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Carol. Good news on the 4 eggs. What are you using for the heat shield? I am experiencing the same slow-down o meal worm feeding. Several feedings this past week have had very few worms taken and the first fledglings do not appear as much as they did before. Mom and dad are feeding the 4 hatchlings but not from the feeder. Maybe the worms are too large right now. I don’t have new hatches from the many beetle eggs to offer yet. The rest of the worms have grown quite a bit, even with the refrigeration.
David
Stafford, VAI am doing a test to see how many eggs 4 female beetles would lay in a week. I was able to find 4 pair in my beetle drawer and put them in a small container. I will try to count on Saturday.
Decided to let the eggs hatch, then sift out the young mealworms. It is much easier on the eyes to count the baby worms than try to deal with the almost microscopic eggs.
David
Stafford, VAThat’s funny, Gin. Haven’t thought about going into business yet. I’m having enough trouble convincing the wife that I need to get a 5 drawer plastic drawer set from Walmart to replace the 3 drawer set that I am about to outgrow.
New ones (worms) have not hatched yet but I can see thousands of eggs in the drawer. We will see what this first batch looks like before I think about building a heated shed outside for “production”. I have been collecting lots of “carry-out plastic containers from restaurants though.David
Stafford, VAThanks Carol and Judy. It is get to find a “pretty” baby bird picture until they put on some feathers.
Judy – our hatches are pretty close. I am hoping that it stays warm enough for a third nest.David
Stafford, VAGreat news Carol. I am going to be a bit behind you this year as my second nest of 4 just hatched. I am not sure that they will do a third nest. Good luck with this one.
David
Stafford, VAIt should be clear of overhanging tree limbs for squirrels and snakes and away from shrubs that could hold nests of HOSP,HOWR, and possibly chickadees It should also have a baffle guard on a non-wooden, slick pole to prevent critters and snakes from climbing to the nestbox. I use 10 to 20 feet as a general guide line. but yours will have to be done according to your available space.
David
Stafford, VAYes, they are a threat, to the point where I used to shoot near them with my pellet gun to keep them away from the blues. Never hit one but got close enough to get them off the fence or out of the nearby trees. I even had to target the top of my old nest box for one that was trying to look over the roof into the entry hole. That is as close as I saw them come to the birds. I ended up getting rid of that box because the roof edge was too close to the entry. I mentioned before that I took down my seed feeders because of squirrels and HOSP. Blue jay’s were also a nuisance but I had a feeder that had a spring loaded perch that I set to close when larger bird tried to get to the seeds. Worked pretty well but it still attracted the HOSP, so it came down.
David
Stafford, VACarol -We have a lady at church that used to have a bluebird nest box for several years but she said the Blue jays were terrible. She lost one batch of 5 fledglings to a female jay that sat on the nestbox as they fledged and grabbed them by the neck as the peered out to take flight and nipped off their heads. I don’t know why she didn’t do something after maybe the second but she said she found all 5 beneath the box. She took down the box and hasn’t tried again.
David
Stafford, VAI agree with Carol and Jamie on removing the nest. The male will try to induce either his current female if she is still around or he will look for another to occupy this nest. If you back yard can hold ta nestbox safely (no fence or tree branches close by) I would move it away from the high-traffic area. Mom birds do spook easy and with a box of eggs the time away might hinder a proper incubation.
Keep us posted on what happensDavid
Stafford, VACongratulations Carol. Sounds like that youngster is going to be a fast starter. Good luck with your 3rd nesting.
David
Stafford, VAGood luck to both of you, Jamie and Gardensong, on your new nestings. The baffles will definitely help with climbing critters. There are some plans on sailis.com for hardware cloth wire guards that may deter the larger birds from the entry holds also. Just do what you can. The birds will love you. what ever you do.
David
Stafford, VAGardensong, the baffle should be a great protector. Nature has a way of letting us know that we have to be observant and aware all of the time. Just because it has not happened in the past does not mean that it will not happen today or tomorrow. I am sure that you will find a way to keep your nest safe.
Editing. When you submit a post, you will notice in the upper right corner of the message, a message number and the words “EDIT, REPLY and QUOTE. You can click on EDIT to make changes to your post – but EDIT is not on the post forever. It disappears after a time and your message stays as typed. Maybe Gin or Tammy can answer the time for editing.Used it myself. I found this in the “Tips for Posting” sticky:
“If you make your post, and realize you’ve made a mistake, you have 10 minutes to edit your own post. Edit by using the “Edit” button above the post.”David
Stafford, VAGee, Carol. That must have been quite a blast to have done that much damage. Glad that you were not hurt and that your house is okay. I only have to deal with wandering deer in our neighborhood although I haven’t seen them since the “at-home” started 3 months ago. Maybe they are staying put also.
David
Stafford, VACarol, I didn’t read you full post and missed the storm damage. Those mid-west storms can be devastating. I lived in Iowa for many years and remember the power going out for long periods of time. This was before the internet so all we missed was the TV, radio, and sometimes telephone.
Sure glad that you are okay.David
Stafford, VAWaiting for the new mealworms seems to be the biggest time consumer. The sources vary on eggs hatching (from 4 days to 6 weeks to hatch) and then for the new larva to grow large enough to feed (6 to 10 weeks). So I am projecting a possible hatch as early as next week. If that occurs I could have feeders by around mid-September. I may have to get another order of mealworms from Grubco to bridge the gap if the hatch goes beyond the end of July.
David
Stafford, VA
