Catch up time

[Sassy]

Hi Everyone:
I have not been here in quite some time but I am still a BB nut.
Last year I believe I was the first member to have a pair build a nest and Mama lay her first egg. Well it turned out that pair raised 14 new BB. They all fledged and as of today I still have 8 coming to my cage feeder for dried mealworms and suet crumble. It’s exciting to see them come when I whistle, along with Juncos, chickadees, titmouse, and nuthatches.
The temperatures have been frigid and we have quite a bit of snow on the ground, so I am doing my best to keep their fat intake up.
I hope all of you are doing well and that your BB’s are stopping by to visit.
Connie (PA)

[tamsea]

Hey Connie. 14 is a good outcome. I have a white egg laying female again and she had several nests that failed. Eggs didn’t hatch, or HOSP attacked them. This happened the year before too. But I did have another pair that raised young and I also had 2 released in my property from our local rehab center.
I have 7 that are visiting me. We have snow on the ground too. Right now we are out of town. I hope they fare well in these cold temps without help this week.

Tammy

[Sassy]

Hi Tammy, good hearing from you, and hope your Bluebirds made it through the freezing temps we have been experiencing this year. Mine made it, they show up for their daily feedings and to check out the nesting box. I am certainly looking forward to Spring.
It will be interesting to hear if the white egg laying female gifts you with more of the same this year. Looking forward to hearing about it.
Connie (PA)

[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

Hi, everyone – We had to be out of town several days this week and got into this horrific snow storm. We were about 2 1/2 hours from home at a dental facility – got the dental work done and then had to stay in motels the next two nights because of the snow (car doors windows, etc. were frozen over completely). The next day we traveled at about 40 miles per hour on an interstate and finally made it home – it was horrible, seeing all the semi-trucks stalled and off the road in a ditch, etc. Don’t ever want this to happen again if at all possible.
Along with all this I knew my bluebirds (and others) would find it hard to find food under about 7 inches of snow and no one there to feed them their peanut butter suet for about 3 days. The day we got home I put out the suet and all birds appeared except my blues, and I was scared something had happened to them, but the next day they showed up along with all the others. I believe my blues are roosting in their favorite nestbox or one of the others – I’m not sure but did see the blues pair on both boxes.
COME ON SPRING!! (although up to the past couple of weeks we had some warm days for this time of year.)

[Chris]

We had 9 inches of snow here followed by single digit temperatures, hope the blues are okay. I have seen blues and other birds going in and out of birdhouses recently.

The weather was bad enough for a while it was challenging to keep feeders stocked. I’m thinking maybe the birds hide out in a thick jumble of cedar trees til the weather improves.

In maybe about six weeks they should be thinking of nesting here.

Chris (Ohio)

[Sassy]

Hi Carol:
So glad you arrived back home safe and sound. It was a wicked storm that came through, a bit less severe when it got to this area, but none the less damaging.
I know what the feeling of worrying about how our blues survived during these severe storms is, but they seem to be heartier than I imagined.
I saw them feeding today, along with all the other small birds. I might have to make another batch of suet, they definitely clean the bowl of all remnants of dried mealworms and suet a couple times each day, but then snow is covering the ground so food is hard to find.
I agree COME ON SPRING!!
Connie (PA)

[Sassy]

Hi Chris:
We got about the same amount of snow here in Western PA and the bitter temperatures you experienced but the blue birds here made it through. There are a couple barns down the road and I have a feeling they hold up there at night and during the day when they are not sunning or feeding.
Nesting season will start here soon too, I have seen the males checking out the boxes. I am ready!
Connie (PA)

[Chris]

I was happy late yesterday afternoon that my four regular bluebirds returned, eating mealworms and going in and out of boxes. I guess i could refer to them as my “gang of four,” although sometimes there are more.

I wish i could tell individual bluebirds apart, but other than male or female, they all look the same to me. Obviously the birds themselves can distinguish each other.

Chris

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