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  There were 30 boxes checked this spring but only 25 were =
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Hi Fritz,
=20
Interesting news indeed. I have about 30 boxes up here in Chester and =
had a
similar June experience. Here we had a very hard frost (-4?) for two =
nights
in a row in the first week of June, 2018. This is just when many of the
eggs hatched and the tiny featherless babies were all killed by the =
cold.
The parents pulled them out of the nest =96 hard to believe, but I saw =
it, and
disposed of them. They then laid more eggs and thus delayed the whole
season by about three weeks. I=92d never heard of this happening.
=20
This year I saw a red squirrel go right into a box with a 1 =BD=94 =
copper guard
on it. Hmmm. I try to locate most boxes where squirrels seldom go. =
And
now that I pull all the boxes for cleaning, maintenance, and inside =
winter
storage, I no longer have a flying squirrel problem. They must pick =
their
nesting location early in the spring before these boxes are up.
=20
Howard Pew
=20
From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca <naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca> On
Behalf Of Fritz McEvoy
Sent: Monday, May 06, 2019 1:07 PM
To: naturens <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
Subject: [NatureNS] Tree Swallow nest box report
=20
Hi All,=20
I finally finished cleaning out my Tree Swallow boxes yesterday and
have some interesting findings.=20
There were 30 boxes checked this spring but only 25 were available =
for
nesting last year. Five boxes were left as is last season because they =
had
either active flying squirrel nests or were near active squirrel nests. =
This
year I was able to clean out and remove four of those boxes for repair =
and
relocation to a better location. The fifth box contained a red squirrel =
and
was again left as is for now.
The 25 other boxes were cleaned out, repaired and relocated where
needed. Twelve of the boxes contained Tree Swallow nests with breeding
evidence. Two of these nests had egg shells and none had dead chicks. =
There
were no partial nests. There was 1 flying squirrel nest, 1 partial =
flying
squirrel nest and 1 contained a red squirrel and roost/nest (I observed =
the
squirrel bring nesting materials into the box). The box left was left as =
is
for now.
June 2018 was a frigid month here and the tree swallows did not =
did
not construct nests or breed during that period. They left the area in =
late
June but returned in mid July when weather conditions were warmer. They =
then
proceeded to build nests and breed in Mid to late July. This is when the =
12
nests mentioned above were constructed. I've never seen this behavior =
before
but it is interesting.
Last season I made and mounted 25 predator guards (3"x 3" x =
1/4"
plexi with a 1 1/2" hole) on the boxes not left as is for the flying
squirrels. The results of this experiment were positive but mixed. None =
of
the guards showed any sign of squirrel damage but three had either red =
or
flying squirrel roosts/nests and in one I observed a red squirrel =
entering a
box with nesting materials. This tells me that squirrels (both red and
flying) have no problem entering a nest box through the 1 1/2" hole that =
is
accepted as standard in the nest box literature. Whether a squirrel can =
use
the box for breeding seems unlikely (a pregnant squirrel would be pretty =
big
for an 1 1/2" hole) but it seems using it has a roost or for predation =
could
be possible. I'll check the box in a couple of weeks a to confirm if its =
a
nest or roost.
I can't find much info on whether a smaller hole size will keep =
tree
swallows from using the nest box or how small a hole is required to keep =
out
squirrels. All the commercial predator guards I saw on line had 1 1/2" =
holes
and I saw no reports of them not keeping out squirrels. It's all a =
puzzle to
me. All the best.=20
Fritz McEvoy
Sunrise Valley (near Dingwall)
=20
=20
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>Interesting news indeed.=A0 I have about 30 boxes up here in Chester =
and had a similar June experience.=A0 Here we had a very hard frost =
(-4?) for two nights in a row in the first week of June, 2018.=A0 This =
is just when many of the eggs hatched and the tiny featherless babies =
were all killed by the cold.=A0 The parents pulled them out of the nest =
– hard to believe, but I saw it, and disposed of them.=A0 They =
then laid more eggs and thus delayed the whole season by about three =
weeks.=A0 I’d never hea