Bluebird Nest Box Spring Inspections

Adult male Tree Swallow photo by

Bob Stanowski

Adult female Eastern Bluebird photo by

Bob Stanowski

Photo by Dave Rosgen of WMCC volunteer

Jim Kandefer opening a bluebird nest box

for inspection in the Bantam R. Field

The Connecticut Bluebird Restoration Project currently maintains 78 bluebird nest boxes on White Memorial Foundation property in Litchfield and Morris. We monitor them regularly from mid-March through mid-October, with the first and last inspections of each year focusing on addressing maintenance needs and performing vegetation management. Fortunately for us and the birds, most of the nest boxes are less than 5 years old, and, thus, don't require much maintenance work. Just like anything else, as the boxes age, they require more maintenance. Eventually, it gets to a point where it is no longer practical to continue repairing an old box, and it is replaced with a new one. This usually happens when a box is between 12 and 15 years old. We are able to achieve such long life spans by using high quality white pine lumber for all of the component parts of the nest boxes, fastening the parts together with 1 5/8" drywall or deck screws (never nails!), and by caulking the seams between the back and sides and top and sides. This technique has proven to be very effective in keeping moisture out of the boxes, which, in turns, keeps them from rotting prematurely. All of the poles are fitted with hardware cloth or aluminum flashing mouse guards as a cap over the PVC pipe predator guard (which is essential!) that encircles the pole on which the box is mounted. Mice can ruin a nest box in one season, so it is extremely important to keep them out. Ice and snow can take more of a toll on nest boxes than rain, so it is really important to check them in March in order to repair winter-caused damage. So far this spring we've been lucky. Out of 24 boxes inspected in the past week, only 2 needed to have component parts replaced. In both cases, the front door was split; probably from moisture entering cracks and then freezing. We also found one old wooden pole to be rotted. That will be replaced very soon with a new metal pole. Over the past few years we've been transitioning away from wooden poles to metal ones because the metal ones last so much longer. We also found one pole at a 45 degree angle, and straightened it back up. This might have been caused by a buck White-tailed Deer sparring with it last fall. While checking the boxes we were pleased to see a pair of Eastern Bluebirds back on territory in each of the fields, and a group of 8 newly-arrived Tree Swallows in the Alain White Rd. field. These maintenance inspections will probably continue for another 2 weeks, until all of the boxes have been visited, and until any problems that are encountered are corrected.

Who's Out and About on the Day After the January 2011 Blizzard




Scott's First Time on Snowshoes!
He took to it like a duck to water.

  Scott Dayton and I (Jamie) were out on the property checking waterfowl nest-boxes in the 18+ inches of snow.  Snowshoeing was the only way to travel in these conditions.  Although snowshoeing is fun, it can be really hard work when you are the first to break the trail through deep powdery snow.  It reminded me how difficult it would be for some of our larger mammals to travel through the same conditions.  Some animals have adaptations that are adapted for these conditions such as the large feet of cottontail rabbits and snowshoe hares so that they can travel on top of the snow.  Moose is the only large mammal that inhabits northern CT that can walk through deep snow with their long legs.  Bobcats, coyotes, fisher, and white-tailed deer, on the other hand, are hindered by these conditions.  I expect to see more of their tracks and trails as soon as the snow compacts, but so far we found no evidence that they were moving around much today.  These mammals rely on other adaptations to survive when they can not move very far to find food.  They carry a layer of fat on their bodies that insulates and provides energy that maintains bodily functions.  These adaptations are good for short periods of time and each of them use many other behavioral and physiological adaptations to survive the winters especially during these dramatic environmental conditions.  Some move into the sunlight to warm their bodies, others reduce their metabolism so that they don't need to find as much food when it is difficult to find, and others sleep through the extreme winter climate.  The only mammal sign that we observed today were weasel tracks in various marshes.  The weasels bounded between shrub stands and dove under the snow to probably elude predation and to gain access to the subnivian (below snow) layer where all of the small mammals (mice, voles, shrews, moles, etc.) inhabit.



Weasel Tracks at Little Pond Boardwalk



Weasel Tracks at Little Pond Boardwalk Another Perspective