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Got five eggs, sparrow spooker is up, and mom apparently incubating the eggs (see was in box when i checked a bit ago). It was a little breezy, im suprised they accepted the spooker so readily.
Forecast is for seasonable weather this week so i am hopeful things go well.
Chris
SW OhioMy pair has selected a box, but no eggs last i checked. Previously i had accidentally caught the female in a nestbox trap – i reached in the box and it was making more of a singing sound than the squawking sparrows make. She was in there less than an hour, and i felt absolutely awful, but she has been coming to the feeder, house, appears just fine.
From now on im not setting a nestbox trap until the sparrows are actively building a nest. (Somehow one day i caught a male and female simultaneously in the box, that was a first.)
Chris
Nice. I have a pair here, not sure which birdhouse they want. Last year first attempt was around April 3rd.
We have accumulating snow in forecast tomorrow night, then we should be good.
Chris
SW OhioI think the starlings have wised up to the DRST trap. After using the trap successfully for some time this winter, i inadvertently set it and forgot to latch the rear door. Apparently the birds were going into the trap, eating, and exiting out the back door.
Now i have it reset, and i get plenty of starlings outside the trap, but now they perch just outside and reach in to grab cracked corn and suet (without triggering the elevator). Is it possible the escapees passed on their info to the rest of the flock?
Chris
SW OhioI was happy late yesterday afternoon that my four regular bluebirds returned, eating mealworms and going in and out of boxes. I guess i could refer to them as my “gang of four,” although sometimes there are more.
I wish i could tell individual bluebirds apart, but other than male or female, they all look the same to me. Obviously the birds themselves can distinguish each other.
Chris
We had 9 inches of snow here followed by single digit temperatures, hope the blues are okay. I have seen blues and other birds going in and out of birdhouses recently.
The weather was bad enough for a while it was challenging to keep feeders stocked. I’m thinking maybe the birds hide out in a thick jumble of cedar trees til the weather improves.
In maybe about six weeks they should be thinking of nesting here.
Chris (Ohio)
On the 2nd of January, i did come acrosss a dogwood tree here in Ohio that still had a lot of berries. I was doing the annual Christmas Bird count for the local Audubon Society with a friend and came across one the birds hadn’t devoured the fruits of yet. It must be the warm weather, and here in my part of Ohio we have not had snow covering up food. I still have robins and starlings eating the bradford pear fruits. I have a dogwood tree, a cultivar called “Spring Grove,” that is supposed to fruit heavily, it was cloned from a tree in Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati. I get some berries on this tree, but i think the squirrels get a good number of them.
Now that we’ve had some weather down to 10 degrees F, the bluebirds are coming around to the feeders. I’m feeding dried mealworms, i have a couple robins here all the time and a flock of about 4 blues that visit. I made home made suet tonight, we have some winter weather coming in tomorrow.
I’ve noticed the birds lately really using the heated bird bath, not much moisture around since we dont have snow.
Thats encouraging. My latest brood fledged today, i didn’t think to clean the box, just peeked in and returned to yardwork.
I did have 4 nesting attempts, had a male killed by a hawk 4 April amidst nest building(no eggs laid). I would be floored if my current pair tried to nest again, they raised these last two sets successfully back to back.
Have decent habitat here but not many people putting up bluebird boxes.
Chris
So far:
Number of nests: 3
Number of eggs: 15
Number hatched: 15
Number fledged: 5Five more should fledge Tues or Wed this week if my math is correct.
Chris
SW Ohio
This is what they look like today. I’m thinking at this point maybe i should stop peeking in on them, lest the mom administer the abandon ship call.
The neighbors are trimming trees along the property line today, i hope the noise doesnt bother them too much. I try to minimize mowing or doing much of anything too close to the box.
Chris
SW Ohio
