We've had some wacky weather up here in the Great White North (aka Upstate New York). We went from high 80s and dry as a bone over the Memorial Day holiday to mid to low 60s and pouring rain for the last week. We needed the rain but it could have stayed in the 70s, for my taste. :)
The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note any observations you have made of the world around you. Rain, sun, wind...insects, birds, flowers...meteorites, rocks...seasonal changes...all are worthy additions to the bucket. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the patterns that are quietly unwinding around us.
With the sudden drop in temperature, I was a little concerned for my birdie friends scattered around our little piece of heaven. As noted previously, we're tracking 3 bird houses, all occupied, and at least 4 nests.
At last report, the tree swallows were still sitting on eggs and as far as I know, they're still at it. Every time I try to check the box, the mom swallow won't get off the nest. She just hunches down and glares at me. The male is even less pleased. A few days ago, he dive bombed me and pooped on my head when I wasn't even near the nest box.
Never doubt we birders suffer for our passion.
Sad news on the robin front. Out of 4 eggs, only one hatched. The one baby robin seems strong and is getting big but I feel bad the others didn't make it. Was it because of our cold spell? Something wrong with the eggs? I don't know.
Here's another mystery for you. The house wrens had 6 eggs, about the size of Jelly Belly jelly beans. Tuesday evening I checked on them and saw at least one tiny little baby. I've never seen such a minuscule baby anything. It was hard to tell what else was going on in the box as they had filled it with feathers and soft grasses, so I closed it up and went off to celebrate.
Last night, I went to see how they were doing and the nest was empty. No chicks, no eggs and only one adult hanging around acting weird. It kept going in the box, pulling out a piece of grass and flying to a nearby tree. Over and over and over. It was still doing it this morning.
Did a predator get the babies? The nest was not torn apart, though all the feathers were missing. Perhaps they just covered up the babies and they're still in there? Could be. I wasn't about to poke around too much just in case. I'll keep an eye on it and report further developments.
The bluebirds had 5 newly hatched little squabs and they appear to be doing the best of the lot. I believe they will probably fledge this weekend. Pictures tell the story best, though, so I'll end with some shots from last night.