Bluebirds 2013

bluebirdsnbells, Congrats on the hatchlings and keep us uposted! Mine just flew the nest yesterday, I waited untill 10:30 AM to take photos , But, They must have flown out after that time so unfortunately I missed them, But mom and pop keep coming to the mealie feeder and bringing the food up to the top of the trees for the fledglings so pretty soon they will all be coming to the feeder to eat! ( Looking forward to it! ) Last year, I had the parents and fledglings coming down to eat at the feeders, But, Also had extra BB fledglings from somewhere coming down to eat too, Hopw it's the same this Year!!

My 4 April post on this thread included, "I'm thinking of installing a 2nd box close to the 1st, in hopes they all will find peace in their own abode."

Well, I did just that... hung a box on a tree 80' crossed the yard from the first. Sparrows took to that one and left the BBs alone.
The new blue birds flew away last week.

Both houses are awaiting occupancy.

Thanks all for your input.

Well as luck would have it, my young ones took the early day and fledged yesterday while I was away. I saw no activity at the box this morning, went out to check and found it empty. Missed another fledge. I have cleaned out the 2 boxes (chickadees also went early) and when they dry I will put them up again for the "second" season.

David in Stafford

RESORT2ME and bluebirdsnbells, hope the Bluebirds come back for you! ~ David, I missed when mine flew the coop too ( I had to just miss it, I watched the box most of the morning and they didn't fly out, but, When I checked in the afternoon, they were gone)
The Fledglings are now coming to the mealie feeder with the parents, All three of them made it and look well, At first i thought only two made it, But, The third comes in to eat every so often so i know they all made it and the female is allready bringing nest material to the box again ( And I did notice at one point that she was bringing mealie worms to the nest box too, Don't understand why she would do this but she has done it.)
Here are some photos of the fledglings eating ...

Continuation ..

Dave Iris and all, so glad to hear news of your successful fledglings. MyBB first nesting was not a success, the 4 eggs vanished one evening, then the 5th disappeared the following day. I had no idea what happened. One consolation is that the nest is being rebuilt at present. Iris, those pics. are soooo precious! Nice job!

Lily_Love, Thankyou! ~ Love watching the little ones! ~ But, All the others want the mealies at the same time and it makes it kinda hard to get a decent picture sometimes, if I try to scare off the mockingbird, I end up scarring the bluebirds off too! ~ They all ( Bluebirds, Cardnals,Mockingbirds,Robins,Titimise, Wrens) seem to want to eat at the same time!
So sorry to hear of the missing bluebirds, But, Happy to hear they are rebuilding, On another note, You lost your chickadees to a preditor too no?? Are your boxes on a pole or a tree?? ~ Hope it's a pole, Trees are a really bad place to put a box on, The survival rate of chicks born in a box that was placed on a tree are Very low, All kinds of preditors climb trees making an easy target out of the chicks/eggs. really so much better to have them on a pole ( A bit away from trees) I learned this the hard way a long time ago and would never put a nest box on a tree again ( Unless it's for owls) Even on a pole you have to be careful and use a baffle/ guard to make it safer. I use a large pvc pipe, ( cheap to buy, and makes a huge difference) from the bottom to the top of the pole ( I also grease the pipe with vaseline) Really helps keep the snakes and other critters off it! I always try and protect them the best I can as they are so helpless once something wants to get in.
And on one more changed note ... I realized today that there are four baby BB's !! I was so happy!!

Thanks Iris for the tips. I've works to do ... for my birds.

Lily_Love, Your quite welcome, I hope all goes good for you in your work planning for the birds, And hope your having a good day today!

Lily - sorry to hear of the loss but I am glad that the pair has started another nest. Iris is quite right on the pests that bother our birds. If you take a look at the photo, this bird house is mounted on a 4" PVC pipe mounded in a concrete deck support block. I have not had any problem with critters yet so I have not used a baffle.

I do have a new nest that was just built yesterday by the same pair, I believe. I have not seen the fledglings yet, but they have never returned following their nest departure. There are enough surrounding woods and fields that must be full of insects and grubs for the young. I have not been able to get the bbs to take mealworms yet. I have take several trips during the summer where the food dish would not be replenished and I don't want to create an inconsistent supply issue with the birds.

My front box is now occupied by a wren. That nest also completed yesterday. No eggs in either nest today. Of course it has been extremely hot so I imagine the birds are keeping to the trees until cools off a bit.

Resort and Iris - Congratulations on your broods. Nice photos too, Iris.

