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Correction: Sometime between 11 AM and 4 PM on Friday after I put the spooker up, mom laid a fifth egg! How long after the last egg is laid does mom start setting on them full time? Temperature here today was about 93* so it has to be a hot job setting in that box. I will get a heat shield up after she starts setting.
BZ
Still just 4 eggs this at 10:30 this morning. I put the spooker up while mom and pop watched while sitting on the power line above. I hope all goes well.
BZ
Hugh, on my first nesting of this season time got away from me, and I had 5 eggs before I realized that they were laying any. I immediately put up a wren guard (I had lost 5 eggs to wrens 2 seasons before) and the birds took to it within 20 minutes. HOWEVER, they had not started to incubate yet.
In your case I don’t know what they would do. I believe I would put one up, watch it continuously for their entry, and if they don’t go in within 30 or 40 minutes, take it back down. But I am NOT an authority as I’ve only been doing this for 3 years.BZ
The first two days of the 5 babies being out in the cold cruel world were just that, cold and
rainy for 48 hours straight. What lousy timing! As I said above, on Monday I heard them chirping
everywhere. On Tuesday I saw mom and dad coming to the ground for food, but not much chirping in the trees. Since then I have seen or heard nothing of the young ones, but have sighted mom and dad almost every day. What are the chances that the young ones did or did not survive those first two miserable days? This is my third year of having BB fledge, and I have yet to see a young one afterwards.BZ
Well, my questions are answered! Last evening (Sun) about 4:30 mama was still feeding and removing fecal sacs. This morning was in the low 40’s with drizzling rain. When I went out about 9 AM I heard them chirping in several large trees around my house, and sited BB numerous times. After watching and listening for about 30 minutes, I cautiously opened the box. The nest was empty and a total mess. I can only assume that all 5 babies are safely out in the world! I’m a happy man!
BZ
Is there any particular time of day that the BB fledge? I would think in the AM, so the young ones have most of the daylight hours to get accustomed to the outside world?
BZ
That would make my fledge date Tuesday the 17th. We are having unusually cool weather for mid May. This morning the low was 39 degrees, and it’s supposed to be cool all week with some rain. Do these conditions have any effect on the fledge? Surely Mom and Pop don’t send those kids out in a cold rain!
BZ
I posted on the old forum as NEWBLU, so when I registered for the new forum I typed that in as my ‘user name’, assuming that it would show up on my posts. I typed in ‘BZ–W Ctrl MO’ as my signature, thinking that it would be just that. But it didn’t come out that way, so what did I do wrong?
BZ
Deb, I also feel certain that you had a HOWR attack. The same thing happened to me on the first five eggs in 2014. I was new to blue-birding, and needless to say I was devastated. The experienced folks here on the forum told me about the wren guards, so I promptly built one and got it up for the second nesting (I removed the original nest and saved it in a paper bag). Mine is made from cedar like the boxes, and obscures the hole from the front and the sides. It is attached to the roof with a small hinge and easily flips up out of the way for box checks. I have used these on three successful hatches, and the birds usually accept them within 15 or 20 minutes.
Good luck on a second nesting.BZ
