From the Field - Mariton Wildlife Sanctuary

Cleaning Nest boxes

I was getting a little stir crazy this morning.  I have been in the office too many days working on annual reports, newsletters, next year’s budget, etc.  I needed to get outside and think about some of these things without any walls.  So, I decided to clean the bluebird boxes and see which ones would need to be replaced in the coming weeks.

Bluebirds were on my mind, in part because of the nest box building that I wrote about last week. If you have nest boxes, it is not too early to start preparing them for the coming season.  I generally start monitoring boxes in mid-March, and have had bluebirds start building nests as early as April 7.   

I was delighted when I approached Box #1and saw a male bluebird perched atop it.  He flew into a tree along the stone wall, his blue glistening in the sun.  It is too early for him to be thinking about mating, I was just pleased to see him.  Inside Box # 2, I found several charcoal downy feathers probably from a Tufted Titmouse.  I suspect several birds huddled together in this box during a cold spell to conserve heat.  I recently erected roosting boxes for this purpose near the Nature Center and Bird Blind.

It didn’t take long to clean out the boxes and make a list of work that needs to be done.  By the time I returned to my office, I had some fresh ideas for the newsletter and an entry for the blog.

Building Nest Boxes

The Preserve Staff from NLT gets together to build nesting boxes almost every winter.  This year, we chose Groundhog Day for the project. Mariton had 300 board feet of  white pine that I took down for the project.  Lumber also came from the Crows Nest and Gwynedd Wildlilfe Preserves.  The lumber that Mariton donated came from a tree that fell along the Squeeze Trail in 1999.  I milled it up using NLT’s portable sawmill. 

This year we met at Gwynedd Wildlife Preserve.  Six folks showed up and each ended up with a job.  Here is a picture of Rebecca using the drill press to drill the entrance holes for the boxes.  Someone ripped the lumber.  Someone cut the sides, fronts and backs.  Someone cut the miter on the roofs, and someone cut floors.  Then, when all the pieces were cut and stacked, the assembly process began.

In all, the crew built 70 nest boxes.  There were 60 some bluebird boxes and half a dozen woodpecker boxes.  This work day definitely benefits wildlife.  But it also provides an opportunity for the preserve staff from different locations to share ideas about land management while working.