Thanks all for the kind words, I'm so happy for all that have success with the BBs this season. As of yesterday, there were 2 new blue eggs in the nest. And today I saw the male BB was feeding the female while they were standing by the nest box. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Wooohooo, as of today; we've 4 eggs.

bluebirdsnbells, Thanks, i believe my pvc pole is a little bigger around then yours ( I worrie a lot about the snakes around here and felt that the wider/slipprier it is, the harder for them to climb it, Like you, I have not had problems while using the pvc poles so I don't use a baffle either. I always feed the bluebirds and all the others ( Many love mealie worms, I raise my own, so I'm not in short supply) But, If I were, I wouldn't worry here about them have an insufficient supply of food there are many trees shrubs grasses ect in the whole area where I live, never a short supply on other food sorces here. My Bluebird pair are still leading the young ones ( There are 4, they all made it) to the mealie worms but are really trying to get them to feed on there own which they are definately starting to do but they still beg the parents sometimes .. This is a photo I took of the pvc pole today in the rain ..

Congratulations Lily_Love!!! Whoooo whooo!! thats Great!! :)

A few photos to share ..

In the dish with dad

..And with mom ..

Still begging

Bluebird out, Cardnal coming in ..

Iris, those are some lovely capture of the adorable BBs, oh the Cardinal as well. :)

I have a full nest in the box again, I think she will start laying eggs again any day now

Thanks Lil_Love, All the birds come and feed on the mealie worms quite a bit

Great work everyone. The second season is underway. My BB's have their first egg today. I will get a photo tomorrow as today was a "work-in-the-basement" day.

David in Stafford

Look forward to seeing them David!

Found the first egg in the box today :)

Dave, and Iris, seems as if yours (BBs) are running neck to neck. LOL, It'd be fun to wait and watch your next broods' development. I'm more encouraged with mine, having seen Moma BB in the nest box more and more often.

Got a quick snap of the nest and 2 eggs between raindrops this morning. They seem to be doing well. Congratulations on the new start Iris and thank you Lily for the photo. It looks like she is just resting after a hard day at work.: )

David in Stafford

David, those twin eggs look so fine.

The Grandson says "Now they look like Mickey Mouse". 3 eggs. I guess if you use your imagination and think like a little 4 year old it does.

David in Stafford

Lily_love, I'm sure you will be having eggs in the nestbox soon :)

bluebirdsnbells, It kinds does look like Mickey Mouse LOL!!! ... I'm right behind you on this end, Got two eggs in the box today. I really enjoy watching the male take the fledglings to the worms and then take some worms over to feed the female! I wanted to get a photo of that today but she was behind a hanging pot so I couldn't get a good shot of them.
Some from today ...

Two eggs in the box

Waiting on dinner ...

...and recieving it!

Flying in on his own

Got three of them, Have a Hard time trying to get the four together.

Nice photos Iris. I guess I will have get a feeder station set up somewhere that mine will go to.

David in Stafford

Oh my God, Iris, they are gorgeous!

David, They love mealie worms and mine will come in from a ways when they know the worms are out there, I think you would be happy if you set up a feeder station, It's really enjoyable watching them, And it seems once the fledglings know where it is , They always come back to eat from it, One time, I only had one nest of fledglings here to start off the Spring and when the fledglings were ready to be on there own, Of course they came in to eat, But, I also had another set of fledlings that came at the same time, So there was like 8 fledglings out there eating, Plus the parents, It was quite a sight to see, I was hoping it would be the same this year, But, No others came in, So I think it will be just that one time that it happened. ~ I don't have much of a feeder station here, I just put the dish out on a stand and they come right in if there around, if there not around, It doesn't take long for them to realize it's out there.

MargaretK, Thanks!

Absolutely delightful sight! Love, love 'em Iris.

And they added a 4th. Yeahhhhh!

Yeahhhhhhh! David, as I saw your photo, I went back out and fed my BBs. Oddly enough, I only saw the momma. Not her beau. The female came after the mealies, flew up the tree, then back into the nest box. I'm thinking she's started to incubate the eggs? I don't want to disturb her at this point; so no pic. for now.

Lily_love, Thanks! To your post above ..I'm sure the male was around, Sometimes they just disapear for a while ( Probably hunting next yard over) I check my boxes during the day and sometimes the female's in there and she flies out, But, she always comes back, I usually tap on the box first to give her a chance to fly before I open the door. I check every now and then to make sure all is ok, One time, When I had the box in a different location and I checked, there were ants starting to get into the box, So I had to take the nest out, Chicks and all, And clean the box out, ( Wanted to make sure there were no ants eating on the chicks) Cleaned the box, Moved the box and put the nest back in, She just went right back to them and all was fine.

David, 4 eggs, thats Great!!! Yeaaaa! ~ I didn't check the box today, Too much to do and then had a monsoon rain storm!

