Hello, Tweeters,

It's almost that time.....nest box cleaning time. I've two pairs of Violet-Green Swallows who double brooded and still have the second batch in the box....but the rest of my nest boxes are now empty and far too quiet. But I have lots of teenaged swallows still about.
SO it's time to take down the nest boxes you put up in the spring, clean them out and up, and put away for the winter.
If you leave them up, I guarantee that starlings or sparrows will take them over, and then what will you have..lots of THEM.

What to do with the contents of the boxes?? Don't throw the stuff down or compost it. Ziplock bag it and send the nests to Terry Whitworth. Terry is doing a study on blowflies. He's taking nests of all kinds. Please send him your nests..in return he'll tell you if you have a blowfly problem in your boxes.

Bag the nests individually in ziplock bags, write the species, and number of the box (if you number yours, like I do) send them to Terry. This way you'll get a picture of what the blowfly problem is like in your area. For instance, of seven nests I sent to Terry last year, two had blowfly cases in them...interestingly, those two boxes were nearest a vernal pool. I'll see what he finds this year.

Send the nests to
Whitworth Pest Control
3707 96th St.E
Tacoma, WA 98446

remember to tell him your email address so he can send you the results of his survey.

Michelle
MBlanchrd at aol.com
Oly, WA