Competition for nest box

The nest box by my lawn was quickly taken by english sparrows.  My neighbor and I removed several early nests.  Then we saw a pair of bluebird take over and in fact fight off the english sparrows.  I was excited then disappointed to see the sparrows return and bluebirds disappear.  I disposed of a male sparrow but the box has remained empty.  It just goes to show how competitive the birds are for next location and the negative impact the sparrow has had on the bluebird.

April 21, 2014 Grand Vue Nest Box Walk

I walked Grand Vue to check on nest boxes.  I have 20 boxes up of which 15 are bluebird sized.  Currently there are 9 active nests.  One of the boxes has a tree swallow nest.  It needs repaired as I noted that the wood hinge has broken.  I placed some boxes close to each other in hopes of getting other species as well. Two boxes had blue bird nests with 5 eggs.  Several had 1-3 eggs.  A few had no eggs.  Nine out of 15 isn't bad but I hope to have a dozen active nests.

April 20 2014 Florida

My trip to Florida gave opportunity for some birding.  Englewood is home to a small sanctuary called Lemon Bay.  There I saw a nest of Bald Eagles.  Florida eagles are bigger than any I have seen before.  First time birds for me included Least Terns and a Worm Eating Warbler!  Also I noted yellow throats, red starts, black throated greens, and chestnut sided warblers.  Great crested flycatchers and a host herons including little green, black crowned night herons, little blues, and others.  Egrets were abundant.  Gulls and anhingas were also noted.