Field Trips in Fiber - Adventures in quilting, hand dyed fabric and fiber art.

Nest Box Watch and garden report

My jaw has relaxed enough that I was able to sleep most of last night. That meant that I felt up to doing so dyeing today and I might even get some sewing done tonight. For today, though, we'll check in with the nest boxes for the last time this season.

These 5 babies are about to leave. It's in the 90's this week so I know they will be happy to get out of this hot box. I was checking the garden this evening and saw them peeking out of the box. I expect they will fledge tomorrow.

The summary for this season is 3 Bluebirds and 12 Tree Swallows for a total of 15 fledged birds.  Last year we had 22 and 19 in 2010 so this years wasn't a banner year but there are 15 more birds than there were 4 months ago. Next year Chris will build new boxes to replace the ones that are wearing down.

The garden is going gangbusters so far. I'm really enjoying this gardening thing. The corn is "blooming" ir whatever you call it.

I planted cantaloupe under the corn and it's taking over everything! I have lots of these tomato sized fruit. If they mature we will be overrun in cantaloupe.

I planted yellow, orange and red peppers. This one should turn orange at some point. We've not had good luck with peppers in the past but I added egg shells and banana peels around these. You can see that I also found a use for some of the leftover fleece from the veteran's quilt.

Thank goodness a friend came by today and took the 10 extra zucchini that I harvested in the last 2 days. 

This is all very cool!

 

Nest Box Watch and garden report

Thank goodness for the Tree Swallows because the Bluebirds and Wrens have not fared so well. It appears that the Wren nest has been abandoned. But at least the Tree Swallows are growing. There are 5 (out of 6 hatched) so I assume that tiny one didn't make it.

I am really enjoying my time outside tending to the garden. I may get tired of it in a few years but it's a lot of fun for now.

I am most enamored with my corn! I know I will probably only get a couple dozen ears from this little patch but I've been begging Chris to grow corn for years and he wouldn't do it. That ground cover under the corn is cantaloupe. We have planted that before and it didn't go well. Hopefully we will discover that cantaloupe loves corn and we will get lots of them.

I also found a use for some of the fleece scraps from the quilt I posted earlier today! 

Nest Box Watch

The 7 Tree Swallows in box 1 have all fledged! The Carolina Wren nest in the propane tank is doing fine. We are just waiting for the eggs to hatch.

Here's box 3. I'm worried about that little guy although there's nothing we can do about it. He may have just hatched late. We'll see. Everyone else is growing fine.

Nest Box Watch

I have a very busy day in the dye studio ahead. There are lots of stars and gradients to dye. There's no sewing or quilting ont he agenda today but that's OK because I love a day in the dye studio more than just about anything else!

While I'm downstairs lets check in on the nest boxes. Unfortunately I have some bad news. Something got the Bluebird nest. It's probably a raccoon or opossum. It chewed the opening larger and destroyed the nest. That's one box that will need to be replaced next year!

Box 1 is CRAMMED full of birds! The Tree Swallows are growing like crazy and will likely fledge soon. It will not be too soon because their box is coming apart! Can you see that opening on the right side in the back? The side wall is separating from the back. It's still pretty sturdily attached to the base so we think it will be fine but this is another box that will need to be replaced next year.

This is box 3 and if you look closely under the female you can see the butt end of a newly hatched chick. These will be fully hatched in the next day.

Let's hope the critters stay away from these 2 boxes.

Nest Box Watch

Mom and I are in Charlotte, NC this weekend. When I heard about Wanda's exhibit I thought it was a great excuse to come visit family and friends and to finally get to meet Wanda. As you read this we are probably in Gastonia at Mary Jos! I'll have a full report Monday but am leaving you with these photos I took of the birds Thursday evening.

We still have 7 healthy Tree Swallow babies!

Mama Bluebird is tending her nest.

The female owner of this nest spends most of her day peeking out of the nest box. She seems to enjoy watching us walk back and forth.

Look what we found! It's a Carolina Wren nest.

For a little bird they sure make a huge mess in the propane tank.