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If they haven’t started by now, they probably will not begin a nest at this late date. You should leave it out, as suggested, to age and you might have some use during the winter as a roosting spot for the birds. Be sure to monitor it for unwanted HOSP and HOWR nests. I don’t think that putting mealworms out will entice the blues at this point.
Good luck on next years season.
David
Stafford, VAI hope that this doesn’t become a duplicate post.
#4 Hatched today. They all look healthy and hungry. I did see the male bird and 3 of the last fledglings in the trees as I took these pictures.
David
Stafford, VACarol- Congratulations on your hatch. Now we are waiting to hear how Dana’s hatch went and how agp’s fledges go.
Lots of little blues in August!!!David
Stafford, VAGreat photos. I like the sequence. That is one helpful bird. It looks like it might be a female.
David
Stafford, VAI use Imgur. It is a free plan and has been easy to use.
Nice photo by the way. it is good to see a little one practicing on a sibling.
David
Stafford, VASurprise!!! Just checked on the box this afternoon and saw 2 hatchlings. I didn’t have my camera so when I finished my lawn and gardening work I brought my camera back to get a photo and found the third one had hatched. I guess my pair started the egg-laying a couple of days before I thought and they were actually incubating when we returned from our trip to Louisiana.
I was looking at the first picture of the 3 little ones with the egg and I noticed movement in the nest. One of the little ones looks like he is trying to incubate the last egg – trying to get that one to hatch. :)
David
Stafford, VAAgp – just curious. Is your nestbox on a pole with a baffle to protect against climbers like snakes and squirrels? Where do you attach the netting?
David
Stafford, VAConnie, Dana, my pair stopped at 4. I believe the hatch will be close to Dana’s Aug 4 or 5. I have also seen the male bird with at least e and possible the 4th young flying around the trees and in my neighbors flower garden searching for bugs. I will post some photos after the hatch.
David
Stafford, VALisa, congratulations on a very successful season. It is so nice when we can put all the numbers together for our seasonal fledgings and hit the 150 -200 bird mark. Realizing that there are more enthusiasts putting more birds in the air is very satisfying for me. I think that the August 25-26 fledge for this group will give them enough time to mature to survive the winter here. My blues do not seem to migrate although it can get very cold. I clean out the box after the last fledging and put it back up when the weather turns cold for them to us for roosting.
David
Stafford, VAJudy and Carol – good luck with your new box and eggs. It looks like a pretty good season for the bluebirds. Hope all goes well.
David
Stafford, VAThanks Judy. Yes they were busy. I believe someone else posted about a quick turn-around also. It must have something to do with the weather. I expect a hatch on this brood around Aug 5-6, depending on whether she lays another egg tomorrow. It is very warm here and I am considering another layer of heat shield for both the top and sides of the nest box.
David
Stafford, VAHe is near me in the southern part of Stafford. Their postal address is Fredericksburg. I posted with him on “Dave’s Garden. His photography was the talk of the forum – especially the stop-action photos of the birds in flight.
David
Stafford, VAThat might be me. I have been an extended trip due to a death in the family. i am posting in another thread
David
Stafford, VATammy – so sorry to hear this. I share your concern for the loss and the bad feelings toward the HOSP, HOWR, or anything else that cause harm to our bluebirds. I think that I like Carol” approach to this and have no trouble taking what ever measure eliminates the threat. I do not want to reduce the threat, I want to eliminate it. Sometimes that calls for extreme measures and like someone said in another thread, my aim has improved over time. In my over 12 years of bluebirds I have never had a HOSP nest in any of my boxes – no eggs means no HOSP. I did have a HOWR nest in a box in my front yard one year – but they never bothered the back yard blues.
Have the Bluebirds returned for another try? Here’s to much success in the future.David
Stafford, VA
