[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

Glad to hear you have a second egg, Carol. Just keep monitoring the nest and you should be okay. This “hobby” does take some time to learn everything and it does take patience and time. It is just like your normal everyday living in your home & town – there is usually always something you can learn about every day if you want to – just got to get in there and do it! Good luck.
P.S. you were right in not putting up the wren guard until the first egg BB was laid – that 1st egg is their “stake” meaning they will totally claim that box and egg as their property.

[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

If you use a cage feeder, meaning it has openings of only 2″ square so larger birds cannot get inside.. It will help with the starlings but not the HOSP unfortunately. I put out only enough mealworms for my bluebirds (mama, papa, 3 juveniles and 5 one week old babies. A pictures of a cage feeder is on this page, bright blue. These are very nice but kind of expensive – my dear hubby made our two cage feeders, as he was a welder by trade and could do this. You know, if you train your birds to come to your feeder (mine come to my whistle in a matter of minutes) around the same time every day, they will have all the worms for that feeding eat up in about 6-7 minutes so then there is nothing left for the unwanted birds. Don’t give up, hang in there and you will have ups and downs on the feeding process. Remember, the worms are just a “treat” for the birds (although they are very helpful to new parents – just be sure not to overfeed the worms as they need natural bait as their staple meal.) Good luck.

[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

Philly Blues – thanks for sharing the photos. Looks like that spooker will work – very similar to mine except my ribbons are red on one side and silver on the other. Also like your baffle which works on climbers like snakes, cats, raccoons, etc. As another precaution I grease the pole at the bottom for several inches (for ants) and also just underneath the box for anything that the bottom grease does not stop. Good luck – looks like you should have babies in about 14 days.

[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

That does sound like a record – 35 days of incubating eggs (believe brooding is after they hatch and she keeps them warm). Hope they try again. Yes, Nature will definitely take its own course, but we can still be sad. Good luck next time.

[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

I do not have Carolina wrens in my area I don’t believe. Sorry, can’t help. Just read in my Missouri “Birds of Missouri” field guide that they are in Missouri but they like woodland or brushy yards, which I don’t have and Bluebirds do not like.

[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

Way to do, Dana – good luck with nest #2.

[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

Agree with Tammie totally about putting food on top of their nest box – NO, NO! I believe their “treats” should be away from their house so as not to draw other undesirables (HOSP, wren, etc). Mine is on my back patio/upper deck and I can watch from the kitchen window. The parents will pick up the worms or suet, stuff some in their beak and then bring it to the little ones or eat some first and then bring it to babies (ha, ha). I have 5 new babies and parents have been feeding them well, and the other juveniles from nest #1 are all eating out of the cage feeder on my deck, so I am going through worms right and left. Good luck.

[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

Sky, yes contrats on the community garden! We had one here in our small community for about 4 or 5 years but apparently didn’t work out because they aren’t there any more. These were just raised garden beds, no bird boxes. There are people who just do not have the capability or space for a small garden and I thought that was a great idea.

[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

Yes, that is what those wrens are probably saying!!

[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

Congrats, Philly Blues – I believe the norm is either 4 or 5 eggs. My first nesting this year which was extremely early was only 3 eggs – a first for me.

[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

Thanks for the photos, David – cool . . . Helped me smile after all the bad news in Texas this morning.

[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

Julia, my bluebird setup is amazing in that they have some trees for perching, fence to perch on (BUT NO BOX THERE), lots of open space in that two acres – really ideal. And my favorite is that I can watch them all the action from inside my kitchen window.

[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

Dana, yes the BBs will defend THEIR box very well from other birds – it is amazing to see how well they do this. Glad you have a new nest happening. Good luck.

[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

Amen, Amen – world seems brighter when the bluebirds are around – mine just happen to be in my back yard which is almost 2 acres – several trees for them to perch on. They come up on my attached back deck to my mealworm cage which sits on the top rail – I am able to watch them from just about 6-8 feet from inside my house. HAPPY, HAPPY!

[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

Sure glad they got on the stick, Julie – congrats & good luck.

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