I’m SO depressed – no BB nest yet

[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

Well, this may very well by my first season (after 15 years of having nests & fledging babies) with no bluebird nests & babies. I am really bummed out about this, although I realize you can’t always predict what is ahead or coming. I have seen a pair of blues off and on around my back yard but they have made no attempt to build a nest. This may be due to the fact that the HOSP are relentless this year – I have four different boxes in my large back yard and they usually have HOSP on or in all of them. I have been trapping with good luck, but seems like this just brings more of them.
Hope everyone else is having much better luck.

[blue diamonds]

Carol…..Sorry to hear that you do not have any blues yet. I think they will show up soon. You have been so good to them for the past 15 years they would be crazy not to come to your welcoming acres. Fingers crossed they will return in the next few weeks.

Good luck
Judy – Michigan

[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

Thanks, Judy – hope you are right. Another problem I have is I purchased the large batch (10,000) of live mealworms about 3 weeks ago to have on time “when my blues appeared, and now I am stuck with trying to keep them alive. I have put out a few worms in my cage feeder several times but the blues have not touched them. I believe the pair I have seen is not my pair from last year, in other words, they are new and not familiar with all the goodies they could have! Oh well, . . . . .

[blue diamonds]

Not sure how you store your live mealworms, but I had some leftover mealworms from last September and they were still alive this April. They have been stored in a ground oatmeal bed in the refrigerator with feeding them carrots one a month. I’m sure all will workout. Come on blues we are waiting‼️

Judy – Michigan

[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

Judy, yes, this is exactly how I store the mealworms – I take mine out of refrigerator about every 10 days, add some thinly sliced carrots to the meal bed and let them eat for a couple of days, then take out the old carrots & maybe refresh the bed & put back in fridge. THANKS for letting me vent about my woes! Did your worms get larger keeping them that long? – I would think they would have.

[Dana]

Carol,

I hear you. Same here. No bluebird nest. Lately the sparrows have left the nestbox alone thankfully. The box just sits empty. The bluebirds are around and they eat my mealworms. I’m thinking now they may have nested nearby in a neighbor’s nestbox somewhere because they stay in the area. But yeah it’s not the same as having them nest in your own box. I miss that. In the meantime all I can do is keep an eye out for any sparrows to keep them out of nestbox. I feel for you. I hope things turn around for both of us soon.

Dana in PA

[blue diamonds]

Carol….My mealworms from last fall did not get larger. They might have if I feed them every 10 days. I tried to keep them dormant. They are gone now, we’re on to a new batch.

Dana….I would be bummed too if my bluebirds used a neighbors box. You are right, It’s not the same.

Judy – Michigan

[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

Dana, feel a little better that I am not alone with no BB nest yet. I guess I have had good success in the past so I am bummed out with none this year, at least not yet. I have even had a few worms out in my feeder and they have not even tried them – almost sure they are a new pair. And yes, it is not the same to watch your blues go to a neighbor’s – although that is an asset since they are at least helping the numbers.

[David in Stafford,VA]

Carol, sorry to hear about your “lack of nests.” I was concerned about mine due to our extend cold spring. The weather took a warm turn just after Easter and my pair came back but did not start to build a nest until 6 days ago. Now I have 3 eggs in the nest. Has your weather warmed up to 50+ degree nights?
They should return soon.

David
Stafford, VA

[phillyblues]

So sorry. Same here, Carol. The sparrows are out of control. I think maybe because new neighbors up tye street have a zillion feeders all filled with the typical walmart wild bird (sparrow) seed. Saw bluebirds on my trail a few weeks ago but they disappeared and now the weather turned cold. I trapped 10 sparrows this week alone and they keep coming!

[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

David, thanks for “listening” to me mope about my lack of bluebird nests yet this year. Most of my time is spent on trapping HOSP from my four boxes – they are relentless. One almost attacked me when I was looing into a box and trying to set my VanErt trap – I finally caught it and it turned out to be a female. Almost all of my trapping has been the males, but this female was very mad & mean.
No, our nights are not that warm yet – in fact we just had two nights of below freezing weather, but today has turned out to be nice weather, just windy. I will just keep my fingers, toes, eyes, etc. crossed to see if any blues take the clue. P.S. I am still keeping my mealworms alive – don’t know if I can do this until next season, but guess I will try to save the 10,000 I ordered when I thought they would be needed. Last time I fed them there were A LOT of dead worms – don’t know why unless I had them too cramped in the containers. I had six boxes of worms in the fridge – had to really work to make room for them.

[David in Stafford,VA]

Carol, in a cool refrigerator (50-59 degrees) they should last for about 6-8 months. In normal 70+ degree temperatures they will begin to turn into white pupae in 6 weeks to 8 m0nths. 14-24 days after that they turn to beetles. The beetle can survive 2-3 months. If you are not giving them anything but cut carrots their survival rate will decrease. I kept mine in a wheat bran bedding and had to sift out the pupae and beetles. Most of those in the refrigerator in our garage died off during the extremely cold winter.

David
Stafford, VA

[David in Stafford,VA]

You can use non-sugared breakfast cereal such as Wheaties, Cornflakes, or oatmeal for food also.

David
Stafford, VA

[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

David, I do have the worms in wheat bran in the refrigerator and only give them the carrots for moisture every 10 days or so, leaving the wheat bran in the containers while they eat the carrots. It is amazing how they can devour (takes about two days) those very thinly sliced carrots. Still no show from the blues.

[David in Stafford,VA]

Fingers crossed for warmer weather. I do believe that they are out there – just waiting for the right time. Last year my pair did not start their nest until May. We had bad and cold weather up until late April- so there is still hope.

David
Stafford, VA

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