The season is changing fast and so is the scene. When you visit Broadmoor during the nextmonth you will see lots of activity from the parking lot to the nature center. More than twoyears ago, renovations and additions were made to the nature center, now we are completing that project with a new entry, shade trees in the parking lot, a nature play area for children and picnic area surrounded by wildflowers and native trees and shrubs. If you would like to help with this project, please visit the Broadmoor website and make a donation.
This past weekend, more than 40 people birded for Broadmoor in Mass Audubon’s annual birdathon fundraiser. They saw 180 species of birds all over the state and raised more than $2,000 to support our work here at the sanctuary. This beautiful male Eastern bluebird is one of the species seen by many teams.
There are 55 nest boxes at Broadmoor and many have young or eggs. Today nine young bluebirds from two nestboxes received numbered aluminum bands. Banding is one way to track where birds go, how long they live and whether they return to where they hatched.
This summer, a Boston University graduate student will compile 30 years of data from nest box monitoring at Broadmoor and analyze the trends in nesting times, relationship to weather, number of young and other changes. Most nest boxes are occupied by Tree Swallows. These birds capture insects in flight, so are very susceptible to weather changes that affect flying insects.