May 3 - sad day

Post date: May 4, 2012 3:37:36 PM

Today, during our daily woodland walk, we stopped to check the bluebird boxes inhabited by black capped chickadees.

Opening the first box, we found a plump bumblebee inside and a dead mother bird in the nest with 6 eggs; checking the second box, we found another dead mother bird with eggs.

A Google search confirmed that bumblebees do compete for the use of bird box nests. - http://backyardspectator.blogspot.com/2012/04/bumbling-surprise-tale-of-woe.html

We cleaned out the boxes, hoping for a better outcome next time.