Hello again, fellow Blue Bird enthusiasts, and welcome to the April 17, 2009, Week #7, of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Blue Bird trail Survey, on the campus of the South Mississippi Regional Center, in Long beach.
It was good this week to be able to conduct the Blue Bird Trail Survey with Master Naturalist Buddy John and Emily, the Tree-Climbing Wonder Dog. John’s leg is feeling much better these days, as it responds to medications and exercise.
A female Blue Bird sits on a fence near nesting box #9 Friday, on the Mississippi Gulf Coast Blue Bird Trail, in Long Beach.
This week’s Survey found our Blue Bird baby and egg numbers the same as that of the April 10 Survey of last Friday, with 26 babies and 7 eggs.
Master Naturalist Buddy John noted after this morning’s Survey, that most of the Blue Bird babies currently in the Trail’s nesting boxes, will most likely have flown the nests by next week’s Survey. Thus, we will have a more accurate count of how many babies have actually hatched and flown, and how many of the original eggs are sterile and still in the nests.
The Blue Bird babies in nesting box #2, as seen this morning in this image, are very large and will be flying from the box any day now.
And, the 4 eggs currently under incubation in nesting box #1, should have all hatched by next Friday, hopefully increasing the baby numbers this season from 26 babies, to 30.
Once all the babies in a nest have flown, we will remove the old nest and clean the box, readying it for the female Blue Bird to begin building a new nest and lay a another batch of eggs.
The Blue Bird babies in nesting box #4 are also large now, and soon will fly the nest.
In the 2008 Week #7 Trail Survey, we had 16 Blue Bird babies in the nest or already flown, and 12 Blue Bird eggs in the nests. So, this year, we are 10 babies ahead of last year at this time in the season, a healthy increase.
Here are the results of today’s Trail Survey – April 17, 2009:
Here are the 5 large babies in nesting box #6, as photographed this morning.
Nest #1 – 4 Blue Bird eggs. – Last Week: 4 Blue Bird eggs.
Nest #2 – 3 large Blue Bird babies – will probably fly the next before next Friday’s Survey; 2 Blue Bird eggs (suspect these are sterile eggs). – Last Week: 3 Blue Bird babies, 2 Blue Bird eggs.
Nest #3 – Empty box, no activity. – Last Week: Empty box, no activity.
The babies in nesting box #7 are also near to flying the nest.
Nest #4 – 5 large Blue Bird babies, will probably fly the nest before next Friday’s Survey. – Last Week: 5 Blue Bird eggs.
Nest #5 – Nest built, no eggs yet. Removed nest – cleaned box. – Last Week: Nest built, no eggs yet.
Nest #6 – 5 large Blue Bird babies, will probably fly the nest before next Friday’s Survey. – Last Week: 5 Blue Bird babies.
The large Blue Bird babies in nesting box #8, this morning. One can easily see the blue feathers growing on the babies.
Nest #7 – 4 large Blue Bird babies – will probably fly the nest before next Friday’s Survey, 1 Blue Bird egg (suspect this is a sterile egg). – Last Week: 4 Blue Bird babies, 1 Blue Bird egg.
Nest #8 – 5 large Blue Bird babies, will probably fly the nest before next Friday’s Survey. – Last Week: 5 Blue Bird babies.
Nest #9 – Nest built, no eggs yet. Removed nest – cleaned box. – Last Week: Nest built, no eggs yet.
Nest #10 – Empty box, no activity. – Last Week: Empty box, no activity.
The babies in nesting box #12, are a little smaller and younger than the other babies on the Trail. This nesting box was 6″ from having water in it just two weeks ago, during the heavy rains and flooding on the Trail.
Nest #11 – Some straw in box, no activity. Removed old straw – cleaned box. – Last Week: Some straw in box.
Nest #12 – 4 small Blue Bird babies. – Last Week: 4 small Blue Bird babies.
This little fellow was hanging around this afternoon near nesting box #9, and appears to be an Eastern Kingbird.
Nest #13 – Nest built, no eggs yet. Removed nest – cleaned box. – Last Week: Nest built, no eggs yet.
And here is something nice to send you away with this week: a large growth of beautiful blue Spiderwort, which is growing on soil on the lower part of campus, which was under 5′ of water two weeks ago. Nice comeback, huh?
Have a great week!
