Saw a lot of activity at the back yard birdhouse yesterday but only a few pieces of grass were in the nestbox. Today the pair were very active in going in and out of the box as well as chasing off a couple of chickadees. Here is the female. I could not get a shot of her facing the camera.
This message was edited Apr 7, 2011 7:53 PM
Here is the male watching the activity
l looked in the box this afternoon and found this - all ready to receive the eggs.
There was a lot of activity overhead. Seen any of these lately?
or one of these?
"Is that a bird? A plane? Or is that supperman?" lol, I couldn't resist that. How is the activity with the BBs coming along these days? Thank you for sharing your observation from Va.
They are still in and out of the nest box but no egs yet. It is still cool here.
Thank you, I'm going to look forward to your update. Thanks again.
Went out this morning to do some chipping of downed tree branches and stopped by the nest box - no eggs. I came back by a couple of hours later and found this. She must not have minded the chainsaw and wood chipper racket in the background.
By my calculations:
One egg per day for the next 4 days + 14 days incubation + 17 days for growth and "preparation", we should have fledging around May 16 or 17.
Woooohooooo!!! May babies! I like that idea a bunch! Thank you for the news. BBB.
Beautiful!
Congrats on the nesting BB's. We really enjoy ours.
Another egg this afternoon.
Here is papa bird watching as I look in on the nest.
I have four bluebird eggs that were due to hatch yesterday and they haven't. Possibly because of the cold. It snowed the day she laid her second egg. On top of that my female is now missing and has been for two days. The male is flying all around, obviously looking for her. I fear the worst. Probably a hawk. I've seen one almost every day for a week. I probably will take down the nest box in a few days and hope the male can attract a new female quickly.
I hope you have better luck in your part of the county. On a more positive note, I have chickadees nesting in a box on the south side of the house. First time I've had that happen.
So sorry to hear that Dave. I hope he finds a mate soon. I know you'll enjoy the Chickadee's.
So sorry to hear the news on Mama BB Dave, Nature is so rough sometime.
Hate to hear that news, Dave. I bet your male comes up with a new mate soon. While BB's are mostly monogamous, they seem to pair up fairly quickly after the loss of a mate.
I still have two eggs in my nest that hatched three last Friday. I'm going to remove them if they don't hatch today.
Dave, sorry to hear about your bluebirds and this brood. Luckily the hawk that used to be here all winter has not been around. I haven't had any lookers at the south side nest box except for this BB pair. It is still vacant.
Hope your next attempt will be a success.
Third egg.
And #4 this morning
That's great!
Terrific!!! Hands clapping, toes tipping. What's joy!!!
And here is the 5th egg. Now we wait until Apr 29. Actually I will miss the hatching as I will be in Seattle to watch our granddaughter dance the lead role (Belle) in a ballet performance of Beauty and the Beast.
Congratulations on the fifth egg, David. For some reason I always feel a little disappointed when there are four. Who knows, maybe tomorrow you will find six. When that happens It seems more often to happen on the first nesting.
And congratulations on the upcoming trip to Seattle. That's going to be so special. It's the kind of thing that really makes grandparents proud.
I have discovered that the 5 baby birds in my nest are all dead. Should I remove them---or will the parents? Also, should I remove the nest? I have hopes of their trying again this year.
Shirleyd
Oh how terrible! Wondering what type of pradator has gotten to them! Now I'm kind of relief that the pair of Blue Birds that checked out my nest box this early season decided not to nest there. They're so fragile. I so love, love them. Sorry to hear the news Shirleyd.
Definitely remove the whole thing -- nest and dead babies. This early in the season, they very likely will try again.
Can you determine how they were killed? any signs of injury? Were they pecked? Do you have a HOSP problem? If not, it could be insecticide
My neighbor was spraying Round up close by. I feel that is the reason, although I had always heard that it was relatively safe. They showed no signs of injury. What do you mean by HOSP?
Thank you for your interest
Shirleyd
HOSP is the accepted abbreviation for House Sparrow.
It is an invasive (non native) species brought here from England more than 100 years ago. It has few predators and is very adaptable and has multiplied to the point that it is probably the most common bird in North America. It competes for nesting space with bluebirds, tree swallows, purple martins and other cavity nesters. In time it will probably wipe out many of our native songbirds.
