Photos by Terry Carr
Click on any photo to see large version
More photos on the DNCB Picasa site (Oct. 21 and Nov. 7, 2014).
On October 21, Roger and Terry opened 18 of our 31 nest boxes in Boundary Bay Regional Park. On November 7, Roger, Mike and Terry opened the rest. These nest boxes are for Tree Swallows and Chickadees.
The boxes were more successful this year because fewer had baffles to keep non-native House Sparrows out. We thought they may be keeping Tree Swallows out as well.
Box 30, near Cammidge House, had a double nest – Chickadee on the bottom (with unhatched eggs and a dead chick) and House Sparrow on top.
Chickadee nests are made mostly of moss. House Sparrow nests are very large, with lots of grass and some feathers. Tree Swallow nests are thinner, with grass and feathers.
Box 13 was not found, and may be on the ground. One box had a small rat nesting in it and we decided to let it stay for the winter.
Besides the double nest, there were 4 Tree Swallow nests and 11 House Sparrow nests. 13 boxes were empty.
In 2012, 15 boxes were occupied – 2 Swallow, 9 Sparrow, 2 Chickadee & 2 double (Swallow/Sparrow)
In 2013, 6 boxes were occupied – 2 Swallow, 3 Sparrow, 1 Chickadee & 25 empty
Delta Naturalists Society 
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