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Dana, I believe my pair of blues are also on vacation – I see them around on my trees and checking out one particular box but no nesting material yet. The HOSP are relentless – been trapping them pretty often. I will be really disappointed as I have had nests, eggs & babies the last 14 years.
Great news, Lisa – My pair do not even have a nest started yet – really having to fight off all the HOSP. You bet it is time to put out live mealworms – this will keep the pair around, just remember to feed the worms as a treat, though – they need natural bait mostly.
Seems like the Van Ert trap is highly used here. Funny story – I was needing to put a trap (I have two) in a nestbox where a hosp had staked his claim and I could not for the sake of me (us including dear hubby) find either one of them. I am pretty particular about putting them in their proper places but we could not find them for about 30-4o minutes. Finally we opened a door to one area of our shop/barn and found them setting on our big lawn mower for some reason! Whew!!!!
Lisa, I have never had this problem so can’t help from experience. However, our favorite website http://www.sialis.org has oodles of information and you can probably find help there.
Good to year from you, Lisa. Yeah, Georgia weather would be nice, although here in Missouri we did not have much winter, not like normal. Have your blues made any nests yet?
Rich, I believe the norm is to have boxes at least 100 feet apart when possible and the more space the better, as they are very possessive of “their” box. This will be my 15th year I believe of hosting bluebirds and you learn something each year. I have not tried to have boxes in the front yard as well as my four boxes in the back. I live in a subdivision and in the front yard there would be quite a bit of traffic, so I just keep everything in the back yard which is close to two acres. But sounds great to have a box in the front with a garden (would there be any cats around – which would not be good). Good luck.
Hi, Sky – I don’t have any real answers for your questions – if you had good luck with the box you have I would be tempted to try it – also the more boxes you can put up the better choice they have. Of course, you must have enough room to put up more than one. I believe you need at least 100 feet
between boxes to be successful. My pair of blues have been around scouting, but I hope they do not build a nest too soon, although last year I had eggs by mid March.Hey, David – glad you responded & gave more information here. I can’t believe the weather we are having (warm) – AND I ALSO HAD BOTH MALE & FEMALE BLUES inspecting a nest box yesterday – papa blue has been around all winter but not mama, so I was absolutely thrilled to see her yesterday. I sure hope they do not get into a big hurry about laying eggs like they did last year – had the first egg laid March 25. But then had a total of FOUR nestings that year. Hope everyone is doing well.
Oh, David, so sorry to hear about you and your wife getting Covid-19 at same time – what a bummer! And also bad about your mealworm factory – I know you have worked very hard on that project.
I have had a fairly good winter season – lots of juncos, white-crowned sparrows, and of course HOSP at my suet feeders (2) & TONS of cardinals at our BOSS (black oil sunseed seed) feeder – what a sight to have this beautiful scene to view in the winter. Papa blue has been around all winter and saw the female earlier but have not seen her for a month or so. I have a feeling something happened to her or she just wanted to avoid the cold weather and went elsewhere. COME ON SPRING!!Hi, David – glad you are helping those with the smart phones (I don’t use one). And nice to hear from you, Tammy. Since the holidays are over it has been quite lonesome. Oh well, can’t get spring here until winter does it’s thing!
Sorry I misunderstood – you have up a slick pole, but not nearly large enough so Yes, you need to slide a larger pole over the 1/2″ one. My pole is a 2 inch diameter I believe, maybe 2 1/2″. The idea for larger pole is that something cannot crawl up as easy as a smaller one. If you do not have a baffle on the pole, you really need to grease the bottom of the pole up about 4-5 inches to keep critters from climbing up. I have used axel grease with good success – the heaver axel grease does not wash off as easily as regular grease. Good luck – Happy thanksgiving.
Yes, it is necessary to use slick poles, not wooden, as you found out the hard way. Snakes, cats, etc. can climb up wood poles and get into the nest. Baffles are still a good item and extra safety feature, if you can get one up.
That is very nerve-breaking to see a bluebird down the street and not in your own yard! Don’t know what more to do since you have a feeder up (is it a cage feeder where large birds can’t get in?) Only suggestion is to be patient (hard to do I know). Good luck.
P.S. Maybe come nesting season they will remember your place.
