In early April 2016, with permission from the Edmonds Department of Parks & Recreation, Stan Kostka and I set five nest boxes in the marsh, each on a metal fence post with predator guard. Our intention was to lure the uncommon (for Edmonds) Tree Swallow to nest here rather than just pass through.

It worked. Over the past four nesting seasons, we have seen Black-capped Chickadees, Violet-green Swallows, and Tree Swallows use the boxes and successfully fledge young.

Last year the city hired a consultant for yet another study of the marsh. The consultants attached a wildlife camera to the metal fence post of one of the boxes. I asked them to remove it and set up their own post for their camera, which they did. Unfortunately, that box came down over the winter and needed to be reset.

This morning I took advantage of the ebbing tide, a sunny day, and few birders around to clean out all of the boxes, seed each one with clean nesting material, and get the downed box upright again. While I was working on the farthest out boxes, I was visited by a male Violet-green and a male Tree. I later spotted one Northern Rough-winged Swallow.

One of the boxes had quite a population of tiny ants in it so I was glad that I took the time to inspect and clean the boxes. Within the next month, we will hopefully see some nesting activity.

Carol Riddell
Edmonds, WA