OP Blue Birds are in Town

Beautiful birds! I have a pair that are nesting right outside my window. Here's a pic of them.

Very nice pic Cdejarnatt! Welcome to the Bird Watching forum!

We put a house up at our camping area. Just across the lane is a bog with lots of BBs. I waited two years and this year they built a nest and I got a couple of pics. No eggs yet but last week went out to see and had them pesky HOSP run them out. I was sick!!! BEV

That ashame Bev!

Hi Cdejarnett! Glad you're here. Bluebirds are addictive. I'll bet you're glancing out the window a lot. Very pretty picture. Thanks.

Dragonfly - hosp sure are pesky! We've been having issues with them, too. But the competition seems to have died down. Keep your fingers crossed. Interestingly, several goldfinch have been hanging with the bbs.

This is today's photo. Still 3 eggs.

I have heard that BBs have two batches a year so should I tear the nest out and try to scare HOSPs away or what? I have no experiance with BBs. Thanks BEV

yep, tear that nest out and hope that the BBs start again. And even if they don't , try not to let the HOSPs build a nest at all.

This message was edited May 27, 2008 5:33 PM

Dragonfly - These are the bluebird sites folks on this forum have shared with me. I found them invaluable.

http://sialis.org/index.html

http://www.nabluebirdsociety.org/

Good luck.

Thanks pelle, mrs. ed, and nanny for the support!

You bet! Looking forward to see fledglings!

Thanks OP BEV

Sure thing dragon.

There are 5 eggs today. It seems like she has been taking her sweet time laying. It has taken nearly a week for her to lay the clutch of eggs. Please notice on the closest egg a white area at the top left. It's almost like when an orange begins to decompose. It looks like it might feel soft and is slightly sunken. I didn't find anything on the 3 bb sites I have that would be helpful. I'm going to ask Dave about it.

A little competition from the robins for the mealworms.

Great news OP! Thanks for posting the pics and bringing us up to date. I think I remember Dave's first clutch had an egg with a whitish spot that didn't hatch. Of course I could have imagined that, sometimes my memory ain't too good. btw..I also have 5 BB eggs...please wish me luck as I certainly wish you!! We will both be on pins and needles until all is well!!

Oh, how exciting!!!! Good luck to both of you with your eggs!

I remember dell. I think he removed it from the nest.

Thanks nanny. I took all 22 of my 10 year old students, and their nature journals, outside to observe the bbs yesterday. They sat in the grass quietly and respectfully while the pair of birds fly down to eat their mealworms.

Good Egg karma to Rose and OP.

Thanks Mrs. Ed. Your kind and loving vibs have been working on other threads.

Hi, OP. Wonder thread. What fortunate children to have a teacher/mentor like you. The flow on effect from what you are instilling in them is boundless. By the way, what are "hosps"?

House Sparrows, Margaret. Here in the US they are nasty nasty to bluebirds and other cavity nesters. They'll KILL for the bird house!

OP, when are you out of school?

Sparrows (I don't know if they are the same as in the US, but are certainly an introduced species) are a problem in the eastern states. Western Australia is isolated from the rest of the continent by a dirty great big desert and very strict quarantine regulations have kept our part of Australia relatively free of invasive species such as sparrows. My sister has them in Canberra, where they pose a predatory risk to more gentle and defenceless birds.

What we do have here is an increasing problem with Rainbow Lorikeets, which are native to Queensland. They are the most highly coloured parrot you're ever likely to see, but are breeding in huge numbers and are displacing many smaller birds from nesting hollows and, because of their aggressive (to other birds) nature are chasing them away from food sources, chiefly nectar bearing plants. At this point in time, they haven't extended into agricultural areas and because they aren't potentially affecting an economy, are largely being ignored. When they start invading fruit crops, something may be done to control their numbers.

The Rainbow Lorikeets are gorgeous! Sorry to hear their becoming a problem.

It's awful, pelletory. The Rainbow Lorikeets are such highly colourful, fun loving, gregarious birds - dags, really. However, when you can actually see the impact they are having on local birdlife, it's quite distressing.

Mrs. Ed -Friday, June 27th. Are you thinking of fledging dates? I leave on the 28th for a mission trip - same thing happened last year. I missed the fledge! But, the babies/parents were around into the beginning of the school year.

Well yes, i was thinking of fledge dates. Would be ashame for you and the kids to miss it.

2nd Cousin Dave has taught us about bluebirds rotating their eggs while incubating them, so I thought it would be interesting to see first hand a clutch of eggs being rotated.

This photo is from this morning about 7:30 a.m. Note the egg closest to the front has a spot of white on the top left side.

This is from today at 3:30 p.m. Same angle, height. Note where the white spotted egg is now!

Awww, a good mommy doing her job.

These birdies are so dang fascinating Marna!

The eggs are beautiful. How interesting to see that they are being moved around. Keep on taking updated pictures. I'd love to see what's happening with them. I wonder which other birds do this. I'm just endlessly blown away by the birds that frequent your local areas.

It is amazing the things we are learning here!

I looked in on them today, but didn't take a photo. The eggs look a little larger to me. Do they grown larger, or is it my imagination?

The communication between the pair is interesting, too - the wing waving, swooping near each other, chirpping softly. I also noticed the female is braver than the male. She will fly down to eat the mealworms with me close by. The male will fly by, but won't land.

The eggs should hatch in about a week. I'm getting excited!

With good reason, OPbirder. The Bluebirds are just beautiful.

What's happening with the eggs, OPbirder?

Hi MargaretK - This is a photo of the female from last Friday. I didn't get a picture of the male because he was unusually shy, and wouldn't come down to the mealworms.

That was the last we have seen of the male. I didn't see him Saturday, nor today - Monday. We've all been on the lookout for him.

The sweet little female continues her motherly duties - incubates and rotates the eggs. I guess all I can do is make sure she has plenty to feed the babies when they hatch (due in a couple days) since she will be doing double duty. Life will be even more dangerous since she won't have a guard.

I spoke to a representative from the NY State Bluebird Society. He said if the male's been gone this long, something has probably happened to him. He also said, frequently another male will come to help out. She sure has her wings full!

OP I looked back over your posts and it seems she laid the fifth egg on May 30. If she began incubation then, I figure she is due to hatch on the twelfth. Is that how you figure it?

Dave

Oh poor mom...