Home › Forums › Bluebird Chatter › Heart broken…swallow hatchlings gone!
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June 9, 2019 at 7:52 pm #7409
I was not forunate enough to get bluebirds this season but I was fortunate to get tree swallows. But as my luck has it…seems per usual lately…the fun was cut short. First, the male disappeared. But the mom was brooding the nestlings for a week now. Just today I look in and all nestlings are gone! I am so upset. I have never seen a snake in my yard, so I don’t know.how that could be, but it seems like the nest was undisturbed. No idea where the mom is but i guess she’s gone. Terrible! No where else to vent, no one else would understand how this feels after all the work and care put in to attracting these beautiful birds.
June 9, 2019 at 9:01 pm #7410Phillyblues, so sorry this has happened. We watch these birds work so hard building their nests, brooding the eggs and feeding the hatchlings. Especially this one trying to do it on her own. It’s a real downer! Maybe with a little luck another pair will come by soon and start building. Best wishes.
Judy-Michigan
June 9, 2019 at 9:07 pm #7412I am so sorry! It is such a heartbreak when things go wrong. I think I’ve had everything but HOSP. It hurts.
June 9, 2019 at 9:39 pm #7413Thanks Lisa and Judy! Wish I had put a predator guard on the pole. I really didn’t think we had any snakes around. I don’t have a big property. Yeah…God willing a bluebird might come along. Seems a little late, but who knows.
June 9, 2019 at 9:40 pm #7414This is a real bummer – so sorry. But unfortunately we have to take some sorrow with, hopefully, some joy. I had four blues fledge and I believe only two of them survived all the storms and bad weather we had just about one day after they fledged. Survival rate is not great for birds, even with our help and without some help, it is even lower. I had TRES two years in a row, 1st year they fledged successfully and the 2nd year I found all 5 babies dead, and the nest was full of mites, which I assume is what caused their demise. Have not had any TRES here since then.
Hope you will maybe get a successful nesting yet this year, of one species or another.
June 9, 2019 at 11:00 pm #7419Phillyblues, I too am sorry to read about your TRES. Don’t give up hope there is still time for a pair of blues to turn up. Sending good vibes your way for that very thing to happen.
Connie (PA)June 10, 2019 at 8:35 am #7421Thanks again. Do you think I should leave the feather nest? It’s not spoiled by anything.
June 10, 2019 at 1:55 pm #7426I, too, am sorry for your loss. As we have said before. each time we experience something like this it is tough for a few days. It is not too late for another nesting or two to happen. You can leave the feather in place for now. If the new occupant, hopefully a pair of bluebirds, does not want it, they will remove it.
Good luck on the next go around.David
Stafford, VAJune 10, 2019 at 9:03 pm #7430How about a baffle? A raccoon baffle has a good chance of stopping a snake. You could also try a ring of crushed egg shells around the pole.
The thing about some predators is that we don’t often see them. They are all sneaky for a good reason. I KNOW I have raccoons but have never seen a live one, just a couple of road casualties.
Gin
Atlanta, GA -
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