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It looks like my pair just finished their nest also, so this will be the final installment of “Nestbuilding 101”.
6. Mom & Dad bird have been busy carrying grass, pine needles, and some moss to finish the nest. The grass and needles raised the walls of the nest to about 2″ below the opening.
7. They also added some grass and moss to the bottom of the nest. The female has been shaping the nest cup to cradle the eggs. It is almost complete and ready for eggs.
This build took about 6 days to complete. I am going to see if that time continues with follow-on nests.
David
Stafford, VAHi Carols. East Tenn. Carol – to post you photos here you need to first post them to a 3rd party site (I use imgur.com). It is very easy to set up a free account. When you view your photos in the account you will see a panel on the right of the screen with a list of codes that are used in various bulletin boards and forums. Click on the one labeled “BBCode” That will copy the link to your computer. Then you just prepare your post, paste the link in your post (it will look like this
(img]https://i.imgur.com/NgUs0sf.jpg[/img]/img)
and submit your post. When you view it after you have submitted it to the forum the photo will show up in your post. You will not see the photo in the “submit” box as you prepare your message.
Hope this helps. PM me if you have any problems or other questions.
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David
Stafford, VAThe build continues.
5. Both Bluebirds have been bringing pine needles and grass to the nestbox. The female shapes the material into the traditional circle sided nest. Notice the even growth of the sides. It is almost at the right height.
David
Stafford, VAHi Judy. It is early for blues in your area. I remember last year we had the same issue in several locations. We talked about insulating covers in the discussion. I put a 3-sided, 1″ Styrofoam cover over my nest box to try to hold some heat in. I am not sure how helpful it was but it made me feel like I was helping the eggs to stay a bit warmer. I don’t remember if this was after all the eggs were laid and the female had started to incubate or if they were uncovered. I do know that all of the eggs hatched though.
David
Stafford, VAI do have a nest started in the new house. It appears that my same couple are back again, although I wouldn’t know unless there were some way to mark or tag them. Here is the photo of the beginning of new “nest ring” that usually appears at the bottom of the nest when the female begins to build.
David
Stafford, VAGreat news!!! And getting the neighbor involved is a Bonus. That will help the blue’s in a big way.
David
Stafford, VAGood news Chris. Like Carol and others, mine are still just looking. My 2 older birds and 2 younger females were at the mealworm feeder this morning but no one is going into the nestbox yet. While we are having some 50+ degree days, our nights have been in the mid 20s and 30s. No material in the box. I still have lots of other birds (gold and house finches, titmice, chickadees, woodpeckers, and juncos around the other feeders. Juncos still swarm to the deck when the finches show up at the feeder.
David
Stafford, VAGood to hear that everyone is seeing bluebird activity. I have had 9 bluebirds at the feeder all winter, up until a week ago when the number went down to 3. I have been feeding live mealworms all winter (mealworm farm) and did not get to make Carol’s suet. I am not sure where the other blues went. I know there were at least 2 and possibly 3 males and the rest females. It did get very cold for more than a week during the last part of February when the other birds disappeared. I did see several bluebirds in other parts of the neighborhood and did see my male bird chasing some bluebirds from the feeder.
I do have a new nestbox up for the season and the male and female have been to the house but I have not seen them enter the house and there are still no droppings inside. The nestbox has been up for about a week. The weather is still chilly at night (in the 30’s and 40’s) but it should warm up soon.
I am looking forward to another good season with the blues.
David
Stafford, VACarol, here is he feeder that I ordered (except it only has the feeding perch on one side, not 2 like this one. It has an adjustable spring to account for the weight of the heavier birds. I had one before that was very effective in keeping the blackbirds and starlings away but the squirrels still found a way to hang from the pole and not get on the perch to feed. I am going to pole mount this one with a baffle to keep them away.
I have had the blues that come to my feeder go into the nestbox but no “couples” yet. Still too cold. I still have the old box up but will replace it after the snow goes away.
David
Stafford, VAFUN, yes. But I am getting a bit concerned that they are spending so much time at the feeder. And it is not just the 4 birds that I saw before. It appears that the whole flock of 9 or more are out there chasing the smaller finches, Chickadees and others away. I do have a hopper feeder on order and it should arrive in a week or so. That may divert them from this feeder so the small birds can get the food also.
David
Stafford, VAThanks Carol, I am going to try it. My wife will probably laugh at me trying to cook this. Yes, I am feeding a lot of carrots to the mealworms and beetles. At least 3 times a week for the larger feeders and midsized worms and twice a week for the smaller ones. 3 times a week for the beetles.
Here are a couple of photos that I took this afternoon while I was feeding the blues. I am standing about 6 feet from the cage feeder but on the wrong side to get good color on the birds. The ones on the shepherd’s hook behind the feeder are about 10 feet away.
Happy New Year.
David
Stafford, VAThat is great news phillyblues. What a way to get through the Cpvid restrictions. Reducing the HOSP population is a good way to relieve stress and do something positive for the “birding” community. Keep up the good work.
David
Stafford, VAMerry Christmas to all. It has been cold but not much snow. Most days are clear and the bluebirds are out. I have been putting mealworms out for them from my feeder stock in the morning and late afternoon (3:30 – 4:00 pm). Since I am raising the worms I have increased the feeding to 75-80 worms. There are usually 9 of them waiting in the trees for the food. They clear the feeder bowl in about 5 minutes so the worms do not freeze. I do have some gold finches, tree sparrows, juncos, cardinals, and woodpeckers that frequent the yard but I have not put up a suet feeder yet.
Carol do you make your own pb suet? If so could you share a recipe. I would like to feed the other birds but do not want to interfere with the blue’s feeding.p.s. The mealworm farm is going great. I have had hatches of between 3500 – 5000 worms about every 3 – 4 weeks I put a container of around 1500 in the refrigerator after my first hatch in October – and forgot they were there. Found them the middle of December very inert. Had to throw away the whole container. I now have a note on the refrigerator that there is a container that needs a carrot slice once a week.
David
Stafford, VAThank you Connie and Julie. It is an interesting experience. Getting into a routine is the hardest part of this adventure. I always want to tinker with one of the drawers of eggs or worms to see if I can get them to grow faster – but they have their own time schedule and develop however they want. I am now pretty well into my 3rd batch of eggs, but I have not notice much going on in the second batch. I have noticed only a few worms in comparison to my first batch. Because of my moving drawers around, I may have emptied a drawer of eggs that I thought was old food and waste. Lesson Learned: I now have BIG labels on the drawers to identify what they contain.
I am changing my feedings to about 8:00 AM and 3:30 PM while it is still light. If I wait until 4:30 PM they do not always come down to feed. Yesterday. those 50-60 mph winds bent my feeder pole over. so I had to remove the worms and feeder before the birds had a chance to get to the feeder. I don’t think they were out at all, as I did not see any birds in my front or back yard all day.
Enough rambling. – Enjoy the nice weather before it gets too cold.
David
Stafford, VA -
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