During its breeding season (which is longer than the others), the male searches for housing and often becomes very aggressive. If it decides it wants a nest box, it will fight for it. And in a fight with a bluebird the HOSP will ALWAYS win. It is slightly smaller than a bluebird so it can enter a 1 1/2 inch opening and will kill a bluebird if it can trap it in the nest box, or break its eggs, kill its nestlings and then build its own nest on top of the eggs or even on top of the corpses.
The bluebird may chase the HOSP when both are in the open but do not be misled. If the HOSP can trap the bluebird it will surely kill it. I speak from experience.
HOSP are not protected by Federal law as are native birds, and anyone who would host bluebirds or any of the other species I have mentioned should educate themselves as to this pest and have a plan for its control before they ever put up a nest box. Otherwise they are just setting up the good birds for almost certain death. If you are blessed in not having them on your property, great! But keep an eye open for they will come eventually. My first three years I didn't see a one but now they are all over the place.
Here is a picture of a male HOSP. His beak is black during breeding season and is as hard as rock. It is truly a lethal weapon.
This message was edited Apr 17, 2011 6:25 AM
This is a thread of such joy and such sadness. Bluebirdsnbells, it's wonderful that your birds are doing so well.
Dave, I'm so dreadfully sorry about your missing female. Being as involved and passionate about your beautiful birds as you are, it must be deeply saddening.
On yet another sad not, Shirleyd, that's tragic about the dead bubs.
Yes, Margaret, This started out as such a happy thread and I apologize for having spoiled it. I should have started my own or responded with a D-mail.
No Dave. Please, there is no need for any apology. You haven't spoiled anything. You never could. I think the thread reflects life itself, with its highs and lows.
Dave,
I am happy to have you pass on information about our bluebird friends in this thread. I learn from your experiences as well as the others that read your posts.
I have noticed a second pair of bluebirds flying around and sitting on the next box. My original male keeps chasing them away. Hopefully they will move to the front yard box.
This message was edited Apr 17, 2011 1:23 PM
I'm so appreciative of all whose own experience whether it's joy or sorrow that are shared here. We live in an imperfect world. So in hope of learning from one another, we can make our world a better place. Thank Dave, BBB and Shirleyd.
I have had problems with the HOSP also. But what truly amazed me was one afternoon a couple of summers ago I was cleaning up branches from a storm on a hot afternoon when i heard the male and female chipping like crazy less the 50 feet from me at first I thought I was the one making them so upset. As I looked closer it was a SNAKE a very large milksnake to be exact slithering its way up the post. I could not believe my eyes. My husband was able to get able to get the snake. now I put mulch at least 2 feet around my bird house post so I can watch them closely. I dont know if the snake would have killed the babies or if it was just a fluke. But I'm not taking any chances.
So far I have three sets of bluebirds building nest at different spots on our property. It is still very cold here in central NY.
this morning I had a dusting of snow on our deck :(. Enough I WANT SOME SUNSHINE..........
A milk snake will take both young birds and eggs. I would install a predator guard on the pole to keep them out. See http://www.sialis.org for instructions.
On another note, I saw something today that I have not seen before. The female bird is building up the nest with an additional 1-2 inches of grass. Could this be to help keep the eggs warm during the incubation as it is still cool at night here in Stafford?
Like Dave has mentioned "...they will come eventually..." I saw the very first HOSP in my garden yesterday. How disappointing that was!
A milk snake will take both young birds and eggs. I would install a predator guard on the pole to keep them out. See http://www.sialis.org for instructions.
On another note, I saw something today that I have not seen before. The female bird is building up the nest with an additional 1-2 inches of grass. Could this be to help keep the eggs warm during the incubation as it is still cool at night here in Stafford?
Unfortunately, I believe that my original nesting suffered the the same fate as Dave's - a second female building a nest on top of the original nest. I have watched for signs of a return but finally (with Dave's help) decided that I had to remove the old nest and eggs. I removed them before I went to church this morning. As luck would have it this afternoon as I was hunting "Easter eggs" with my grandson, I looked in the nest and saw 1 new egg. So a new nesting is taking place. We will see what happens.
Thanks Dave.
