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Great work, Philly Blues – glad someone is having luck trapping them – I am working on a pair right now but letting them build more of a nest and then will set VanErt again. They WILL NOT hatch any as long as I’m alive and kicking. Yes, the Juncos are fun to watch but need them to go home, like you said, so spring will appear.
David, glad to hear you are having activity from your blues, also. You will read my woes from my other post – sure hope they get on the stick with at least scouting a box. All I see them do is eat my peanut butter suet, along with dozens of other birds.
Rich, sure goad your blues are scouting for a box – I’m really worried that mine are not “scouting and laying claim” like usual – still not sure if the three that are left (after finding two dead in a box) are juveniles from last season or if the parents from last year are here, along with one juvenile. I have four boxes in four different corners of my 2.5 acre yard, so I’m sure hoping they will finally pick out one. It is still early for a nest for them, but not too early for scouting.
P.S. This forum is a great asset to us who are trying to help out our precious blues – what one person has learned (sometimes by trial and error), is passed along, and then that same person may get good tips from someone else. Great to hear from everyone.
Judy, glad you are seeing blues activity at your boxes. My pair is here and eating my suet but have not seen them try to claim any of my four boxes yet. Actually, I am not for sure if this is my actual pair – only know I have a male and a female. Like I mentioned in another thread I found two dead blues in one of my boxes – was so upset I really did not examine too closely. I do believe the male that is here is papa but am not sure about the female – could be one of the juveniles from last nesting. Yes, my birds love my heated bird bath, also. The nights we had below zero temps, the birds only had a very small hole in the center of the water that was not frozen – it took some work to get the ice out and fresh water in for them.
Chris, also glad you are having activity there. I cannot start feeding my worms until all the winter birds leave – all of those extra birds would put me in bankruptcy. I’m a little fearful I may not have good luck this year – this is my fourteenth season and I have always had some kind of blues activity and fledged a lot of bluebirds. All I can do is continue to do the best I can and mother nature will take care of everything else.
Thanks, Judy, yes, this was really a downer for me – guess I am not alone. Nature can be cruel sometimes – we just do the best we can for our precious blues and go on.
Rich, this is the reason the set VanErt trap MUST be monitored closely. In all my years I maybe have had one bluebird get caught and it did not bother her at all. This is unusual that if the HOSP were claiming a box for a bluebird to enter. Did you wait for the start of a nest from the HOSP before you set the trap? I know they usually scout a box for some time and if the female “likes” the box, they will start building.
I have had a HOSP couple scouting my favorite box for 2 or 3 weeks now. They finally began a nest so I set the VanErt for them. They we had terrible rains and wind and he never did go inside to get caught, so I took it out. Well, today we had a pretty clear day, just small amount of light rain, so I went out and noticed there was some “this is mine” starters of a nest there. I will wait a day or so and then set the trap again.
Keep up the work on those HOSP. Believe our birding season is upon us. Now, if I could just get rid of my winter birds (juncos, white crowned sparrows, so I can begin feeding my mealworms, I will be a happy gal!
Welcome, Chris. Sounds like you are quite experienced in bluebirding. I, too use a cage feeder for feeding – in fact I have two and there are tons of birds every morning and late afternoon eating my suet. I will switch over to live mealworms later in March when it warms up. I take it your feeder is hanging – don’t have any ideas on keeping larger birds from tipping the cage – I have both of mine attached to my back deck (located at back of home) railings – I whistle for them and they come in groves. All the birds (bluebirds, white-crowned sparrows, juncos, (and of course HOSP) come and have both bowls inside the feeder cleaned up in about 5 or 10 minutes. And yes, those starlings and other larger birds try hard to get in – once in a while a thin one will wiggle its way inside and they have trouble getting out. I keep pretty close eye on the feeders after the food is there. I do use the VanErt inside box trap for HOSP but have never had much luck with the ground traps – tried lots of times and always catch the wrong birds.
P.S. Just had a thought about your mealworms being shaken out – If you use a glass or plastic bowl inside the feeder instead of just on the bottom of the feeder, the worms should stay inside maybe???? I use some old glass ashtrays – worms cannot climb out and they are heavy enough to stay put inside the holder which is mounted to the middle of the cage. Good luck.Hi, Mike and WELCOME. I’m also a Missourian, live in Mid Missouri and have been bluebirding going on 13 years now. We live in a rural subdivision where each house lot is at least one acre, and lots of 2 acres and ours is 5 acres (only about 2.5 for our actual yard). I, like you, had never seen a bluebird until we had a new neighbor move in across the road and “brought her bluebirds with her”. I immediately put up two bluebird houses and had 2 or 3 nests that first year, and then I was hooked.
