We had a bluebird box with six eggs. Looked in yesterday and saw one dead
nearly fledged bird and one egg. We assume that the others made it out of
the nest, but have not seen any around, nor the adults. However, saw about
eight larvae and two pupae on the floor of the box.
Can anyone tell what
I took my mother to Myers Park in Lansing on Friday morning just after the
heavy rains passed. She was quite captivated by the sweeping interfaces of
beach, water, woods, rising mist, and heavy clouds. Two COMMON TERNS
foraged with considerable success for 15+ minutes just off the spit, then
Re: Richard's insects. My guess would be blow flies (family Calliphoridae)
from a cadaver. I dont think they'd pose a threat to a living bird best to get
the adults and take them to Jason Dombroskie in Entomology for id.
Given today's date, I thought i'd share another grisly observation from
Hi Richard,
There's a chance that what you are seeing are bird blow flies.
Bird blow flies are common in the nests of many birds, including bluebirds,
swallows, chickadees, wrens, warblers, flycatchers and raptors. Research
shows that heavy infestations can make nestlings anemic (cause
Strange as it may seem (at least it does to me) we have been regularly hearing
a black-billed cuckoo here in farm country. Just this evening we saw the
elusive bird fly from the telephone wire into the willow and then I lost it in
the maple tree. I figured it to be more of a woodland bird, but
Hi Stuart,
The heronry on the island in the big beaver pond south of the West Danby Fire
Hall is just a few years old. The timing of its origin suggests that it may
have been started by refugees from the old heronry that existed on a wooded
island in the North Spencer Marsh, which was taken
