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Good luck on the early nesting Carol.
Yes, I am still raising the mealworms My chimney for the wood stove needed to be repaired and that wasn’t completed until a month ago so the basement was too cold for good beetle production. I lost a whole drawer of beetles (around 7000) and was not able to get them restarted until 2 weeks ago. I wasn’t able to do my supply venture for the Wild Birds Unlimited store and am trying to get that project back online.
Still waiting for the blues to set up the nest. Still have another week of 30 degree nights.David
Stafford, VACongratulations Carol. I am still waiting for the weather to warm and stay above freezing. Blues at the feeders but no nest as of today
David
Stafford, VAWelcome to the forum “flipper.” Putting a bird house out is a start but not a guarantee. The birds will have to find your place and establish their territory. Since you have seen the blues in the area you can watch for them. Don’t be discouraged if the do not show up right away. One thing you must do is not to let house sparrows to establish a nest in the box. More on that in the other threads.
I am going to start a new thread there.David
Stafford, VAHi Mark and welcome to the forum. I collected data from members of the forum for this year’s nesting activity. It is posted down the discussions page with the title “Bluebird Numbers (all nests) update”
David
Stafford, VACarol, my first box was a standard NABS nestbox from Lowes. It was made from rough-cut cedar and had the slanted roof and a predator guard. I believe that it had a 4″x4″ floor. I put a 12″x12″ plywood shield over the slanted roof for a weather guard and after seeing discussions here about heat, I added a Styrofoam insulation sheet to the west facing side. it was easy to add a wren guard to this box by using a sized corrugated cardboard box lid and duct tape.
I have had several of the same kind of boxes as the initial box got battered by a woodpecker. I ordered my last one from Amazon. You might find a photo in one of my earlier posts.
David
Stafford, VAHere are the numbers by brood: Updated with Rich K’s numbers
FIRST BROOD
Number of nests: 14 reported
Number of Eggs: 59 reported
Number Hatched: 49 reported
Number Fledged: 31– need to read additional postsSECOND BROOD
Number of nests: 8 reported
3Number of Eggs: 38 reported
Number Hatched: 33 reported so far
Number Fledged: 33 reported so farThird Brood
Number of nests: 7 reported
Number of Eggs: 23 reported so far
Number Hatched: 22 reported so far
Number Fledged: 22 reported so farFourth Brood
Number of nests: 1 reported
Number of Eggs: 4
Number Hatched: 4
Number Fledged: 4For Totals so far, we have 30 nestings, 124 eggs laid, 108 hatched, and 90 new bluebirds in the air. We are missing reports from quite a few but as I mentioned elsewhere my internet has been down for more than a month and I am trying to catch up on posts to get additional data.
Thank you all who have sent this data. It does show that we are doing a pretty good job of keeping the Bluebird population growing..
David
Stafford, VAHere are the numbers by brood: Updated with Dana’ numbers
FIRST BROOD
Number of nests: 13 reported
Number of Eggs: 54 reported
Number Hatched: 49 reported
Number Fledged: 31– need to read additional postsSECOND BROOD
Number of nests: 7 reported
3Number of Eggs: 33 reported
Number Hatched: 29 reported so far
Number Fledged: 29 reported so farThird Brood
Number of nests: 6 reported
Number of Eggs: 19 reported so far
Number Hatched: 18 reported so far
Number Fledged: 18 reported so farFor Totals so far, we have 26 nestings, 106 eggs laid, 96 hatched, and 78 new bluebirds in the air. We are missing reports from quite a few but as I mentioned elsewhere my internet has been down for more than a month and I am trying to catch up on posts to get additional data.
David
Stafford, VAThank you Dana. It is good to hear from you. I will update the numbers with your data. Have a Happy Labor Day holiday.
David
Stafford, VAThanks Carol. Yes it was an experience that I do not want to have again. Comcast still has not replaced the cable but my internet service is back – we just don’t know for how long. The cable is supposed to be replaced by Sep 3 (fingers crossed).
My final 3 birds fledged on Wednesday in the heat of the morning. following a torrential rain. I am ready to rest for a while.David
Stafford, VAI have assembled the data from those that have submitted your totals here. I will have to read through the other posts to see if we are missing totals from other posters.
Here are the numbers by brood:
FIRST BROOD
Number of nests: 9 reported
Number of Eggs: 49 reported
Number Hatched: 44 reported so far
Number Fledged: 21 – need to read additional postsSECOND BROOD
Number of nests: 6 reported
Number of Eggs: 28 reported
Number Hatched: 25 reported so far22
Number Fledged: 22 reported so farThird Brood
Number of nests: 6 reported
Number of Eggs: 19 reported so far
Number Hatched: 18 reported so far
Number Fledged: 18 reported so farFor Totals so far, we have 21 nestings, 96 eggs laid, 87 hatched, and 61 new bluebirds in the air. We are missing reports from quite a few but as I mentioned elsewhere my internet has been down for more than a month and I am trying to catch up on posts to get additional data.
David
Stafford, VAWhere are you located Rich? I have some that I would be glad to share if you are close for delivery or pick-up. It is too hot to mail them. I am in Stafford, VA
David
Stafford, VAWow. That is quite a dedicated pair to try to get 3 successful nesting’s in the year. Good luck to them and you.
David
Stafford, VA
