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Bill Ackerly has continued the FAR bird box monitoring project that was set in motion 2 years ago with Stewart Sanders and a Team that FAR created to put them up and keep them clean, but cleaning and repairing the boxes began again, truly, this spring, thanks to the dedication and love of wildlife of retired Cambridge resident, Dr. Bill Ackerly. We are pleased to see follow up and hearty enthusiasm from Bill and the DCR Team for Alewife. We continue to encourage others to monitor our Reservation birds and alewives during the late spring and summer.

We still hope to attact blue birds, and have doubled our boxes back to back so the sparrows will remain tolerant for them, says DCR staff.

Please contact Bill if you are interested in assisting this effort.
fbackerly@gmail.com
617 354 8007

May 16, 2008 Update on nesting bird boxes at Alewife Reservation
Eleven bird boxes have been scattered about over about 110 acres of different habitat, put up in 2003 by Stewart Saunders and, to my knowledge, have not been monitored since. This spring, between Feb. and May, all boxes were cleaned out, some repaired due to ravages of time, weather, attacks by the teeth of chewing animals, I assume either squirrels or raccoons or fishers. All the boxes had been used at some prior time as they were filled with dirt, feces, or nests that had to be cleaned out.

Some notes of interest: the house wren box was cleaned in Feb. and a nest of mice were all dozing and in clearing out, 5 jumped out to the ground to scamper away. This particular box had wire mesh around the hole so no animal could chew their way in. Another swallow box on a peninsula in Blair Pond was filled by house sparrows that had to be cleaned out in May. The wood duck box was cleaned out, fresh wood shavings put in the 3' hole protected by a plastic ring because the old opening was really chewed out and enlarged. The two kestral boxes on 15 foot poles were cleaned out with help of the DCA employees' twelve ft ladders and were without damage. Two of the boxes were back to back boxes, facing in opposite directions so that blue birds and swallows could nest. I personally have not seen this work in reality, but it is there.

William Ackerly

Tree swallow
image by David Brown