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Oh, Julie – you are so right about all these fledgubg stories – makes me so happy we can have something to laugh about! In all my years I have only seen my babies fledge about two or three times. I usually get to see them peek a day or so before fledging, but I am on the go quite a bit (or used to be) so not home to watch a lot. Your story was very funny – I thought all the babies usually flew to the same spot – didn’t know they sometimes went into different trees. Another thing learned today. Again, thanks for the laugh. And thank you also, Rich, about your funny fledge story,
Great news, David – nice shot of the babies – I never can get decent photos of birds – I do better on my flower garden stuff. P.S. There isn’t anything real pretty about newborns, is there, but they sure grow up beautiful!
Rich, it definitely is one for the books! In 13 seasons on this forum I don’t believe I remember anyone who had this happen. My blues definitely come to my whistle but I cannot be outside close to the feeder when they come to eat and bring worms to the babies. I probably would have jumped out of my skin.
Do you have a cage feeder for the worms? I wouldn’t be without one, like you say every bird in the area likes those worms.Wow – maybe you were mixed up on dates or maybe she did not begin incubation right away? Anyway, CONGRATS on their hatching!
Julie, that is great your BB eggs hatched and that your neighbors will have something great to watch during their trying time. Hope they fledge successfully!
Dana, I believe you have the right thoughts – if she is still incubating let everything alone – they will take care of things & dispose of leave the eggs alone.
Congrats on all your fledgings – that is a lot to keep tract of, Renee. I love to keep track of my blues, rid the HOSP, etc. but also love flower gardening and volunteer work, which is getting back on tract now. Thanks for the updates.
Renee, believe you might be right about parents finding food instead of being tidy this year! My blues fledged on Wednesday and been watching parents take mealworms up to them in the trees – fun!
Thanks, David, hope your first hatch turns out as well – pretty scary with all this cold, freezing weather, THEN 80 degrees the next day.
By the way, I believe you mentioned some time back about your photo posting – that you use some place that is a free photo storage – I wrote it down somewhere and can’t find it. Would you mind Personal Message me so I can check into this.
Dana, is mama still incubating the eggs? If not, she probably knows they are infertile. If you have another box for them to take, I would probably leave the old nest alone and see what they do, like you said. But I wouldn’t leave the old nest in the box for much more than a week in case they want it back or you can use it as a HOSP box & trapping. Mama blue’s pattern should tell you something. Sorry this is not working out for you but maybe next go-around will be better.
Thanks Connie & Judy – That papa blue is doing his duties well, Connie – good for him.
Judy, I did not get to see them fledge – in fact I never even saw any peeking this year, which I always do. But this box was at the very back of our yard and quite a distance so couldn’t see as well as the ones at the opposite corner, which is close to 300 foot. Most of the fledglings from this pair of blues do return with them after about 10-12 days of “training how to survive.”
No fledging yet, Julie – hopefully tomorrow (18 days). To clean out my box I just take nest out, scrape out anything stuck with something and then wash it out with a hose. We used to put do this and then put it in a 5-gallon bucket (of course had to take box off the post for this) of water with just a very small amount of bleach, rinse it good with plain water, and then let it dry out. But we all came to the conclusion this is not really needed unless there were ants or mites, etc. Good luck with yours fledging successfully.
Rich, So Sorry about my previous response to your “Worried” post about your nest – I did not catch that these were still unhatched eggs, not getting ready to fledge babies! Glad you were able to see that the eggs had hatched after the cold spell. Hopefully it will warm up, but I bet mama blue will keep them warm. And you had put some good insulation on the box.
Rich, PLEASE don’t open the box at this stage! Rule of thumb is not to open box after day 12 of hatching. You risk the chance of them jumping out/fledging at an inappropriate time (like parents not around to guide them, etc.). I, too, have babies due to hatch today, but I am just watching and making sure the parents are still taking the worms to the box, and they are, so I know they have not left yet. I believe the weather might keep parents from feeding like they should (even with help by offering mealworms) and therefore babies not quite large enough or ready to fly away.
We must just wait it out and when the parents do not go to the box any more, it should be safe to check. Okay? Good luck.
P.S. I have been watching to see if my babies are peeking out of the hole like they usually do a day or two prior to fledging, but have seen nothing yet. Maybe you can go outside and get at a different angle, and with binoculars see if you can spot them peeking – that is fun to watch.Yes, this extra box idea works like a charm – had a pair of HOSP today on a box I been watching early this morning, so I set the trap and had the male in a matter of 20 minutes.
Been watching my blues’ box pretty good today – did not see any peeking yet, but they are due to fledge tomorrow so hope they don’t wait too long in this nasty box.
