We have another good report from our Bluebird Trails at four Hillsborough County Parks this week:
Balm Boyette has 3 tufted titmice nests with 16 chicks.
Lake Park has a total of 10 nests (8 BB, 1 CC, 1 Carolina Wren (CW), with 17 eggs (12 BB, 5 CW), 18 chicks (12 BB, 6 CC) and 18 fledglings (12 BB, 6 CC).
Sargeant's Park has one bluebird nest with 5 chicks.
Flatwoods Park has 29 nests (26 BB, 2 CC, 1 TM), with 55 BB eggs, 30 chicks (22 BB, 5 CC, 3 TM), and 27 fledglings (18 CC, 9 TM). See attached spreadsheet for details.
Being at Flatwoods Park was a treat today, because everyone else had stayed home because of the rain. We only saw 2 other people on the 7 mile trail! Even with the sporadic rain, the wildlife was plentiful. In addition to the bluebirds, we saw a wild turkey, a ruby-throated hummingbird, a roseate spoonbill, great blue, little blue, and tri-colored herons, red-bellied and pileated woodpeckers, sandhill cranes, wood ducks, a common yellowthroat, a great crested flycatcher carrying nesting material, a palm warbler, a mourning dove, an eastern towhee, and a northern bobwhite quail. We also saw two rabbits. Steve Rickert also sent a great picture of a jumping spider that I have included.
The wildflowers are still not in full bloom along the trail, but we did see a sandhill milkweed (Asclepias humistrata), one of the many native milkweeds that is host to the Monarch and Queen butterflies. We also saw a lot of little tread softly (Cnidoscolus stimulosus) plants, that are named because of their stinging hairs.
