Chickadee Nest Cam 2017
Sadly, our Chickadee nest was not successful this year. We have cleaned out the nest box in the hopes that they will try again this season.
Here are the links to our previous Chickadee nest cam seasons:
Chickadee Nest Cam 2015
Chickadee Nest Cam 2016
Feb 1 - We caught a Chickadee checking out the nest box for the first time this year; We quickly took the box down, cleaned it out, and refilled it with aspen chips before putting it back up.
Mar 21 - We finally hooked up the camera, however there were no signs of activity in the nest box (the aspen chips were all still there).
Mar 27 - After so little activity we finally saw a Chickadee investigating the nest box entrance again.
April 10 - At about 1:30 in the afternoon, a customer noticed the first activity on our big screen...the Chickadees are starting to excavate!
April 13 - Excavation is complete and we are now looking at the bottom of the nest box. It's just a matter of time before the Chickadees start bringing in nest material.
April 18 - We adjusted the camera angle a bit. Still waiting for nest building to start!
April 20 - The chickadees are still working away at the bottom of the nest box, chisseling away pieces of wood. At one point both of them were in the nest box at the same time!
April 22 - This morning the chickadees started bringing in the first bits of nesting material!
April 23 - We arrived in the morning to find the nest is progressing well....lots of lichens are visible in the box and they are constantly bringing more in!
April 27 - Nest construction continues! Hopefully we'll see eggs soon!
May 1 - The chickadees are working hard at perfecting the nest before they lay their eggs.
May 4 - She's finally laid her eggs! When staff arrived at 9:30 am the nest was empty, but by noon there were four eggs visible. By the end of the day there were six!
May 14 - Mom is still sitting on all six eggs this Mother's Day. Once in a while she rotates them to ensure the chicks inside develop properly. Once in a while she gives us glimpses of her eggs when she leaves the nest to stretch her wings for a bit before coming right back to brood her clutch. We should expect to see the eggs hatch by mid week this week!
May 17 - Three out of the six eggs have hatched today! The parents have been busy bringing food into the nest all day to feed the newly hatched chicks (sometimes unsuccessfully). By the end of the day the other three had yet to hatch...tomorrow should prove to be another eventful day! In the meantime you can watch some of today's highlights below.
May 18 - Two more eggs hatched this morning! By the end of the day there were still 5 chicks and one unhatched egg
May 24 - After the being offline for a couple of days (a squirrel chewed our cable supplying the power to the camera), the camera is back up and running. The chicks are now a week old and are starting to grow in a few scraggly feathers. Their eyes still aren't open yet, but that doesn't stop them from begging excitedly for food every time one of the parents arrives at the nest.
May 28 - Sadly, only three active chicks are visible in the nest
May 30 - The chicks eyes are starting to open and the parents are still actively feeding the remaining three
May 31 - Now only two chicks are left
June 3 - We are very sad to report that the remaining two chickadees didn't make it either. We have cleaned out the nest box in the hopes that the parents will start over again this season.