Nesting Boxes at Greenwood Sanctuary

Last Fall, some nesting boxes designed for Wood Ducks and some designed for Owls or Kestrels, were deployed at Greenwood Sanctuary in Dimock, PA.

This week we saw swallows skimming across the water for insects and returning repeatedly to the Wood Duck nesting boxes positioned near the pond.
The nesting boxes have a side door that opens to allow monitoring and cleaning. In checking the two wood duck boxes, nests were seen in both boxes, one with a clutch of new baby swallows.

The Wood Duck nesting boxes are rather large in size; they do have a grid inside to aid in traction for young birds to climb the inside wall to reach the opening to the outside. It will be interesting to watch for the young swallows navigating their way out of the nesting box when they are ready to fledge.

Swallow parent perched in the nesting box opening.

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Swallow chicks looking for a meal.