Below are the 7-11-2022 Weekly Bluebird Trail Reports for the following Parks:
Balm-Boyette Preserve: 8 fledglings (5 CC, 3 TM)
Hunter's Green Park: 24 BB fledglings, 8 BB eggs
Lake Park: 72 fledglings (63 BB, 3 CC, 6 CW), 12 BB chicks, 7 BB eggs
Lettuce Lake Park: 7 fledglings (5 BB, 2 CC), 2 BB chicks
Sargeant's Park: 5 BB fledglings
Flatwoods Park: 153 fledglings (132 BB, 18 CC, 3 TM), with 6 BB chicks, and 16 BB eggs remaining. See attached spreadsheet for details and photos.
When I pulled into Flatwoods Park this morning, I was sure hoping we didn't have another snake episode like last week. When I arrived at the first box, F56, I knew immediately that something was amiss! The parents were frantically flying back and forth, and then I noticed part of a Corn Snake sticking through the predator guard. I thought "Not again!" But yes, again! Another Corn Snake had gotten caught in the predator guard, was seemingly unhurt, so Sherry and I did a repeat of last week's snake recovery! We took the box off the post, and disassembled the predator guard, thereby releasing the snake from the guard. We carried the snake in a bag to another part of the park and released it unharmed. Fortunately, the 4 BB chicks in that box had already fledged and were safe and unharmed. I've included pictures of the snake and you'll notice that there is a part of another snake caught in the guard that died there last week.
After we recovered from that little episode, the rest of the morning went fine, including the little patches of rain. We still have several boxes with Evening Bats in them and we've definitely decided that we will put up a couple of bat boxes this fall.
Even with the intermittent rain, we saw quite a few birds including a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, a Northern Bobwhite, a Mourning Dove, a Great Blue Heron, White Ibis, Red-shouldered Hawks, Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers, Fish Crows, a Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wrens, Eastern Towhees, a Common Yellowthroat, Northern Parulas, and Northern Cardinals. We also spotted a Florida Box Turtle crossing the trail.
With more rain, we are seeing our wetland plants, like the String Lily/Swamp Lily (Crinum americanum) blooming. The Giant Ironweeds (Vernonia gigantea) in our Native Garden are beginning to bloom and the insects love them!
Mary
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