Second try for second brood

We are going to try again. My bluebird pair lost their last nest box and clutch of 5 eggs to a pair of house wrens a couple of weeks ago. They (the bluebirds) have moved to the front yard box again, built a nest, and today I saw one egg in in the nest. No photo yet as I was doing some other yard work. I hope this one works out.

After the wrens leave I am going to remove that box.

Good Luck and keep us posted !

Crossing my fingers that all goes well!

I wish your bluebirds all the best!

They are such personable birds....

Like our cats, they are like children to us.

My female, after laying 2 eggs, disappeared. I suspect something got her. The male is quite lonely. He has 2 'babies', born mothers day, that still follow him around. It's funny, when they visit for mealworms, they stand around with their mouths open wanting Dad to feed them!

I can only hope he finds a new wife

I'm sure he'll find someone new Carole, but she won't want anything to do with those fledges. Keep us posted.

Flamingo,
I hope that he finds a new mate. They are really marvelous parents.

We have 3 eggs now and I expect 2 or 3 more before she starts to sit on the nest. There has been no further interference from the wrens or anyone else, so I think that this clutch will be okay. According to my calculations they should hatch around July 5th or 6th.

I am not sure what is going on in the wren box. When I checked it today it was so full of nesting twigs that it did not look habitable. It looked like the entrance hole was blocked by the material but the birds still go in and out of it though.

I hope it works out for your pair.

My BB pair finally built a nest in my back yard nest box, and then did nothing. So, in a fit of frustration, I put up a second BB box in my front yard. My backyard pair finally got down to business, and momma is definitely on her nest. Whew, that only took 6 months. I noticed a female in and out of the front box (which has been up for 2 weeks), and decided to take a peek. A nest was already built, and I never saw a single bit of nest building activity! Front momma must be incubating also, she is on her nest all the time. If both pair are successful, there is going to be a lot of BBs around here! Hopefully, there will be no Wren/Sparrow problems.

Good Luck Gazer.

I sure love to hear about everyone's blues.

I finally faced reality and cleaned out the house with the nest and 2 eggs. Mr. must have watched me.....it took him all of 2 minutes to check it out. Since that time I see him in and out of the box looking for Mrs. Been checking just in case. Still empty.

The babies have been pretty scarce the last week, I suspect they have moved on. They occasionally come back for mealworms. Dad, on the other hand, shows up twice a day.
It's like he can tell time. He sure is quite the piggy.

Does anybody have a good source for mail order mealworms?

bluebirdsnbells....how is your little family to be?

gazergirl...how exiciting! So....any eggs yet?

I don't know if there are any eggs Carole. I am too afraid of disturbing my new nesters so I have refrained from opening the boxes. I am also too short to actually see in the nest without a stool of some sort. I was somewhat disappointed when I first opened the nest box, found a fully built nest, and couldn't see if there were any eggs in the nest. Darn. And I paid extra for the plexiglass side to view the nest. Oh well. Maybe next brood.

I hope your Bluebirds have another successful brood!
As for the Wrens, send them my way please...
We have a wren singing everyday nearby for almost 2 weeks, but no mate and we have 3 empty birdhouses :(

gazergirl....

have never heard about plexiglass and bluebird houses....please, tell me more!

thanks

Hi Carole! For an extra fee, you can buy a BB nest box that has one plexiglass side underneath the wood siding. The wood siding will swing up (just as the cleaning side will) and you can view the nest box in a relatively secure manner. I thought this would be a wonderful learning opportunity for my 2 year old son, as well as his bird crazy mother! I bought my nest boxes at the Wild Bird Center in Covington, LA. It is a franchise and the organization does have a website.

gazergirl,

thanks so much for the info! I do have a Wild Bird center that I use locally but have never seen these.

have got one ordered....

carole

All,

Thanks for the comments. We just returned from Seattle, (visiting grandchildren). The pair are still at the nest box and the 5 eggs are still there. I am hoping for a 4th or 5th hatch day. I will post photos when it happens.

I have not seen the wrens but their nest is still crammed in the other birdhouse. I don't believe that they could get in there to lay an egg. Maybe they are on there way to Nebraska, Susan.

David in Stafford, Va

GOOD NEWS!!! We have 5 hatchlings. Must have happened yesterday. I will get photos later today.

David in Stafford

This message was edited Jul 3, 2010 2:57 PM

Here is a quick snap of the new ones. All 5 look healthy. It is warm today and both mom & dad were in a nearby tree watching carefully as I took the photos.

Very sweet!

Congratulations BB&B. Five, wow. The broods down here seem to be smaller. I've been gone for 2 weeks, and the babies from my front yard nest box fledged while I was gone. Today I saw 2 very inexperienced male BB fledglings trying to get to my homemade suet. I am sure they are the fledglings. My other big news is that I had the first fledgling pop out of the back yard nest box this morning. There are two more inside, battling for room. I'm betting they will fledge tomorrow. Got to make more suet, it is a fledgling mainstay. Someone described homemade suet as bird crack - they were right.