Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
For the first day or two they were in a huge oak tree in my back yard but now they have gone down about two other properties away. When the parents show up for the mealworms I am always right there cause I whistle and they have learned to come right over. Then I watch to see where they fly to which is now out of my binocular range but I can see the trees they are going to way over. I have a huge wooded area behind my house but they never seem to go to the deep woods but instead stay close to the properties that run down my street. Probably prefer the lawns to hunt for food. I’m hoping they will go for a second brood, I figure june 11th will be 10 days out so maybe sometime after that.
this morning I witnessed the male and female came down to the house and my mealworm feeder is nearby, The male sat on the fence and the female was on top of the house. And listening carefully you could hear one of the babies in the trees calling to them. The female reacted by flying up and down about a foot and and circling in the same distance. My thought was “it was like she was trying to say I’m right here come on down”. don’t know if that was it but it was a little dance I’ve never seen her do before. She then went to the mealworms and took some up to the trees. Really enjoying all I’m getting to see. It’s nice to stop and smell the roses as the saying goes. Peoples busy lives sure do miss out on the simple things in life that can make one smile. Go little blues.
Talk about odd behavior, My blues have completely shunned me. I’ve been feeding dried mealworms steady for weeks now. I would whistle and out she would come and eat and even the male would eat when he was around. But now I believe the eggs have hatched, I whistle she comes out and flies away and even the male is just avoiding the feeder. I have to wonder if now they perceive me as a threat or they just want to feed the young something different. really odd and what stinks is I ordered live mealworms “which they freaked out over last year” so they would enjoy the extra real food and so far they won’t touch them. So i’m just going to stop feeding for a few days and see what happens. Maybe when the chicks start demanding more food they will come back for them.
Great news this weekend, Gin was right. I was outside working this weekend and out of nowhere my male bluebird had returned. I couldn’t believe it and wondered if it was a new male but it wasn’t. For 13 days now it’s been just me and her, I would go out morning, noon and evening and whistle and she would come out of the house and eat and go back in. I swear she knew I was there to help her. So when the Male showed up he was looking around so I whistled and out she came and they acted so thrilled to see each other. He talked and talked for quite sometime that afternoon, probably had some explaining to do. She seemed torn between sitting on her eggs and being with him every time he would sing to her she would come right out and they would sit together on the power line or tree nearbye and then she go back in. Happened over and over. Mothers day would have been 14 days of her sitting on her eggs so he timed it just right for his return. I’ve been worried about all this rain and cold weather and reading how others have had babies die from the cold so Hopefully the sun returns tomorrow everything will turn out alright. Quite thrilled. love my bb’s
So far my female is still going in and out of the house but seems to be staying inside quite a bit. I keep plenty of dried mealworms on her feeder and she comes out and eats every evening when i put them out. Robins have discovered the mealworms also, so while she was out last night I had to walk over toward the feeder to keep the robin away so she could eat. once she was done the robin would come back and I’d let her finish the rest. I know the robin can find plenty of food and I want to make sure my blue gets her fill first knowing she is spending all her time sitting inside.Hopefully if she does have a hatch I’ll be able to give her some help with feeding the little ones.
Hello Linda, I know when I first started getting blues they would check out my boxes and leave and found it quite frustrating. I kept going to this site and especially sialis.org site and studied and studied and kept making changes to my box till I got it right. One thing I noticed is you said you have the box on a tree. That’s a big no no. Squirrels and every other predator can climb right to them. I switch to a nice long pipe i got in plumbing from home depot. I also saw that they preferred old wood versus painted wood and my measurements inside my box were a little big so i added a piece of old aged wood to the inside and made it just the right size. I guess what I’m getting at is just keep problem solving it and you should get success like I did last year.
I’ve had a lot of luck watching my bbs and noticed when they get the nest done they kick back a little and go into mating ritual for a bit. Neat thing I got to see was when the male started singing up on the telephone lines and then swooped down onto the females back and then flew way up in the sky and over the mountain top singing really loud as if he scored. It was amazing to see and was so glad I was out there to witness that. within in days the eggs were coming. should be anyday for you now.
my bluebird house is mostly white except the roof, My bluebirds love there house. I wish I new how to post a picture to this site and I would show you, But I can’t figure out how to.
My very first bluebirds I ever had, Nested in my martin house with tree swallows on the back side. So they do nest in them if nothing else is available. That is what got me hooked on eastern bluebirds and I built 3 houses for them afterwards.
Well it’s official, my bluebirds have left the area for good. Haven’t seen or heard any in over a week now. Nothing is touching the meal worms anymore. Starange thing in maine is you wake up every morning in spring and the woods are alive with bird noises everywhere and just like someone flips a switch and august first everything goes quiet. it’s like they all just get up and go all at once. I figure where my blues never show till first of june they must be migrators like the rest. Show up and nest and leave when it’s over. It’s wierd cause I live in south werstern maine and I know i’ve heard bluebirds in south eastern maine as late as november. I guess it’s just warmer at the coast in winter. Loved having them and am hoping where they had success they will return here next year.
Thanks for your response. I got hooked on bluebirds 5 years ago when a pair moved into our martin house which is just for show, No martins around here. I read up on them and built houses just for them. I think it must be to cold here for them as i only see bluebirds the first week of june every year. A male always comes and calls on my houses but there doesn’t seem to be any females around to respond, so he we eventually give up and move on. So this year a female did show but didn’t seem interested so I studied even more and realized i made my house 5 x5 and sialis.org recommended 4×4 inside so I tore apart the house made the inside smaller and just like that they moved right in. My wife says i’m obsessed and that may be true, I’ve watched them everyday they have been here. So your right there is nothing like watching nature. Love my bluebirds.
