Well, my blues are nesting at my neighbor’s tree cavity, but I am on a rampage and am keeping the HOSP away from them! Have caught many with my VanErt inbox trap and just got rid of THE PAIR at one trapping! This is about the third time this has happened – don’t know how this happens but really don’t care! I don’t use a ground trap as I catch too many other birds and am gone too much. I about know exactly when to set the VanErt trap and usually catch them within 15 or 20 minutes.
Hooray for you Carol. Keep up the good work. By eliminating that bunch of competitors you are giving the blues a better chance at occupying your house at the next sitting. Your next pair may just be waiting on a branch somewhere right now.
David
I started using both the revolving door ground trap and the Van Ert several years ago. Until this year I was successfully catching and discarding HOSP. But this year I’m not catching any so far. Nor am I observing them. A few times I wondered if I heard one, but no confirmation.
I would like to think they are getting the message “No HOSP allowed”, but don’t trust it. It only takes one.