I took advantage of a crisp autumn day to drag out the stepladder and inspect my "fleet" of nest boxes, to clean them out, and get them set for a new season. What a disappointment! Of eleven boxes, here was the 2011 season score:(6) empty, unused.
(2) with House Wren "decoy" nests.
(1) pretty much wrecked by a squirrel.
(1) with a successful bluebird nest
(1) with a successful Carolina Wren nest.
What was striking was that the most successful box from 2010 (shown) was empty this time. Not even the White Breasted Nuthatches wanted it a second time. Well, this is the way it goes. Sometimes things work, sometimes they don't. I retired the wrecked box (didn't have a choice!) but left everything else up. There are two store-bought jobs I may retire next year, if they continue to fail. And otherwise all I can do is sit back and see what happens in 2012.
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