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Welcome Lori – wow – to have a nest & 2 eggs already is amazing. But since you live near Austin, TX you would have much warmer weather than a lot of us. I remember well my very first bluebird nest & eggs (this is my 9th season), so know how thrilled you must be. If your box is made to BB specifications (especially with good roof overhang on all sides & drainage holes), you should be okay. Here in mid-Missouri we are also supposed to get rain all week long and it did downpour yesterday. However, my pair have not built their nest yet, but have picked their box. Others will chime in here about wet nests – I know this is NOT good for babies but am not sure about just eggs??
First thing to do I imagine is to look inside box & check if nest is wet. Good luck.Hi, Lori. Welcome. Just check occasionally to make sure the next isn’t soaked, like Carol mentioned. That’s all you need to do. If you find that your box keeps getting rain water in it then you’d need to modify it some how but for now just check on it after heavy storms or blowing rain. Of course make sure the hole points away from prevailing winds which I’m sure you’ve already done. Congrats on your eggs.
Tammy
My name is gene and i live in sandy hook, ct. I have 3 nestboxes and have bluebirds in my yard for about 10 years.
I used a book about monitoring blubirds by the Cornell Lab of ornithology in the past. I originally was greatly aided by a bluebird enthusiast on the net who helped me greatly. I have a couple blubird pics that I woukd like to share but need some guidance.
thanjs,
geneHi and welcome, gene!
It sounds like you are having a good time with your birds. If you want to post an image, you will need to first post it someplace like photobucket and then copy the URL over here. Do you see the “img” button above the reply box? Hit that and then copy the URL. I hope you get it done because we would all like to see your pictures.
Gin
Atlanta, GAFor detailed instructions on posting images, see Posting Images in the Posting Tips sticky post at the top of the forum.
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Central NY
TMB StudiosHello the name is Bob just like my tag. I have recently moved to a 90 acre cattle farm in the rural country of southwest Missouri. I have read several books / forums posts from others in an attempt to learn about blue birding. I have built several houses from the Missouri Department of Conservation Website. I know I am a little late on the install but I plan on having 10 or so boxes mounted on barbwire fence posts within the new few weeks. This is the first time doing this adventure. I’m looking for experienced advice that might give me the edge. Any feed back is welcome and I look forward to reading the posts. Thank you for reading.
Bob
Welcome, Bob – I too live in Missouri, mid-Missouri and this is my 9th year of bluebirding. Our first BB boxes were from the Mo. Conservation booklet and fledged LOTS of blues. (I believe we made the top of these boxes with a little more overhang than called for) Later, we decided to make some Gilwood-style boxes with front openings, but this is only my 2nd year with them, but they are supposed to be a very popular box. In regard to advise, please do not mount your boxes on posts with barb-wire attached, as this creates a ladder for predators, such as snakes, and raccoons, etc. I personally do use the steel barb-wire fence posts (just because we have them available) as a BASE, and then slip a slick, smooth steel post over them with a baffle underneath, and this creates a very sturdy post system, capable of taking all the strong winds we have. A really great website (which is almost like a BB bible here at this forum) is http://www.sialis.org/ Putting up that many boxes will be a great challenge for your 1st year and it is getting late, but good luck. P.S. Maybe you can just put up a few boxes with proper posts the first year and then expand as your budget allows? Let us know how you do
Ma’am,
Thank you for sharing. Appreciate the advice and I look forward to implementing it.
Thank you,
Bob
Greetings, Bob!
Carol’s advice is right on target. If you simply mount a box directly on a fence post you are asking for trouble. Nothing is more disturbing in the bird world than to check a box and find it has been raided.
Gin
Atlanta, GAHey, I’m Nigel Collier. I’m a 17 year old from Alabama who recently got interested in birds in her real, especially bluebirds. I can’t wait to help these beautiful birds! Thanks for having me i can’t wait to join this group!
My name is Lisa. I am from Phoenixville, Pa. I am a dog groomer and a true Bluebird nut!
A pair of blues came to our property three years ago and nested. I was hooked! We have had 5 successful broods over three years. I do feed live mealworms year round and have had the Bluebirds winter with me each year.
I am happy to say that we have 3 eggs in our box and maybe more to come. It is very cold, lows in the twenties, and we had snow today. I am concerned about this obviously.
I welcome any comments pertaining to this subject.
Good luck to all! -
This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by
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