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I’m with ya Judy. They are little stinkers for sure. I wish they had the same protective status as House Sparrows and Starlings. I wouldn’t hesitate to deal with them. The most we can do is hope they settle down and start their own broods (or not, we don’t need any more of them).
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
Thanks.
The MI Bluebird Soc. was really pushing the Gilbertson pvc boxes. From what I saw displayed there were as many pvc boxes as wood.
It’s my first experience with the pvc version. I was skeptical when I first saw them. Right now, the six eggs may say something about space requirements. As one speaker at the MBS Fest said, “As soon as you think you have Bluebirds figured out they throw you a curve”.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
I’ve built a number of the Gilbertson U boxes. Yes they seem to like them. I’ll try some slot boxes next time I decide to make some sawdust. I get scrap lumber from a saw mill down the road. So far it’s free. Free is good!
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
Tammy, which Gilwood do you like? There’s what I think they call the “slot box” which has a wall to wall opening on the front top. The other box has a U shaped, oversize entrance with a wire to restrict Starlings and such.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
Yup. I’m a bit partial to the wood boxes as well Tammy.
I don’t know if I’ll build any more PVC designs. It depends how the nesting season goes. The new design of PVC box that MBS had is much improved over earlier plans I’ve seen. And I built the second batch of 14 PVC boxes based on the newer design. I’m not sure when the design changed but I’m thinking in the past couple years. There are still plans available for the early version.
Give some thought to getting a cheap wi-fi endoscope for monitoring nests. You’ll see everything you want to see with very little intrusion into the birds nesting world. I occasionally open the boxes if needed, but, I almost always just take a five second peek inside with the endoscope, snap a photo or video if I see something cool, and back away from the nest box to jot down any notes I want to take. The endoscope works wirelessly with a smart phone and the photos are stored in my normal gallery of photos. I’m doing a bunch of boxes and it makes it a quick task to check them all.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
Congrats on your four new “grandbabies”!
They are interesting to watch. I hope I get a pair in one of my yard boxes.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
I have. Out of nine broods last year one had five, all white. And so far this year (from Wednesday’s check) I had two eggs in one box and they were white.
Otherwise all blue broods last year.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
That’s a good point. I’m not sure what ebird uses the data for but I think it shows population trends in kind of a quasi-scientific way. It probably isn’t very useful where bluebirds are present all year. In my case when random sightings started appearing in my region I knew that arrival was beginning.
It is real nice that you can narrow down sightings to a specific month and see over several years when they might appear.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
Good news!
I had two eggs in a nestbox on Wednesday last week. I expect when I return on Tuesday I’ll see a few more nests and hopefully eggs.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
Yes, I’ve found Merlin and ebird very useful. I’m not really an experienced birder but Merlin’s Sound ID is amazing.
I can ID many of the common larger birds on my own but I’m challenged with all the small sparrow and warbler sized birds. I’ve decided on my daily hikes that when I, or Merlin hears a species that I don’t know I will try to get a visual. Then I can add it to my ebird “Track” which keeps track of my distance traveled, location and what birds I’ve gotten a visual ID of.
Even if you are sitting in your yard you can use the track function to document birds you see and then name your own personal location (such as “Home Backyard”) and mark it as a “Stationary” birding session. I’m still learning it’s options.
Recently I spotted a Ruby Crowned Kinglet and a Yellow Rumped Warbler. I’m still looking for my dad’s favorite little bird, the Red Breasted Matress Thrasher. : )
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
Very nice. I guess after many successful centuries of reproduction the bluebirds overcome a lot of challenges. Good to hear they are doing well.
First fully assembled nest found yesterday. No eggs yet and most nestboxes are empty. Things should move along in the next week with warmer weather and a good soaking yesterday and today.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
Frost every night here for about a week. I’m seeing pairs of EBB checking out nestboxes on my trail but no worries about keeping eggs warm. They’ve not started building nests yet. But they are busy checking accommodations. I’ve put out 22 nestboxes and have about a dozen more to locate.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
