Today we went to Nature Nuts and saw a turkey by the road! (Sorry no pictures, there was a car behind us, so we could not stop.)
The lesson today was about Bluebird Nesting Boxes. They are important so Bluebirds can find a place to live easily. They also live in hollowed out trees or fence posts.
We walked to the Bluebird boxes during Nature Nuts. We saw a baby Tree Swallow. It was in a Bluebird box.
Why was a baby Tree Swallow in a Bluebird box? Because no one wrote on the box “For Bluebirds Only“. Really, because they like the same kind of house.
In another box, we saw three baby Bluebirds. They were newborns. They live in a box in a place with only a few trees. They like open areas because they don’t have to dodge trees while they are flying. They eat grasshoppers, and bugs and dragonflies in the fields!
We walked back to the building and then everybody made one birdhouse each. To build the Bluebird houses for Bluebirds, we clamped a block onto a rectangle piece of wood. Then put a square piece on the top and a rectangle piece on the front with a hole in the middle. On one side use nails as hinges so you can clean it out and, in our case, to check it out and see if there’s any Bluebirds in it. Oh yes, when you are checking it, knock on the house before opening the door, so the Momma Bird knows its safe to fly out.
Here’s how to make a Bluebird box. It’s okay to have extra space between the wood for ventilation. We used an air gun and glue, but you could just hammer it in. It is recommended to put a predator guard on it. The longer the predator guard is, the safer the birds will be. It is an extension with a hole in the middle as big as the hole in the box. Just remember to put it on the outside. Then waterproof it. After you waterproof it, it takes a lot longer to wear out.
Put it out at your eye level for easy cleaning and you are able to watch it. Snakes and raccoons like to eat Bluebird eggs so put a baffle on the pole under the Bluebird box.
After we did the Bluebirds we went to the Naturalist’s Office and we saw a baby raccoon. Adrian learned a new word there, it is “baby accoon”. The baby raccoon did not have a mom, they don’t know for sure what happened to the mom but they can guess. Baby raccoons are so cute. Adrian said that baby raccoons are babies.
Because they need a special permit to keep baby raccoons, and they don’t have it, they are looking for someone who does and leave him (or her) there. In the mean time they are feeding him (or her) and keeping him (or her) safe and warm.
Mark, what kind of racoon are you feeding with the eye-dropper? It looks like the one Grandma Nana had, bright eyes and all…….