Lots of Bluebird Hatchlings ... and a tiny Chickadee

Newborn Bluebird Smile

I suspect egg shells are cracking all over the place at New Quarter Park this morning as want-to-be hatchings tap away at them from the inside. Yesterday afternoon, Lois and I were at the park for hypertufa-making (be sure to see Kathy VanMullekom's story in the May 19 issue of the Daily Press!), so decided to take the Gator for a quick run around the 19-box trail to check the eggs that we calculated were laid beginning about April 19. By the way, Lois and I are Co-Trail Monitor Leaders for the New Quarter Park Trial and Co-County Coordinators for James City-Williamsburg-Upper York for the Virginia Bluebird Society. We feel like Bluebird midwives.

I'm ready! Drop that bug, Mama!

We calculated that yesterday was within the 12-15 day window of brooding at some of the boxes. So it would be about the first day that some hatchlings would see the light of day outside their shells. Low and behold, we found 14 Eastern Bluebird hatchings and 1 Carolina Chickadee hatchling. We counted 44 more eggs in the boxes on the trail and the majority of the eggs were laid at about the same time. They should be hatching out over the next few days. Exciting times on the New Quarter Park Bluebird Trail!

Carolina Chickadee Hatcling

I haven't actively watched Carolina Chickadees hatching and nestling behavior until this year. Last year I had a Chickadee nest in a box at New Quarter, but it was taken over by Bluebirds, which are higher in the pecking order than Chickadees. The Bluebirds simply pecked the Chickadee eggs and tossed 'em out. That's why Chickadees tend to head for the nest boxes ahead of Bluebirds, who wait a tad longer to select their nest. Chickadees try to get in and out of there before the Bluebirds. They brood for 12-13 days after the last to penultimate egg is laid. There is a sample page available on Cornell's Birds of North America site with lots more details on Chickadee breeding behavior, if you're interested in following this link.

Footnote here: I had a family of six Carolina Chickadees fledge from the Bluebird box in my front yard last week. (I hope they made it. I've seen my neighbor's cat, Lucy, starring up at it hungrily. Grrr.) In the last couple of days I've seen and heard a Bluebird checking out the recently vacated nest box and neighborhood. I hope Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird will be the text tenants there. And that my neighbors will please, please, please keep their house cat in the house where it belongs!

Black Rat Snake digesting

Back to New Quarter: We had a staff meeting at the park later on Tuesday afternoon and went out to see and talk about a trail that needed some work. We found this Black Rat Snake alongside the trail, sunning himself in a digestion stupor. Black Rats eat rodents and, sadly but in accordance with the great Circle of Life, baby birds and bird eggs. (P.S. on snakes! We found our first "official" copperhead at the park last week! Almost everyone calls every snake a copperhead, so we've skeptical. But this one was run over, so we have the "living" proof and have submitted it to the VDGIF database.)

One full & happy Black Rat Snake!

He posed for us and let me get this close-up shot of his face. The flash gave him a little nose shine and I tried to Photoshop powder it, but oh well. Anyway, very cool, don't you think?

More posts on our Bluebird babies are sure to follow!