Hello all,
This spring, we had a family of Carolina Chickadees move into a Bluebird Box that I had put up in our back yard in Central New Jersey. The box was placed (by me) too close to our house and to my feeders to actually attract bluebirds, so I was happy to see the chickadees move in. At any rate, this past Monday I heard hatchlings in the box for the first time and for the next two days, saw the parents bringing food back to the nest almost non-stop.
On Wednesday morning, I saw the parents feeding the chicks and chasing some squirrels who had ventured too close to the nest. That was the last I have seen of them and it is now Friday morning. My fear is that the parents were taken by a predator of some sort and the chicks are now abandoned. As mentioned, Monday was the first I had actually heard hatchlings in the nest, but I was away all weekend, so there's a chance that they were there as early as Friday/Saturday. Is there any chance that they were mature enough to leave the nest? Is there anything that I can do to check if there are any hatchlings still alive in the nest? The last thing I want to do is to just leave them abandoned in the nest. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Michael
