John O’Donnell
Friends of the Cedarburg Bog, johnodonnell132@gmail.com
Beginning in 2012 and through 2015, following traditionally proven protocols for nest box construction, placement, maintenance, and monitoring, the Friends of the Cedarburg Bog (FOCB) installed 14 duck nest boxes in and around the Bog complex. Eleven of the duck nest boxes were installed over land on trees near woodland ponds, lakes, or streams. In 2015 three of the boxes were installed on galvanized steel poles over water—two in a seasonal woodland pond and one on the edge of a small cattail marsh extending 40 feet out from the shoreline of the largest island in Mud Lake. All of the boxes are equipped with steel predator guards. Over this four year period, wood duck nest box success rates increased from 25% in 2012 to an estimated 50% or better in 2015. Furthermore, for the first time ever, hooded mergansers were recording as breeding in the Cedarburg Bog when eight ducklings made their “jump” from the Mud Lake box on May 16, 2015.
The FOCB nest box program is intended to become a “citizen science” project with the goal of having more community involvement with nest box installation, monitoring, and maintenance. A small cadre of volunteers has already begun to participate in the program. In early 2015, three of the new duck nest boxes were installed with permission on private land adjacent to the Field Station. All three boxes had successful hatches, and in 2016 three additional boxes will also be installed in Mud Lake. Four small owl boxes erected in 2012 provided minimal evidence of use in 2014, with only one box of the four being occupied by a small owl (likely an eastern screech owl) and this for roosting for a short period of time based on the small number of owl pellets and bird feathers found within the box. To date, there has been no evidence of any the owl boxes being used for nesting by small owls. Data for small owl nest boxes for 2015 has yet to be obtained.