Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Thank you Judy. We are having mid-40′ t0 high 50 degree night right now. I see a couple of 38 degree nights next week but mid 40’s after that. I think we might be out of the freezing temps now. At least I hope so. I do have a foam “insulator cover” ready in case it is needed.
David
Stafford, VACarol, sorry to hear about your “lack of nests.” I was concerned about mine due to our extend cold spring. The weather took a warm turn just after Easter and my pair came back but did not start to build a nest until 6 days ago. Now I have 3 eggs in the nest. Has your weather warmed up to 50+ degree nights?
They should return soon.David
Stafford, VACher and Tammy, I do see avatars on for some of the members but quite a few are missing. I do not remember all who had avatars before but I know that Carol in Missouri, Tammy, Rich, and several others did. Hopefully they will return soon.
David
Stafford, VAGood luck with the cool temps Tammy. BB’s are very independent and don’t listen at all. :)
David
Stafford, VACher – whatever you did with the update, it worked. The avatar is back. I see yours and mine on this thread but not Tammy’s. I am going to check the other pages now.
Thanks again for all that you for this forumDavid
Stafford, VAI am changing my baffle from a 6″ stove pipe to an 8″ pipe. I am still using the hardware cloth and chicken fencing for additional protection. I will post a photo when I complete it. I have to work between nest building trips by the BB pair.
David
Stafford, VAMy pair just started their nest today. I think that they have been waiting out the weather, as we have had a very cold and changeable Spring. Since January we have had a couple weeks of teens to 40’s, then a week of 50s and 60s, then back to cool again. This past couple of weeks we have had 60’s and 70’s with a few days in upper 80’s and yesterday it hit 90 before dropping back to the 60’s again. Today the pair were carrying nesting material to the box and have the basic circle started. I am having to restart my mealworm farm. A combination of COVID and cold basement due to inability to use my woodstove (cracked chimney liner) froze them out. I only have a couple mealworms hundred left (no beetles) to start again.
Dave do you have an in-box camera there? You are getting some nice photos.
Happy Birding everyone!
David
Stafford, VANot only should you use a bigger PCV pole but you should also place a 6″ to 8″ diameter stove pipe about 6 – 8 inches below the nestbox to deter climbers such as the snakes and critters that can grip around the pole but also raccoons, squirrels, cats and other animals that could climb the round pole.
Here is a photo of my nestbox and the stove pipe baffle. It consists of the stove pipe and a top with a hole cut in the center the diameter of the PCV pile. I also cut a 1/4″ hardware cloth circle to fit in the stove pipe and cut random sized pieces, folded the sharp wire edges to go through the circle to keep snakes from trying to crawl through, and then stuffed some scrunched up chicken wire fencing in the baffle to further tangle a snake that might try to challenge the baffle. I used 2 large screws 180 degrees apart to hold the baffle under the lid. It will wobble to the side to keep anything that tries to climb it from reaching the top.
Hope this helps. By the wai I am using 2 1/4″ PCV pipe.
David
Stafford, VAThank you Tammy and Carol.
It has been cold and breezy here in Virginia. Not as bad as the Midwest though.
Tammy, imjur is a free service. You just need to set up a basic account to begin posting your photos.
Carol, once the cold weather set in my bluebirds stopped taking the mealworms and have been daily feeders at my nut and fruit feeders. I wanted to try your suet recipe but have not had time to do it. Maybe one day.On another note, my mealworm project came to a halt when both my wife and I caught Covid-19 at the same time. I still have a few live worms but my entire beetle colony collapsed. So I will start a smaller venture in the spring.
I also was not able to finish the data collection, so I will start that again in the new season.
David
Stafford, VA