After about 5 years I put together a Bluebird video presentation and went to different places in town and surrounding towns, talking about our bluebirds. This was most rewarding. It took me almost a year to get photos, put them into proper format, etc. Since I am “over 70 years” old (???) about 3 years ago I decided to give up the roaming and just enjoy my blues in my own yard. They stay with me all winter long and enjoy the mealworms (in the spring/summer) and my peanut butter suet in the winter.
Please visit our “bible” website, which is www/sialis.org – tons and tons of information here. Good luck with your nestbox and the nesting season. P.S. Glad to hear you are building your own box – sure you have researched the specs needed – we have built everyone of our boxes, which are numerous, as well as all the predator controls needed.
P.S. Guess you know when you post again you need to go to a “new” post area and not use this introduction area with your regular posts. GREAT TO HAVE YOU HERE!
Is a hopper feeder like a cage feeder, David? Yes, those other small birds do need a chance also. My two cage feeders where I feed suet are empty in about 4-5 minutes with all the bluebirds, juncos, sparrows, etc. around. Larger cardinals, etc., try to get in but can’t – they have a BOSS feeder to go to! (Those numerous cardinals are absolutely gorgeous against the white snow)
Has anyone had scouters checking out nests yet? My son in Texas says they are at his dwelling house by large numbers – he lives in a suburb with lots of homes and I don’t believe he will do too good getting BB to nest. This would be his first time trying at his home area – he does have a small lot on a lake where they do nest – but I worry because he is not there much to monitor well.
Come on spring!
Yes, my blues (and all others) are coming to my suet feeder by the groves. We had about a two inch snow yesterday and all the birds were frantically looking and eating today. Besides the two cage feeders in which I feed the suet I have a BOSS seeder set up in the yard, probably 50 feet from the house. They are eating us out of house and home on these sunflower seeds – have LOTS of cardinals, etc. out there and that is quite a site with all the cardinals against the snow.
Wow, that would be quite a sight to see a Baltimore Oriole in the winter! Again, anything which puts a smile on our face is a God-send!
Keep up the good work – yes, like David said, it is a GREAT way to relieve the stress of COVID by reducing the HOSP population! I’m thinking about putting in my VanErt trap on one of my boxes where I believe HOSP are spending the nights – but it would require very close watch and it is VERY cold here in Missouri now.
Thanks for the pics, David – hope your experience with the suet is “memorable”. It does take a few trys to get the hang of mixing – also they will balk at the suet if you are feeding still feeding the worms, which of course, they prefer!
David, yes I make my own peanut butter suet – just made another batch yesterday. I’m going through it pretty fast due to ALL the birds that are eating, along with 4 or 5 bluebirds. I have two cage feeders (which my former-welder hubby made) so I have birds at both feeders. When the larger birds try to get in, they get really frustrated. Had some large black birds (believe they are grackles) along with the cardinal, try to get in this morning and they got really upset! Here is the suet recipe:
1 cup lard (NOT CRISCO), 1 cup crunchy peanut butter – melt together in micro/wave. Then add 1/3 cup sugar (just enough for energy) until blended well. Then you add 2 cups oatmeal, 2 cups regular cornmeal (NOT cornbread meal), and 1 cup wheat four (can use white but wheat is more healthy for them). Stir this all together – little hard to get mixed but it will blend. You then need to crumble the mixture up a little (after letting it cool). I then spread it out well in a large baking sheet & put in fridge for a couple hours to get cold. Then take it out and crumble mixture up into pea size pieces. Takes a little experience to get the right consistency – if the pieces are too large they will be wasting a lot because they cannot consume it without breaking it up some. Takes a little practice but it is worthwhile. This recipe comes from our forum Administrator, Cher, and is on the http://www.Sialis.org website.
Glad to hear your worm farm is doing well – DON’T FORGET TO FEED THOSE PRECIOUS BABIES. In the summer when I’m feeding worms I put a note in my pocket calendar to feed them every 10=-12 days. I did forget one time and I didn’t think they would ever quit eating those carrot slices!
Happy New Year to everyone – hope this next year is better than 2020! P.S. I just looked at Cher’s recipe on Sialis.org and noticed that recipe is double of mine. I believe I learned that the larger recipe is too hard to mix and get crumbled, thus, I cut it in half. I make a batch about every 10 days.
