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I’m excited!
I was driving west across the UP Tuesday after a funeral in Toledo and hit at least two areas of snow flurries. The last thing on my mind was finding eggs in the few nests that had been started the week before. It was 82 degrees in Bay City just after noon. By the time I reached the bridge (Mackinaw City/St Ignace) it was 42. Temps dropped going west and I think the wind chill was probably in the 20s. The bridge crossing was the slowest I’ve ever experienced. I probably averaged about ten miles per hour all the way across as I followed a semi being battered by gusts.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
That’s great David. I’m being patient with my bluebirds. Some evidence of nests starting but we had snow flurries this afternoon while driving back home across the UP so it might be a little while.
Keep the photos coming.
Tim
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
(@ Tim C) I wouldn’t count on E-bird numbers to be accurate for bluebird nesting.
OK. I was just referring to local friends contacting me about sightings in our community. This is just my third season. After doing a presentation at our library last spring about my first season’s experience I have a small group of locals that I supplied with nest boxes and they are very enthusiastic at this time of year in terms of letting each other know of their sightings.
During my first season I was asking here (BBNut)and checking Internet sources for arrivals. I found those not very useful for my area. Similarly, I’ve just finished building a purple martin house and I was quietly referring to the PMCA “Scout report” for some arrival information, however, I’ve found that report to have stalled about three weeks ago in reporting for northern WI and MI. We’re on the northern fringes of the PM range and there are probably few spotters actively using that method to report arrivals.
Tim
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
I’d have to agree with AIH. If disturbed it might focus on the bluebird nest. Maybe having some pesky stinkers like a wren pair around could help reduce some other predators. But the minute that wren decides to harass the blues I would be cleaning out their nest. I think the blues will defend the nest successfully if they have eggs present.
Tim
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
The cool thing about bluebirds is their resiliency! They seem to take things in stride and keep moving forward.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
It’s early enough. Stay patient. Build their home and they will come.
Near me it’s not too late even a month from now to locate a new nest box for later arrivals (we don’t have blues all year).
Good luck.
Tim
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
I’m just wondering. Just a newb here, but, do you think maybe they are providing more insulation during the cold snap? Or will the next day or two show them giving up on those eggs. Very interesting. I hope I’m thinking right but either way looks like you’ll have a nest.
We are just beginning to see bluebirds here on the WI/MI Border. Earliest report locally was about a week ago. Very little nest building going on. A couple nest boxes with some wispy bits of grass. We have snow in the woods still.
One PVC box I installed has moss nest from chickadees.
Tim
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
I’ll try to be completely clear on this…
You are asking an important question. So, do not feed dried mealworms to nesting birds.
The hatchlings only source of hydration is what they are fed by the mom and dad. If the mom and dad are starting a brood they will find all the bugs needed naturally.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
Sad day today after returning from a weeks vacation. I took a look at my nest box in my yard and saw this…
I don’t know for certain, but prior to leaving a Wren occasionally landed on the box. His/her brood is in a nest box about 15 yards away from this one. I can’t say for certain but I believe that little turd bird may have killed the five hatchlings. Fortunately I have another nest box about 15 yards in the other direction. Prior to vacation there was no activity in the box. Today I found three nice blue eggs. So I think the pair will recover.
Now what to do with the Wren. They have seven hatchlings in their box. I will leave nature to take its course but it sure is tempting to evict the little turds.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
That is sad. Nature is wonderful and cruel. Are the nesting pair still hanging around?
I don’t have experience with this as I’ve never had a nest destroyed but there are folks here that will be able to help you out with some advice. If it were me I would just monitor the nest and see if they come back in a few days. Bluebirds know what to do.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
Perhaps hang a silhouette of an owl or hawk on the window. I’ve heard that may discourage them.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
Welcome AIH. I hope you get it figured out. I have heard that House Sparrows dislike the Gilbertson PVC boxes though we don’t have many House Sparrows around here to test that theory. They are plentiful in town though. You might want to give the PVC version a try. They are fairly easy to build; the most challenging part is making the oval entrance hole. I do that with a 1 3/8″ hole saw. Much safer than a Forstner drill bit.
One thing I learned this spring at the Michigan Bluebird Soc Fest is that line of sight is very important. Bluebirds are territorial. However, one “expert” speaker qualified that theory with his theory that even if the Blues can’t directly see the other Bluebird house, if it is within the recommended 100 yards they still know that the nest box is there and often will defend the territory regardless if line of sight is blocked.
This is a big ask… ask your neighbor if they will to move their EBB nest box farther away from your potential location after a brood has fledged. You would do likewise; locating yours as far from their nest box as possible. In a residential neighborhood that might not be possible. Or, ask your neighbor to relocate it after a fledge so that you can view their box as well. But, I know, some neighbors!
Another option is to ask a local authority if you could set up a small Bluebird trail on public property. Municipal parks, golf courses, cemeteries, schools, etc. are good locations. A trail can be two or more nest boxes. When I located my trails I paired boxes so Tree Swallows and Bluebirds would not fight over one box. Well, they will argue for sure but once they have established who is the boss (they both are) they will settle down and co-exist. A trail will get you out moving on a regular basis and you might find it fun to do routine walks on the trail. You can find out more about EBB trails on the braw.org website (my state’s org.) or michiganbluebirds.org.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
… No sticks in any of the nesting boxes. He’s a strange one!
Judy – Michigan
Probably bounced off someone’s picture window one too many times!
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
In the BRAW newsletter below there is an article about a small study to deter wrens.
https://www.braw.org/copy-of-bod-wb-newsletter-archive-1
Go to the”Summer 2023″ archived newsletter.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
I’m no expert on “Little Stinker” deterrents but I had success so far on one EBB trail by providing two small “decoy” nest boxes near EBB nest boxes. Though the stinkin wren did put a few sticks into an EBB box nearby they completed a decoy box nest and seem to be staying there. Interestingly, the other decoy hasn’t had a single stick deposited. It’s a bit of an experiment to see if providing smaller boxes are preferred. One success does not prove much.
In my home yard it’s a different story. Two decoy boxes are up and though one was filled, and I mean filled, with sticks they moved on and are nesting in one of two closely paired EBB nest box. They seem to be happy with that arrangement. After watching for about a week and realizing not even a little stinker can get inside the decoy I emptied it out hoping for a chickadee will adopt it.
I would say that you should provide that Wren box again. I hope it works.
I’ll confirm the decoy box dimensions if my “experiment” works. It was just some scrap I slapped together after reading about decoy boxes.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
