Many of you wrote to tell us our birdhouse residents are Tree Swallows, and are on the desirable list of possible tenants.
And these sweet creatures have deposited 4 eggs in their nest. And while she is away collecting food, she covers the eggs with a feather, which is just too sweet for words.
(Mother Nature is determined to take our minds off of the ugly construction noises coming from Northeastern’s Campus?)
Our bluebird houses have attracted attention of birds! Most houses have some straw in them, one has a nearly complete nest. Do we know what species we have attracted? Not yet. The fuzzy bird photo is not clear enough, but we will go back with telephoto lenses to get good pictures.
We also are not yet skilled enough to recognize what sort of bird nest is being built by looking at it.
But it is nice to know we are working in some sort of partnership with mother nature. Seeing Mr. and Mrs. Bird raising a family in a house we put there for them is sweet.
If you wish to observe these birdhouses, in Central Field, please don’t get too close and drive the birds away! There are eight houses there, in four pairs of two, the ideas being that one of each pair is for aggressive birds, and the other is for “good” birds, like our fabled bluebirds.
More to come…
After a long, cold spring we had a lovely warm day to walk with Boot. While the cold weather kept many flowers from blooming, there was much to see and Boot kept walkers of all ages enthralled with nature and stories and poems.
A team of all ages installed 8 bluebird houses in Central Field at Mary Cummings Park on Saturday, March 24th. (We will need to monitor the progress of the houses and may have to evict invasive birds who nest in place of native birds.) Bluebird experts from the area will teach us how to watch over the houses. They also need cleaning after each set of chicks leave the nest, and we may remove them for the winter to reserve them for bluebirds and other warm-weather visitors.
This project was initiated from an idea given to us by our friends at the Wild Birds Unlimited in Woburn and partially funded by a grant from Wegman’s of Burlington.
Although we have been distracted from our normal monthly nature walks by the unfortunate developments at the Northeastern Campus, we are committed to lots of (roughly) monthly nature walks.
On Saturday, March 24th (postponed due to too much snow!), we will place 8 birdhouses at Central Field. We will put two at each location, which allows aggressive birds to take one, leaving one for bluebirds. See the graphic below for where we are planning to place them.
This project is being done in partnership with Wild Birds Unlimited of Woburn and supported by a grant from Burlington Wegmans.
We are also asking for voluntary donations to cover the total costs.
Come along, help out, learn about bluebirds, meet others interested in them.
The program will run from 10am to noon, and will go ahead unless there is heavy rain. Rain date is Sunday, March 18. Meet at the parking lot at roughly 26 Blanchard Road.
Ticks are not likely this early, but wear DEET if concerned.
The bluebird image above is “borrowed” from Wikipedia’s bluebird article.
Nick Wisniewski, of Walnut Hill Trackers, lead an enthusiastic group on a walk, including both a group of scouts and folks from Burlington Cable TV (BCAT). In spite of just a bit of icy snow on the ground, Nick gave us much to look for and many insights into the value of tracking.
On Saturday, February 3rd the Walnut Hill Trackers will be back to guide us on another walk. Even when there has been no snow at all, Nick Wisniewski has found and taught us wonderful animal signs in the form of tracks in mud, chewed bark, and scat. But if we are lucky and have fresh snow, it will be even more fun.
You can learn about their wide range of tracking programs at their website.
Park at the soccer field lot at roughly 26 Blanchard Road. If there is too much snow to get into the lot, park across the street and cross Blanchard Road – carefully. Dress for the weather, whatever it turns out to be. Assume it will be WET!
We go ahead in all conditions except heavy rain. We don’t expect ticks in February unless it it one of those 45 degree days and someone gets down into the leaf litter to look at something.
Only two crazy people showed up the the coldest, windiest walk we have ever had. And sure enough, after slogging through deep snow for 10 minutes, we were warm, even sweating a bit under the layers.
After the warm, warm fall, the first snow and cold was a bit of surprise…
After the warm, warm fall, the first snow and cold was a bit of surprise, but dressing up and going out to the park provided fun for a happy couple, a gonzo runner, a snow-covered photog, and various winter scenes.
Our recent fundraising email was very successful. Not only did we raise a good portion of the legal debts we owe for saving the park, but we were also very encouraged to know that you folks are out there, in support of our work. And remember, if you didn’t donate but would like to do so, our online donation page is always here.
