June 17, 2017 The house wrens must really love our bird box and its location because they are building again. We don’t know if it’s the same pair or not. One article suggested that usually the wrens will nest in a different site for their second brood. Once the young have fledged, they are fully independent in about 2 weeks … Read More
Let’s Make Weeds Fashionable Again!
Let’s Make Weeds Fashionable Again! By: Lisa Bartlett – Garden Manager That is going to be my new motto. Why? National Pollinator Week got me thinking. Every year Americans spend countless hours, at least $30 billion dollars, and millions of gallons of gasoline just to maintain the dream of a well-kept lawn. In addition, an estimated 70 million pounds … Read More
Bluebird Box Update
Our House Wrens have fledged. Their nest has been removed and the nest box cleaned. I scrapped as much debris and dust as I could from the nest box and sprayed the interior with a bleach-water mix to kill any lingering insects (bird mites mostly). I also rubbed the inside of the house with Ivory soap, especially the top … Read More
Bluebird Box Update 5/29/2017
May 29 Bluebird box update My how baby birds grow fast! Here they are only a week later and look at all those feathers and how much larger they are! With the exception of shorter tail feathers, they look just like the adult wrens now. This will probably be the last we see of these guys. By next week they … Read More
Bluebird Box Update
Introducing the Smith-Gilbert Gardens house wrens. These youngsters are less than a week old and look at those pin feathers already. It’s hard to tell where one nestling ends and where another begins. You can clearly see 3 yellow beaks, but there should be 7 of them. The nestlings will stay put for about 2 or 2 1/2 weeks before … Read More
Bluebird Box Update
May 1, 2017 Written by Cheri Collins The wrens have won the next box, but there is still another surprise. It’s not the more common Carolina Wren, it looks like it’s House Wrens. We are on the very southern edge of their territory. The color of the eggs, the location of the eggs—at the back, and the feathers all lead … Read More
SGG Bluebird Box Update April 20, 2017
Written by Education and Events Assistant Cheri Collins April 10, 2017 I thought this week we would have the answer to Bluebird or Chickadee. But no. Now as you can see in the photo there is the pine straw of the bluebirds on the bottom, then there is the moss of the chickadees and now we have twigs from Carolina … Read More
Plant for Pollinators
Plant for Pollinators! By Garden Manager Lisa Bartlett Pollinators need your help! They are disappearing in alarming numbers. In fact, the first bee has been added to the endangered species list. There is increasing evidence that many pollinators are in decline. However, there are some simple things you can do at home to encourage pollinator diversity and abundance. 1) Plant … Read More
SGG Bluebird Box Update- April 4, 2017
Written by Cheri Collins April 4, 2017 A twist in the SGG bluebird nesting story; it looks like our bluebird nest box has been taken over by Carolina chickadees. Did the bluebirds abandon the nest or did the chickadees show dominance and evict the bluebirds? And who will end up with the box as their home? Even if it is … Read More
SGG Bluebird Box
SGG Bluebird Box By Cheri Collins December 13, 2016 Our first bluebird box was installed at Smith-Gilbert Gardens with the help of Jim Bearden, Board Member at Green Meadows Preserve and bluebird trail builder and box monitor there as well. Eastern bluebirds nest in open fields, in boxes that are about 6 feet off the ground. They need a lookout … Read More