On another note, I had a Very Sad Evening last night! ~ I let my dog out at about 9:30 last night and I could hear the Thrush down the end of the yard making noises, I knew right off that it wasn't a good thing, I knew something was at her nest!!! ~ I took the flashlight out and went looking, Sure Enough, It was a Black Racer Snake in the nest and it ate the babys!!!!!!!!! I tried to do the best I could to save them, But, I was too late!! :(
I was so mad, But, I had to remind myself that it's part of nature and the snake was doing what it was programed to do, I Did catch it ( Well, actually, My hubby did) and we relocated it. I felt so sad, Especially since I watched her make the nest, Have the eggs, And the babys were getting feathered! I had even put an unbrella above the shrub where they had there nest the other day to help protect them against the heavy rains we have been having, And yesterday morning the parents came to the dish to get some worms for the chicks, They almost made it, So sad! I always worry when the birds have nests in the shrubs because it is easy access for preditors , But, Unfortunately, There is nothing I can do to protect them when there nest is in the shrubs, Can only protect the ones that nest in the pole boxes. I hope they will nest again and hope they will have a better chance now that the snake is gone, But, I'm sure another might come along or some other preditor especially seeing it's now getting into the warmest months. I Thank God that the Bluebird box has some protection, I also always listen for the bird sounds as I know the differences of each species when they make a distress call, during the day when I'm out there, I can do something, But, During the night, It's out of my control usually. Posted some photos of the snake and the Thrush at the dish yesterday morning and a couple Bluebird photos ..

Momma Thrush
Black Racer
Bluebird Fledgling
Bluebird dad and Fledglings
Bluebird Fledgling and pops ... Hey, Save me some dad!! ( lol)

On one more note, I won second place in a photo contest the other night, ( It was the same image that was on DG's photo calender this year) ~ I figured I'd take a chance and enter it seeing it was a gardening subject - This is the image I won with ..

Thanks Iris for sharing your experience; both the sad and the good ones. Once again the BBs family member are just adorable, and the one of Dad and fledgling is fabulous, congrats on the 2nd prize. Nature is indeed rough, I'm glad that you were able to relocate the snake. Bad, bad snake! I think those Thrushes and Mockingbirds all build their nests in shrubs and such. Oh by the way, what's the difference between Thrush and Brown Thrashers? I used to call those 'Brown Thrashers'. Few of them have discovered my seeds feeder and have came by to feast on them of late...

Lily_love, Thanks! ~ The difference is the Brown Thrashers have much longer tails, streaks on chest, more reddish, white barring on wings, Wood Thrushes are smaller, darker, have rounder heads, big round spots on chest, pink legs, white ringed eyes, short tails. The above is actually a Thrasher. ( Sorry about that) I had thrush stuck in my head for some reason and wrote it as such. ... Another sad day today, I went to check the bb box and found the threee eggs on the ground with holes pecked in them, Definately the work of a bird trying to take over the nest/ get rid of the compitition, I'll have to keep a close eye on the box and see which bird is doing it ( My guess would be the wren) always something to deal with here, dissapointing and aggravating sometimes! Can protect the BB's from most preditors, Except other birds!! I do have a baffle for the hole entrance, But, They don't like having it on there so I'm going to have to think of another way of doing this, I might just put another box in the imediate area if I see it's the wren doing it.














Brown Thrashers have much longer tails, streaks on chest, more reddish, white barring on wings



Wood Thrushes are smaller, darker, have rounder heads, big round spots on chest, pink legs, white ringed eyes, short tails


above is a thrasher not a thrush ( Sorry about that, had thrush stuck in my head for some reason) ... Another sad story today, I went to check the BB box and found the three eggs on the ground with holes in them, I know it wasn't a snake or other ground preditor, It was a bird that wanted to take over the nest/get rid of the compitition, Now, I'll have to watch closely and see which one!! It's probably the wren! Always something around here, It gets very dissapointing and frustrating sometimes!!!

This message was edited Jun 6, 2013 12:22 PM

Arrggg, such sad day, sorry about that Iris. Thanks so much for taking the time out to help explain the difference b/w the thrush and B.Thrasher. Have a good evening, I share your pain. Having been gone most part of the day. I hope my BBs are aokay out there.

Thank's, Lily_love!
And I sure hope yours are ok. And Your Welcome for the explaination of the differences, ~ "Thankyou" for pointing that out to me so I didn't continue to post the wrong name on the Thrasher.

Iris, I was just curious and wanted to learn more about different species of birds in general. Oh, before I left this morning, I saw the male BB came with another bird, wasn't sure it was a female or a fledgling. It was always a joy to see them. Have a good night everyone.

Lily_Love, From what I can see, looks to be a female BB, But, Could be a fledgling.
Not much postings lately, I'm wondering how everybodys BB's are doing??
Got a new egg in the BB box today, So she has started nesting again, Hope the eggs do allright this time, Going to be keeping an eye on it for sure! Few pic's that I got a short while back ..