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If you do remove the start of the nest, she will rebuild.
Thanks Donna and all. I did remove the nest and cleaned the box yesterday. This afternoon there is another nest almost as complete as the one I removed. Both birds have been in and out of the box all day. I expect she will start laying soon. I also bought a tube of the white lithium grease and applied it to the pole under the baffle. I will keep an I on that to see if it works.
I will post some photos of the new nest and the birds after the weekend. Have a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend.
David
David
Stafford, VAThanks Gin & Carol. They have just started the nest. It can’t be more than 3 days old. I have been checking periodically since the fledging a couple weeks ago. No eggs yet. I will get some axle grease tomorrow and apply it. I should remove the nest and hopefully they will build another. I might even try to put one together from my pile of lawn clippings since I just mowed the lawn.
David
Stafford, VACongratulations on your fledge.
Give it 2-3 weeks. They are busy helping this one survive. They won’t be far away and you may see them from time to time back exploring the nestbox in preparation for the next nest.David
Stafford, VAUnless you are using a mealworm feeder and your parent birds use it regularly to feed their little ones you will rarely see the young after they fledge. There is another person here in Stafford that has photos of the families of blue birds that come back to his feeder for mealworms and water. The little ones are probably around but they are well hidden in the trees like Gin said. Look on the power lines early in the day if you have them near your house. I have seen several families of birds on the lines over the years. Don’t be surprised if you all of the young are not there. The young are very vulnerable to predators (hawks, kestrels, etc.) in their first few weeks out of the box.
David
Stafford, VATiming varies with each pair of birds and each brood. Mine have ranged from 2 to 5 weeks between nests. The more time it takes for the second nesting to occur the less likely there will be a third nesting – unless another pair settle in right after the second brood fledges. And a lot depends on where you are located and how long your summer lasts.
David
Stafford, VAI always remove the old nest and clean the nestbox with soap and water to prepare for the next brood. Many of the bluebird sites recommend this as a way to remove ants, mites etc. that may have hatched during the growth of the young birds. I think that is good to have a fresh room ready for the nest family.
David
Stafford, VAGin is right. My last fledge of the year in 2014 took all day. It depends on how brave the young ones are to take flight.
BTW – that was supposed to be a ( in front of the 5 in the post above. A nest of 95 birds would have been a monstrous feat. :)David
Stafford, VADon’t count on it. I had one full nest 95 birds) fledging in rain. It wasn’t torrential but it was more than a drizzle.
David
Stafford, VAThanks Scot. As Gin stated, most BB authority sites advise 16-18 days from hatching to fledging. Mine have all been 17 days. with one egg going 18.
Mi cameras are a Nikon Coolpix and my iPhone 5C for the nest shots and a Nikon D-3000 with a 55-200 telephoto lens for most of the adult bird photos.
David
Stafford, VAAll of mine left also. Missed them again. I am cleaning the box and will put it up again on Friday.
David
Stafford, VA
