We have four good reports from the Bluebird Trails at the following County Parks:
Balm Boyette has no active nests, but has 21 TM fledglings.
Lake Park has a 3rd nesting, for a total of 6 active BB nests, with 12 BB eggs, 2 BB chicks, and 65 fledglings (47 BB, 12 CC, 6 CW).
Sargeant's Park has one active BB nest with 5 chicks, and a total of 5 BB fledglings.
Flatwoods Park has 21 active BB nests, 15 of those are second nestings, with 40 BB eggs, 22 BB chicks, and a total of 108 fledglings (73 BB, 23 CC, 12 TM). See attached spreadsheet for details.
Still no more activity in our spy-cam box F1, but we're still hoping! It seems like the second nestings are finally producing a lot of eggs and chicks, which is great. I've rarely had 6 BB eggs in a nest, so I took a picture of the 6 eggs in box F24. I also took pictures of the 4 BB chicks in Box F37 that hatched from white eggs, just to show you that they are the same as chicks that hatch from blue eggs. The only bad news today was that the 3 chicks in box F47 were missing, for no obvious reason.
The rain over the weekend was such a welcome relief, and the wildlife were certainly active today. I saw Great egrets, little blue and great blue herons, wood ducks, black-bellied whistling-ducks, an anhinga, wood storks and roseate spoonbills all feeding in the lakes that had been drying out. Joining them was a family of feral pigs and an alligator. On the trail I saw a male wild turkey, a deer, a Florida Box Turtle, and a lot of dragonflies.
The little Rain Lilies, Atamasco-lily (Zephyranthes atamasco) immediately bloom when we have a little rain, as well as the beautiful Scarlet Hibiscus (Hibiscus coccineus). The Wood Sage (Teucrium canadense) was also beginning to bloom with the extra moisture. In the native garden, the Firebush (Hamelia patens) is truly beautiful and is one of the favorite nectar plants of the little ruby-throated hummingbird.
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