“The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship.” — William Blake
In March, the Blue Birds begin their courtships throughout Hershey’s Mill. According to resident Wilbur Amand, “Pairs check out potential box nesting sites” and, with a bit of luck, experienced observers will recognize when the duo makes their final decision. Often, once they are successful, the Bluebirds may produce two families during a summer season.
Nesting boxes in HM provide a place for them to mate and raise their families. You may notice our resident HM Bluebird monitoring volunteers and their young helpers cleaning out accumulated nesting material, old wasps’ nests and other debris early in the season, then checking the boxes for activity throughout the season. In other words, they’re ensuring a healthy environment for our feathered friends. Weekly, those volunteers will monitor the progress of the nesting cycle by checking the boxes for eggs and hatchlings until fall.
IThis information is included in the nationwide database maintained by the Cornell Labs Nest Watch program (https://nestwatch.org/).
2022 & 2023 Nest Box Monitoring Results
2020 & 2021 Nest Box Monitoring results PDF opens in new tab or window
| Volunteers monitor nest boxes | Eggs in the Nest | Hatchlings! |
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