TC BIRD NESTING SEASON BEGINS !!

Opossum nesting in one of our Owl Nest-Boxes at the Community Garden !

When I went to clean the Screech Owl Nest-Box at the Community Garden yesterday, I was surprised to find a large and sleepy opossum in it.  For some time I have been surprised that we have not had a screech owl in that box.  Now we know why !   So I too my trash tongs, grabbed the opossum by the tail and dropped him into a cedar bush.  From there he left in a great hurry.  Big question now is if he comes back or we get the intended screech owl for their nesting season which should start any day now.  Screech owls are good for gardens because they enjoy small rodents for their nightly food supply.

Carrington Prairie Open House

On May 21 the Clint Small Middle School held an Open House to introduce their project to restore the natural habitat of the Carrington Prairie, a 12.5 acre nature area in the center of Travis Country which is a.k.a. the "AISD Property".  This restoration project started during the spring semester and will continue in the fall of 2014.  Thus far the students have created a Monarch Butterfly Way Station and placed informative Nature Information throughout the 12.5 acres.

In addition, in cooperation with Travis Country, an initial 5 nest boxes of different sizes for several different species of birds have been placed in the nature area in preparation for the nesting season in the spring of 2015.

Please take a look at some photos from the Open House at the following link:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/u7yl9sm0cm8r2p7/AADAyvcuD6WRiSdYg618TxTRa

NEST BOX PROGRAM SUMMARY

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.

Glen Novinger

Glen@Novinger.com
512-537-8772