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Hello! A couple of weeks ago, I posted that I had paired a bluebird house with a tree swallow house on the same pole. Several of you suggested that I separate the boxes on separate poles because the birds seemed to both want the sparrow house. Well, I wasn’t able to get to the store for a second post for a few days, and low and behold, the birds decided to coexist after all! The bluebirds took over the bigger tree swallow house, and the tree swallows settled for my old bluebird house. The houses are posted on the same pole with one facing east and the other facing north. Currently, my bluebirds have at least four nestlings. I had looked in the box a little over a week ago and saw 5 eggs. When I checked the house yesterday, I could only see 4 babies, but it’s possible that the fifth just had its head down. The swallow nest also has babies, but that house sits higher on the post, and it is hard for me to see inside the nest. The male swallow and bluebird occasionally get “testy” with one another, but overall they are doing very well. I put a sparrow spooker on the bluebird house as soon as the eggs were laid, and both sets of birds were not happy with me for a while, but they got over it and have been working diligently to take care of their babies. I haven’t seen HOSPS near the houses, but we do have some around. The swallows guard those houses 24-7, so I hope they help to keep the HOSPS away from the bluebird babies! Wish me luck with all of these little ones. :-)
Susan
PennsylvaniaDana: Thank you so much for this suggestion! I am sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I teach school for a living and this time of the year is CRAZY, so I didn’t check the forum. I am off all weekend, so I can give this a try and have plenty of time to monitor the house and make sure I don’t scare my blues. Honestly, I haven’t seen any blues for about three days. There are tree swallows checking out the second house that I paired with the bluebird house, but no blues. I have emptied sparrow nests out of the house every day this week. I am off to buy a snake!
Susan
PennsylvaniaI’m happy to hear that about the female bird. I still haven’t seen her. I saw the male bluebird on the house at dawn, but he left as soon as the sparrows showed up. I cleaned the box out before I left for work today. When I got home, the sparrows had it jammed with straw, so I cleared it out again. No I do not have a HOSP trap. I know I have to do something quickly to protect the tree swallows and bluebirds.
Susan
PennsylvaniaSusan
PennsylvaniaI have chihuahuas. One is named Rocky (Rocky Raccoon). One is Rita (Lovely Rita), and my smallest chihuahua puppy is named Mi Amor (which is Spanish for My Love — The Paul McCartney song).
In the past I had a yorkie named Maxwell and one named Eleanor. I also had a Maltese named Michelle. :-)
I know, it’s kind of silly, but I am a true Beatles fanatic. I got hooked on them when I was about 7 years old, and it’s always my go-to music.
Susan
PennsylvaniaHi! My name is actually Susan–I know, weird username. I am actually a huge Beatles fan. Vera, Chuck and Dave are names from the song “When I’m 64.” I steal from the Beatles a lot. All of my dogs have names from Beatles tunes.
I guess I will try pairing two boxes and see how it goes. I will be VERY upset if my bluebirds leave. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Susan
PennsylvaniaHi Dana: I am in Mechanicsburg, PA. I was surprised when my bluebirds stuck around over the winter. I think I will try providing another house for the swallows. They are beautiful, and I hate seeing them fight with the blues!
Susan
PennsylvaniaI’m not on Facebook. I tried it briefly a long time ago, but found that most users seem very self-absorbed and strangely misguided about the fact that anyone wants to view 1000’s of their selfies or read posts about their every thought and feeling. I may be the only one who feels this way, but taking a bunch of pictures of myself and publishing them to glorify myself seems awfully conceited.
Susan
PennsylvaniaThanks for the info, Tammy. I am always scouting around for the return of the bluebirds. Hopefully my bluebirds will return too. If I see them, I will definitely put out some meal worms and suet. I’ll let you know if I see any.
Happy Labor Day!
SusanSusan
PennsylvaniaHello Everyone: It’s been a month here in Pennsylvania, and I haven’t seen a single bluebird. The beautiful yellow finches are still annihilating my thistle seed daily, and a mourning dove just hatched a brood in my dogwood tree yesterday. However, my beloved bluebirds seem to be gone for another season.
I really feel the need to say THANK YOU to so many of you who helped and educated me this summer. In the past, I selfishly enjoyed the bluebirds in my yard without providing a safe haven and meal worms! The terrible day when my Papa Blue died, I found this forum and begged for help. I remember the morning I found him. I went to the birdhouse and cried my eyes out as the tiny bluebirds stretched their necks and cried for food. I was sure they would perish.
It was your advice and help that saw me through that terrible day. It was your advice and help that saved those little darlings. I learned how to make a sparrow spooker, buy meal worms and eventually relocate my house to a safer place. I can’t thank you enough for turning a past-time into a hobby that I love.
So, thank you Carol, Tammy, David, Rich, “Love My Blues,” Gin and Cher. I will serve my future bluebirds well–Thanks to you!
Susan
Susan
PennsylvaniaI guess I will just leave the house up then and make sure it stays “clean.” It would be nice if the babies I saw were the ones that I bought all of those worms for :-) I live in a pretty rural area where the houses all sit on about 2 acres each. Several of my neighbors also have bluebird houses in the back yards, and I’ve seen their “couples” when I walk my dogs. I guess that some of my babies could have ventured that way.
Susan
PennsylvaniaI will definitely take my new bluebird house, pole and baffle when we move. My husband was going to throw a little Quikrete in the hole when he put it up, and I just had him dig deep and pack it tight so we could take it back out later. Do you think I should leave it up over the winter? We aren’t planning to move until next year. I haven’t seen my Mama Blue or the babies since the day after they fledged. I was walking my dogs yesterday and saw several baby bluebirds on the wires in front of my neighbor’s houses. To be honest, I am jealous that her bluebirds are sticking around and mine all left. I guess the mother took off because her mate had died. I do have a beautiful pair of mourning doves nesting in a dogwood tree right off of my front porch.
Susan
PennsylvaniaIt is so much fun to watch. The first day that my babies fledged, the mama continued to get worms from the feeder and take them to some distant pine trees, but then she just disappeared. I wish she would get back here and help me get rid of all these dang worms! :-D I had just placed an online order for worms, and then the babies flew the coop before I was expecting it.
Susan
Pennsylvania
