Bluebirds are back

Great post, Dave,

I'm going to 'tag' that post so that others can find this good Bluebird info. t.

Dave, Would you mind if I copy/paste that into the Sticky thread?

Not at all, Pelle. Anything to help.

Dave

Thank you Dave!

UPDATE:
Babies have hatched and are now a few weeks old. Mom and dad are making visit after visit, every few minutes, all day long from what I can tell, to feed the hungry babies. Photo of dad making a worm drop attached.

I noticed another BB house I have up has black-capped chickadees nesting in it :)

Also, while mowing the field yesterday the swallows and bluebirds were taking advantage of me stirring up the bugs. They were staking out the bugs from the trees or in the case of the swallow, swooping in and around me snagging bugs while I was riding by :)

This message was edited May 5, 2008 6:28 AM

Congratulations on the BB babies, hczone!

I am still wondering where my BBs are, but maybe next year I'll get some...

I do have Carolina Chickadees in my one BB nest box. They are cute, but very secretive about their goings ons.

I am also wondering if you have had any Orioles, Tanagers, Grosbeaks, or other migratory birds over at your place (on the other side of the river)?

I haven't seen any here, but others in the area are reporting lots of them....

Hi....I'm not sure. I don't know if I'd know any of those birds by sight. I don't keep up on the different types except for a few I just happen to know. Mostly I just see the usual robins, sparrows, wrens, bluebirds, woodpeckers, mocking birds, blue jays, hummingbirds, finches, crows, turkeys, canadian geese and ducks. On another subject but related, I'm about sick of these stray cats around here. They breed like rabbits and I've seen bunches of feathers on the ground here and there where I think they're killing the wild birds. Making a litter box out of my flower beds and the bird killing is driving me nuts. We have 1 indoor cat, so it's not that I don't like cats...I just don't like stray cats and I get aggravated with people that enable this to continue (people that have pets that are not "fixed" but they let them roam around impregnating every similar species in site...LOL). Frustrating. Sorry for the rant :)

Hooray for the bluebirds hc. Keep us posted. Love to hear how others are progressing.

Thats great hc! I have Chickadees nesting in a slot style nestbox.

I see 3 fledged bluebird kids out there in my flower bed poking around looking for bugs. So I've definitely got 3 healthy birds. Mom and dad are still around feeding them now and then and are still visiting the box. They may lay another set of eggs :) It was cool to see the babies out there on their own this morning.

Sounds like fun! Congrats on the fledglings!

I have heard bluebirds in my trees so I am getting closer to establishing a colony. A ways to go, though.

And I have seen the oriole pass through twice now. Didn't stop for any of my grape jelly or oranges, though, at least that I know of.

Can't wait to see the pics of your babies! t.

hc - Has the pair started another nest? I just checked on my pair, and there are 3 eggs in the nest! They are 1-1/2 weeks ahead of last year's schedule. I'll put more photos on my thread.

How are the fledglings? How wonderful to see them growing and learning.

Funny you should ask - I was about to post just now telling the story. Yes, they started a new nest on top of the old one so I guess new eggs are in the works. The family is fine. They all hang out in the immediate area (within a few hundred feet or so) of the box most of the day, hanging out together, feeding and squeaking (don't you love that little squeak they make??? :) ). So all is well.

It is recommended you remove the old nest. Otherwisw that places the new nest to close to the opening and within easy reach of predators.

Glad you have had such success with your BB's! :)

Thanks for the tip Nanny. If my bbs lay a couple more eggs today, they would hatching in about 14 days? See my thread, if you'd like.