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Yay, on your eggs. I have 5 eggs in a box further away from the house. Grrr…no way I can monitor it way back there as much as I normally do. I’m not even sure when she laid them! WE have TRES galore!
Tammy
Darn! Wish those bluebirds would stay with the plan! I don’t think there’s a set number for mealworms. I feed mine much more than that. Probably too many. They have me trained.
Tammy
I’m so pleased to have that pat on the back from you,Fred, the nestbox expert! I seriously am….which is sad that I’m so needy of recognition. LOL
Tammy
Yes! And on top of that it is that it is facing my pond. Not good for fledglings. I’ll have to turn it later. Little stinkers.
Tammy
Missy, I always find that they do better in pairs. So I try to keep two or more in the trap. Was it really cold where you are? Is that why she died? Sometimes if it is really cold or really hot they don’t last long. I don’t understand. Sometimes they are just overly stressed. Keep trying. If they have access to water and food it sure seems like they would last. Mine often last for several days…sometimes a week.
Tammy
Fred’s site says it’s supposed to be 1 1/4 to 1 3/8 from the bottom of the curve to the wire. Is that what yours is? I’m really really surprised that you’ve had two starlings breach this already. Unless it was the same one.
Tammy
supposedly you can keep the monofilament on. I don’t use that because when I had it up the house sparrows went right in my boxes.
It could be that you aren’t trapping house sparrows because there just aren’t enough at your place. I trap at least 100-200 a year. The other issue is that you need a decoy. Have you trapped a house sparrow with your Van Ert? And if so did you put it in the repeating trap (holding area). A decoy is a must. It’s hard to trap more without a decoy…not impossible but hard. Sorry, if you explained about your traps before. I’m on a couple of forums and can’t keep people straight. It’s almost harder if you only have a couple of house sparrows then it is if there’s a ton of them.
Move your trap around. Raise it, sit it on the ground, move it under the feeder, near favorite bushes, sprinkle seed on any wood part of the trap, and around the trap on the ground to draw hosp in. If I’ve told you all of this before ….please forgive me. I hate it when people do that!!! But I can’t remember like I used to…and that isn’t saying much. (no comment, Gin).Tammy
Nicole, one time I put my daughter’s hood from her coat around the nextbox and tape it in place so it doesn’t move and cover the entrance. Another time when it was really really cold…sub zero temps I put a heating pad on low around the box and covered it with the hood. That’s extreme but the temps were really really low that time. Now, I mostly let nature take it’s course.
Tammy
There’s a good chance you’ll get something this year, if not the first nesting. Keep us posted.
Tammy
I used to put up a spooker every time and now I’ve gotten a little lazy and do not. Usually I do not have issues. Glad it worked out for you.
Tammy
Missy, do you have a big house sparrow problem? My suggestion is that you trap. Then you won’t have to deter them as much as you would if you didn’t.
Tammy
Is that your Gilwood in the photo? It looks different from mine unless it’s a different angle I’m seeing. Fred, are you seeing this. Is this the right hole dimensions for a Gilwood. I thought the Gilwood was slightly different.
I’ve only had this happen one time in all my years with several Gilwoods. Where did you buy your Gilwood?
Tammy
