With our weird weather I've been busy this winter getting Eastern Bluebird and Saw Whet Owl nest boxes built. Today I finished installing two Saw Whet nest boxes next to the Menominee River (WI/MI border). IT was two trips of a little more than a mile one way carrying the nest boxes and then a ladder and tools to get them at least three meters up a tree trunk. I installed a trail camera at each and hope to check back once a week to see if there are any takers.
The Northern Saw Whet Owl is the second smallest owl species in North America and has been on the decline due to habitat destruction. While there is a wide swath of the northern US and southern Canada where the Saw Whet breeds they do migrate to the central US in the winter.
In addition, I built 14 "Gilbertson PVC" nest boxes to add to my Bluebird trails I started last year. In 2023 I had 21 "Gilwood" nest boxes up at several trails. I had 9 pairs producing eggs (two pair produced a second brood). Total of 49 eggs, 46 hatchlings and 46 fledglings. That's in addition to two Tree Swallow pairs and one House Wren pair producing broods. A successful first year. I hope to double that production in '24 now that I have some experience with nest box locations. I'm also hoping to get some help monitoring these boxes. 21 boxes last year kept me very busy.
Gilertson nest boxes are named for a Minnesota Bluebird "Citizen Scientist" who developed his designs after many years of trial and error. The Gilwood is a standard wooden box made of pine or cedar. The PVC version was developed to combat invasive species like the European Starling and the House Sparrow which like to kill bluebirds in their nest and then take over the box. The PVC design has proven to help as the Starlings won't fit and the Sparrow does not like the design for some reason.