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Good for you. At least one is out of the way. In a few days you might be like Carol and trap a pair. Keep on trapping!!!
David
Stafford, VACarol – 3 eggs – did another one hatch? I would definitely wait another day or so to see if the others hatch. Maybe the heat messed up the incubation cycle for the female if she left the box for a long period of time.
Gin – good information. I had not heard about candling a colored shell egg. I guess if it is thin enough it would work. I also did not know about the coloring difference on the shells. I have noticed white streaks every once in a while but not a difference in the main color. But I have only had a couple of eggs that did not hatch. Like Carol said, it is good to see you back.David
Stafford, VAOnly one so far but the others have been hopping on the top of the cage. Mom bird is now going into the cage as much as dad bird so the others will probably follow.
David
Stafford, VAJudy Congratulations on #5. Nest step is the hatch.
Carol – you are getting to be and “Ace” when it comes to HOSP trapping.
About the birds in the trees – we can only speculate that if mom and dad don’t come back to the nestbox for a while, the little ones will stay where they are. When both parents begin to come back to a feeder or to begin their new nest building, the older fledglings will venture out with them. Once they learn where those delicious mealworms come from they will return more often. Just my thoughts. No evidence that this is the actual way Nature works.
David
Stafford, VAI am not sure Carol. If the eggs were laid in the normal 1-a-day sequence, they should all hatch within a 4-5 day period at most (if each egg needs the full 14 days to hatch). I would give it another day or so just to be sure. I don’t know of a way to visually check to see if the embryo is still “alive”.
Good luck. We can only hope for the best.David
Stafford, VAI am with Carol on the Baffles. Mine is a 6″ stainless steel stove pile, with a hole cut to fit the 2 inch pipe. The Baffle is mounted on 2 1/2″ screws in the pipe 180 degrees apart so it will wobble if touched. I also inserted a snake trap made from 1/4th inch hardware cloth cut in different shapes and put together so that it does not allow thin snake entry thru the stovepipe cap. I bent the edges of the shapes down so they would act like a rough and sharp sticker guard inside the baffle. I use a lithium grease on the pole 4″ up at the base, I also put the grease 2″up from the top of the baffle and just below the nestbox.
Carol mentioned the wood poles as being deadly. So is mounting the nestbox on a fence, fence post, or tree, as snakes can easily climb these and attack the box from the top. Stay away from over hanging bushes and tree branches as they also drop on the box if they are hungry. Clear open area is preferred. The Sailis site is a great resource for all things bluebird.
Good luckDavid
Stafford, VAToday was a good day. Mom and dad birds had the young ones at the feeder just a few minutes ago after I put out the evening mealworms. Mom fluttered around the cage but just could not bring herself to go in. She clung to the sides of the cage, which is better than she has done before. And then she went in, grabbed a few worms and flew off, leaving dad bird with 3. He proceeded to the cage and took a few worms back to 2 of the little ones.
The third one, I believe the one from the photo yesterday, followed Dad and grabbed on to the cage wires. After dad left, this one went into the cage and proceeded to take a worm from the bowl. He is still there. Dad is still feeding the other 2.
I have really done nothing to entice the birds to go in. They are just following the parent’s example.
Carol, Yes, it is really fun to watch the young fledglings grow. I expedt that the other birds will follow the leader soon. BTW, we have a completed nest again.No eggs yet but there will be.
David
Stafford, VARich, have you got pupae in your breeders yet. I have been sorting mine every other day. Yesterday, just for the heck of it I counted the pupae that I had collected and found that I had 300+. If 50% turn out to be females and they lay 100 eggs I am looking at another 15,000 additional mealworms in a couple of months. And the pupae keep coming. That total could be way higher if they produce eggs like the literature says of 300 to 500 eggs per female. I plan to refrigerate some of them to slow down the growth and metamorphose time. That is the one thing that I did not consider going into the breeding.
I do have some friends at church that have bluebirds in their yards that may need some mealworms this winter.David
Stafford, VAThanks Carol and Judy. Dad bird does use the cage but mom bird is reluctant. I took the feeder bowl out again to get the little ones used to it and will put it back in the cage, with the top off, tomorrow. That was how I started them before the hatch. W will see how that goes.
David
Stafford, VAHappy for both of you on your second nests and eggs. My birds started their second nest a day ago and it is almost complete. The fledglings come to the mealworm feeder to be fed, and now they are showing up around noon looking at the feeder. I really want to go out and give them a snack but haven’t fallen for their plot.
David
Stafford, VANature can be cruel at times. It is sad when we find something like this. I can only encourage you to not let it get you down but resolve to help the parent birds start anew. Even if you have not seen them HOSP are still around and dangerous. Do what you can to curb their population.
Good luck on the next nesting.David
Stafford, VACarol and all. I ordered mine from Grubco last Thursday before the 3 day holiday, so they did not ship until this Tuesday and arrived on Wednesday, just after noon. Had them in the containers in about an hour. I was a bit surprised at how the little critters were eating the paper that was in the shipping bag and in every fold there seemed to be a dozen or more. I have another day of feeding to do before I start refrigerating. Like Rich, I have about a third of the worms setup for breading. I want to see how that goes. I will post some progress on that later.
David
Stafford, VAGood for you Rich. Yes, it is sometimes hard to let them go, but that is natures’ way and there is not much that we can to to change it. What gives you, me, and the others here the satisfaction is knowing that we have put another brood of birds, no matter their number, into the trees for a shot at life. and we await the next nesting as we did the first one.
Watch the young ones grow.
David
Stafford, VAThanks Judy. I will try that tonight. Just got my order of mealworms from Grubco and am going to give them a treat tonight (a couple more that usual)
David
Stafford, VA
