TRAVIS COUNTRY & CARRINGTON
PRAIRIE
On
April 17, 2014, the Board of Directors of Travis Country Community Service
Association approved the construction and installation by Glen Novinger of bird
and owl nest boxes in the Travis Country common areas.
On
May 2, 2014, Dr. Sherry Lepine, the Academy Director at Clint Small Middle
School's Green Tech Academy approved the installation by Glen Novinger of bird
and owl boxes in Carrington Prairie, a.k.a. the AISD property in the center of
Travis Country.
Since
the above dates ten nest boxes have been installed in Travis Country at the
Community Garden and near the Community Association office in Blue Valley. Five
nest boxes were also installed in the Carrington Prairie clearing on Trail West across from View West.
The plans for this Nest Box Program include the installation of additional nest boxes in appropriate habitat locations throughout the common areas of Travis Country and Carrington Prairie in consultation with Cynthia Wilcox of the Travis Country Board of Directors and with Dr. Sherry Lepine, the Academy Director at Clint Small Middle Sc hoo0l's Green Tech Academy. It is not expected that we will
have many, if any, nesting birds in the boxes during 2014, because we are installing
the boxes this year during the nesting season and most birds have already made
their nests and are already laying eggs and fledging their broods. But we will
have a full number of boxes installed by next spring and expect many broods of
fledglings in the spring of 2015.
The Nest Box Program will initially include the installation of 5
different types of nest boxes which will accommodate birds ranging in size from
small Bewick’s Wrens, Chickadees, and Warblers that use a 1 1/8 inch entry hole
to our largest nest box with a 3 inch entry hole that will accommodate an
Eastern Screech Owl. We will later consider adding boxes for Purple Martins.
And, time permitting, we may add one or more Bat Houses for Mexican Free-tail
Bats.
Please follow this blog for further updates and information on the
Nest Box Program at Travis Country and Carrington Prairie.
