The report for last Sunday:
Box #68 hatched out — Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus). This was the box with 10 eggs on 7 March that I suspected was a carryover from last year. But 15 of the 16 eggs hatched, so it would seem the bird just got started very early this spring.
We’re watching 9 boxes with active clutches. I expect that many of them will be hatched by our next work day on 9 May.
We saw an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) carrying nesting material to the new platform, and several incidents of Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) chasing off crows.
C has reported wet chips in box #67. We’ll take a look to see whether we can improve the waterproofing for that box.
We’ll work again on 9 May and then 23 May. Depending on what we find, that might be all for the season.
The weather looks peachy this weekend! Take an hour and snap some pics for the City Nature Challenge.
I’ve seen a few exit holes, but no cicada adults yet.