Bluebird Trail Report 4/27/2020

The rains over the weekend brought in some nice, cool air, so it was a pleasant day on the Flatwoods Park Bluebird Trail today. It was also good to find that one box, F12, that had missing eggs last week, had a new nest and 3 eggs! We have a total of 67 eggs (63 BB, 4 CC), 58 chicks (50 BB, 2 CC, 6 TM), and 5 Carolina chickadee fledglings. See attached spreadsheet for details. I've also attached pictures of BB chicks in boxes F2, F16, and F40, and titmice chicks in box F26.

On the trail I saw a very large red-shouldered hawk, palm warblers, bobwhite quail, American crow, wood ducks, and a little rabbit (picture attached).

The plant Southern Gaura (Gaura angustifolia), is a tall, willowy plant that is in bloom everywhere right now and I attached the best picture I could take. Also attached is a Gulf Fritillary caterpillar eating its host plant, passion-flower (passiflora incarnata). Another plant that the wildlife eat are Shiny Blueberries (Vaccinium myrsinites), which is fruiting now.