the Bird Feeder Exhibit in Catch the Wind.

Red-tailed Hawks continue to be seen daily and Cooper’s Hawks have been noticed flying and perching in the vicinity of the previous year’s nest site. And, as mentioned above, Red-shouldered Hawks are once again showing up in the Wetlands.

Eastern Phoebes are calling regularly in and around the Wetlands. Phoebes nest on ledges. I’ve witnessed the birds investigating potential nest sites both under the boardwalk and in the vending area near the Red Wolf Enclosure. There are numerous crossbeams under the boardwalk for the phoebes to build a nest upon. The structure that houses the vending machines also offers many suitable ledges.

An American Crow was seen carrying nesting material on 1 March. Fish Crows had been seen (and heard) throughout the period.

The Brown-headed Nuthatches, which last month had so diligently excavated nest holes in a Loblolly Pine along the path between the entrances to Catch the Wind and Explore the Wild (see Brown-headed Nuthatches, Explore the Wild Journal, February 16-28, 2009), have apparently presented the holes to, or have been evicted by, a pair of Carolina Chickadees. In the images at left you can see a chickadee in the process of renovating one of the holes by first entering the hole, then exiting with a beak full of wood chips from the cavity’s interior.

During the first few days of this period, two Brown-headed Nuthatches were spotted working on a hole in a dead pine behind the vending area next to the Red Wolf Enclosure. They were not seen at that location during the second week of March. Are these the same two nuthatches that bored the holes for the chickadees? Have they abandoned this new hole too?

There have been numerous reports over the past several weeks of large numbers of American Robins throughout North Carolina; the robins are on the move north. So, it’s no surprise that hundreds of American Robins joined the already present, and equally numerous, Cedar Waxwings in an assault on the Museum’s hollies which began at the end of February (see Cedar Waxwings, Explore the Wild Journal, February 16-28, 2009). The birds were mainly concentrating on the hollies along the side entrance to the Museum’s main building, although few hollies anywhere on the grounds were immune to the onslaught (two trees out in front of the Museum seem to have been ably defended by a Northern Mockingbird, with most of its berries intact). Some of you may have noticed that all of the berries are missing from the small hollies behind the Ornithopter. The hollies in front of the Ornithopter were spared due to the human traffic through the area, the birds being reluctant to feed where people frequently pass. By the end of the first week in March, the waxwings had departed and only a handful of robins presently remain on site.

The first Red-winged Blackbird of the season appeared on the 7th of March. This lone male was seen and heard singing from a willow in the Wetlands.

Two Pine Siskins were observed at the Bird Feeder Exhibit during the period. Eight of those slender finches were seen in an elm tree behind the Sailboat Pond on the 3rd of March. It won’t be long before they leaves us.