April 29, 2017
A busy and exciting week.
There are now five Eastern Bluebird eggs in Nestbox Delta. We believe four birds had fledged prior to April 22, on which date we cleaned out the old nest. We did observe two eggs on April 26.
A pair of Northern Mockingbirds are making a nest in a roll of leftover field fencing wire that is stored vertically in a corner of our yard. The nest is about a foot from the bottom of the roll in the center, and the birds have placed when we presume is barrier of pencil-sized sticks about a foot from the top of roll. It will fun and easy to watch them without having to disturb them because of the open design of the fence wire.
We found what we believe was a juvenile Ladder-backed woodpecker dead on the ground not far from the dead Agave americana in which an adult Ladder-backed woodpecker has created a cavity about 10 feet off the ground. The dead bird appeared to have been pecked by another bird.
We continue to monitor the nest in Nestbox Charlie, but still are unable to identify what species of bird has created it. We had assumed it was a House Sparrow, but on closer look, it appears more like the wren nests we have seen in other boxes.
On April 24, we observed what we believed was a Crested Caracara but were not able to photograph it.
On April 27, we took part in a prairie walk of Burleson Prairie in the Texas Blackland Prairie east of Temple. We were encouraged to observe that our efforts to date to restore our pasture into a native prairie seem to be line with what the Burlesons have done. Of course, we have a long way to go.
Today, Patrick took part in a working party of Good Water Master Naturalists at the River Ranch County Park and got a tour of the old ranch buildings and of the 70-acre prairie that is being restored to its native condition.
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