by Art Carey
Box Nesting Report
Updated on Oct. 17, 2001
Tree swallow populations were bolstered in Fremont during the past season by nest-box projects at Central Park and Coyote Hills Regional Park.
Lake Elizabeth
At Lake Elizabeth, in Central Park, 220 swallows fledged
at three locations, Ranger Sandy Ferreira reported. On Duck Island, 15
of 19 nest- boxes were used by the birds, which produced 116 fledglings.
Boxes placed along Mission Creek yielded 99 fledglings
in 13 of 18 nest boxes. Of 16 boxes placed in the New Marsh area,
only two were used and 5 swallows fledged, she said. Eleven of the
boxes have been relocated to the Mission Creek area where there are more
trees and greater protection from the elements
Ant predation is a continuing problem and is being fought
with barriers of Tanglefoot, a thick, gooey substance placed above
and below the boxes, and ant stakes.
Ferreira said that an osprey nesting platform is expected
to be placed on Duck Island by the end of the year.
Coyote Hills
At Coyote Hills Regional Park, Dave Riensche, wildlife
resource analyst for the East Bay Regional Park District, said that about
half of 10 tree swallow nest-boxes produced young. Sixty per cent
of those fledged, he said, and the park plans to expand the boxes
to 25 next year.
Less successful were wood duck and barn owl nesting projects.
A wood duck nesting project at Anthony Chabot Regional Park failed to produce
any young, Riensche said.
Attempts to attract wood ducks and barn owls to nest-boxes
at Quarry Lakes Regional Recreation Area in Fremont also were unsuccessful,
Park Ranger David Pellarin reported, with no nesting activity evident.
Quarry Lakes, the East Bay Regional Park District's newest parkland, is
scheduled to open its gates to the public in November.
High Fledgling Rates
March 12, 2001
by Art Carey
Monitoring of tree swallow nest boxes has been expanded
at Lake Elizabeth
in Fremont's Central Park, and three boxes have been
added to attract another
species -- American kestrels.
This year, 16 boxes have been placed
for the first time in the park's
third, and newest, monitoring site, New Marsh, on the
northeast corner of the
lake. They are part of a tree swallow project coordinated
by Ranger Sandy
Ferreira that includes 18 boxes along Mission Creek,
bordering the east side
of the 88-acre lake, and 19 boxes on Duck Island.
124 hatchlings in year 2000
The project began in 1994, when 6 boxes
were placed on the island to
attract cavity-dwelling tree swallows to the lush vegetation,
which includes
oaks and willows. The 19 in place there now produced
124 hatchlings last
year, according to Ferreira, with 107 fledging successfully.
Four clutches
were depredated by ants and 17 hatchlings died.
Fifteen boxes have been
removed from trees infested with ants and relocated to
posts protected with
ant poison and a thick anti-ant adhesive placed below
the nest boxes. After
nesting is completed, the boxes are cleaned for new tenants.
Some produce
double clutches.
Mission Creek
Ten boxes were placed along Mission Creek
last year, facing the lake, and
they produced 37 hatchlings, Ferreira said, of which
33 fledged successfully.
Eight more boxes have been added this year. Boxes are
positioned at
different angles to the lake to see which nesting configurations
are
successful.
New Marsh
New Marsh, the newest site, received
16 boxes in March built by Irvington
High School students and Cub Scouts who earned Environmental
Badges for the
project. Boxes on the island are monitored weekly
by park rangers to assess
nesting activity, but those at the other sites are often
checked by young
volunteers who climb a step ladder and inspect the feather-lined
cup nests
inside with an extended mirror.
The distinctive tree swallows, metallic
blue-black above and white
beneath, began to arrive in January and are putting on
an aerial display for
walkers, skaters and bicycle riders who take the 2-mile
path around the lake.
The swallows are feasting on midges, gnats, horse and
dragon flies, moths and
mosquitoes, which are found near the open water of the
lake and nearby marsh
areas.
American Kestrel
The kestrel boxes are located on the west side of the
lake near the
Fremont animal shelter. Ferreira said that kestrels have
been sighted in the
park for several years.
To ask questions about the Lake Elizabeth Nest Boxes or to volunteer your assistance, contact Art Carey.
October 2001