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They are beautiful. This particular bluebird couple seems very “bonded.” I rarely see one without the other. I even saw the male give a bug to his mate. I just love them.
Susan
PennsylvaniaI’m a little afraid of getting that up close and personal with the nest after what happened yesterday. In the article about diatomaceous earth, it said that any moisture (even morning dew) renders it ineffective. However, if I get the courage to face the mites, is it okay to do this now while the mother bird is laying eggs? She laid her first egg yesterday.
Susan
PennsylvaniaHooray! That is wonderful news! I was hoping all day that you would let us know Mama was back and doing better. Terrific!
Susan
PennsylvaniaThanks to all for the insight and advice. Both the TRES house and the bluebird house were cleaned out after fledging. I wore rubber gloves and scooped the nests into a plastic bag and disposed of them. The bluebirds built a new nest in the cleaned out house. The TRES house remains empty. I can’t possibly express how small these bugs are. It would be impossible to see them on the side of the birdhouse. It amazing that I even spotted them on my skin. I was only able to see them because I was in very bright sunlight.
I did go back to the birdhouse and installed the sparrow spooker, but I was careful not to rest my forearm or hand against the house. I’m just going to have to be careful around the houses. Those mites are creepy little buggers!
Susan
PennsylvaniaHi Randy: I am so sorry about this horrible accident. It is clear that you are beating yourself up, but it’s just what I said. . . a very unfortunate accident. If she comes back, you can rejoice. If she doesn’t, you can only hope that healed and moved on. Even though you are feeling miserable now, try to focus on the many blues you have protected and helped into the world. Once again, I am very sorry.
Susan
PennsylvaniaSounds like your the best surrogate they could ask for at this point. Keep plugging away. I know everyone here is pulling for you. :-)
Susan
PennsylvaniaHang in there, Connie. Like Randy said, you are doing everything you can do. I will pray that your tiny ones pull through. Think positive. They still may surprise you.
Susan
PennsylvaniaThanks, Randy. I made that crazy sparrow spooker that’s on my photos, so tomorrow I will create a wren guard! As of this evening there were no eggs in the new bluebird nest, so I will make one and have it ready to roll in time for egg #2.
When does the wren guard come off?
Susan
PennsylvaniaThanks to everyone for the kind comments. I have been so blessed this year with wonderful birds! I knew that it was a long-shot when I put both houses on the same pole, but I never dreamed it would be such a success. I just love the way those little tree swallows patrol the skies. It definitely provided extra protection from HOSPs for the bluebirds.
Today is the first day that the excitement has died down. The TRES babies were nowhere to be found and I only spotted papa blue one time sitting on my shed’s roof peak.
Carol, I have never used a wren guard because I have never seen a house wren in my back yard. I have seen them in the front of the house, though. In light of what I have read on here, I am thinking that maybe I should start using one even though I never had a wren attack.
My blues made a new nest, but there are no eggs. When should I install the wren guard?
Susan
PennsylvaniaI tried imgur.com and then I couldn’t see the pictures. I will try again. I right clicked the image on imgur and selected “Copy Link.” I then pasted that link in the box after selecting “img” in the gray bar above. Not sure why that wouldn’t work.
Susan
Pennsylvania
