This box was emptied today. Since the chicks are no longer using this box, the nest was removed and the box left empty ready for next year. 

Today this nest is fledged! All of the chicks have flown out, and are now flying around Creamer's Field with the adults. Look closely and you can distinguish them by their grey color and shorter body size.

The chicks have continued to grow and look much more like adult birds now. It can be seen that they are busy preening their feathers to prepare them for flight. They are still distinguishable from their parents by their brown/grey color and yellow gape on their mouth.

At this time it is extremely important not to open the nest box, because it can cause the chicks to jump out before they are ready.

Today the chicks are 11 days old, and so they got a band placed on their leg and measurements of their body taken. Now if one of the birds is recaptured anywhere else in the world, it can be identified and traced back to this box. 

The parents have done a very good job raising their chicks, because it is normal for every chick (usually about 6 in each nest) to weigh more than their parents on day 11! All of the chicks at Creamer's Field this year have had a lot of fat on their bodies, which is good because it means they are heathy and will have a strong start once they fledge out of the nest. 

Today the chicks are 6 days old. Their feathers are starting to develop and they can make cheeping noises now. 

Also today we finally managed to catch the adult male from this box. His blue color is extremely beautiful!

This nest hatched today! There are 5 little chicks and one egg left over; this egg may hatch tomorrow or it may never hatch at all. 

We caught the female bird from this box and banded her. She did not have a band on her leg already, so we don't know anything about her life before nesting in this box. We did not manage to catch the male swallow from this box today, so we will have to try again tomorrow.

This nest has 6 eggs. The female tree swallow is currently incubating the eggs, and the first day they could hatch is 6/12. 

This nest is special because the tree swallows built their nest on top of a nest the chickadees had already built. Chickadee nests are made of moss and lined with fur and small amount of downy feathers. Swallow nests are made of dry grass and lined with a thick layer of large fluffy feathers. By looking at the side profile of the nest you can see where the chickadee nest ends and the swallow nest begins.