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Bluebird sightings in the Spring (2002)(All material was originally posted on the mailing list Bluebird-L or Bluebird and reposted here with only slight modifications to make them more readable in an HTML format, for more information about Bluebird-L check out the following http://www.cit.cornell.edu/cit-pubs/email/using-lists/index.html. or for the mailing list Bluebird run by Dusty Bleher check out http://fsinc.com/wildbirds/Bluebird/List)If you are the author of a posting to one of the mailing lists and you would like to see a particular post (or posts) removed from these web pages please contact me at: bluebirdbox"at"cox.net and I will remove whatever material you like. If you have an opinion different than one posted hear you need not contact me as often I will have a different opinion also. My intent is to try and provide both sides to the issues confronting bluebirders and to do so in an impartial manner.In cases in which quoted material has been deleted to save space, it is indicated by an ellipsis (....)
From: EHDerry"at"aol.com While watching my three EABLs (Mom, Dad, and the one male fledgling from last
summer) today, as I have all fall and winter, I noticed that we now have a
fourth - a female. Since it is only mid-January, it seems to be early to begin
pairing for nesting season, but this being my first year in bluebirding and I
haven't observed this before, I am wondering what your opinions are. The birds
are all checking out our two nest boxes - which are only about 40 feet apart.
Last summer I used one for trapping HOSPs and the other was the EABLs next box.
The pairs today seemed to be very protective of the next box Judy
From: "Dave Bagley" <bags"at"erols.com> Hello List, I thought it was pretty strange when a male robin flew across my path and landed in front of me late in the first week of January, two full months ahead of when I normally first see them in Maryland, making me wonder if he had ever left in the first place with the very mild December we had. My first robin sighting is almost always the first week of March, the one exception I remember was a first sighting in 1993 in the middle of the famous Blizzard of '93, that robin had big troubles. So yesterday, I was visiting the farm 26 miles from home where my nestbox trail is, I checked a Gilbertson and a traditional wooden box that I have paired since they were right across from where I parked, just to see if the bluebirds had been using either of them for winter roosting. The Gilbertson was empty but the wooden one had a full-blown House Sparrow nests with eggs! I cleaned all my boxes out in October or November and haven't been back since, so this nest could've been started anytime since then and abandoned, I didn't observe it long enough to tell. I guess I'll have to get my insert trap and get back out there and deal with that one and check the rest of them. I also see my Forsythia has a few open blooms... Dave Bagley
Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 17:27:39 -0800 (PST) Hello friends, Trapped a HOSP male and female on my Indiana trail today. With the temps approaching 60 degrees the Blues seem to be singing everywhere. The older Blues also seem to have chased off the the younger birds and claimed their territories, nestboxes and mealworm feeders. I don't usually observe this kind of nesting activity for at least another 4 weeks. On Wednesday of this week temps are supposed to range from 30 down to 15. In Illinois, the same 7 EABL's are enjoying mealies at least twice a day now. Although I hear much more EABL calling, I have not observed the territorial activities in Illinois. It will interesting to observe if the EABL group up again when the weather turns cold. I am busy building and mounting additional nestboxes. Looks like the warm weather has me excited too. Bob Sitarski Jackson County IN & Clay County IL
Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 23:20:26 -0400 Haleya Priest Amherst MA The Doctor wrote: > Hello friends, ...
Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2002 09:57:28 -0800 Same thing is happening here in NW New Jersey with the last few days temps in the 50s. Our winter flock of 8 EABL is bcoming less group like and the dominant male is accompanying his female around the boxes on our property with all the wing waving and musical serenading that Haleya refers to. Other males, while not completely ejected are being made unwelcome around the mealworm feeder. Can't help thinking this is a good few weeks premature with some more cold weather inevitably to come before winter is through. Mike Barratt ----- Original Message ----- ...
Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2002 08:53:27 -0800 Linda Violett - Yorba Linda, Calif. On the west coast, everything seems to be normal and according to schedule. Because I can't watch trail birds up close, I have never seen the wing-waving ritual and must rely more on pre-season box signals along with the actual siting of the birds during a check. Yesterday's check revealed that a box moved into a private yard (and out of a risky greenbelt/park) had a regurgitated seed in the box, so that adjustment was successful. Another site in the greenbelt was given a choice of a second box in a private yard. The private yard had a few straws last week, pushed to the front as of yesterday (roosting bluebirds) so that greenbelt box can now be removed. As mentioned, declining neighborhoods have more trash, gangs, vandalism and theft. For several years, an old 1-holer stolen from the greenbelt has been hanging from a low limb of a front yard tree. I figured if the people were interested enough in stealing a box, that they would would be receptive to having an upgraded 2-holer and I could move the bluebirds from the greenbelt to their private yard. Yes, they were delighted to have the new 2-hole box and explained the 1-holer was there when they bought the house. Inside their 1-holer was a dead bluebird chick with its skull half gone (sparrow attack). Before hanging 2-holer, I secured a promise from the 8 year old boy wielding a toy knife and plastic gun that he would protect the blues. The parents will receive a free copy of the new Bluebird Monitor's Guide--THANK YOU KEITH, for including a section which is relevant to hanging suburban trails! While these final adjustments are being made to the trail, the activities of the bluebirds are right on target. Haleya Priest wrote: ...
From: "Jim McLochlin" <bluebirdbox"at"cox.net> I don't want to be a pessimist here but... If we are indeed starting spring this early in my part of the world it really means only one thing nest failures. We most certainly are not over with winter in Nebraska (in fact a cold front/snow storm is predicted for Wednesday). Even if that were not true, every early spring I have experienced since I started bluebirding resulted in frozen eggs. Usually from a late spring snow storm. On the other hand I always start working my trail on or around Presidents day. I have never had a nest attempt until March and if the spring came early as it appears right now, I have always had a snow in March that resulted in nest failure. This might not be true for your area but early springs are not always that good of thing for the wild creatures and plants for that matter. Jim McLochlin The Audubon Society of Omaha = http://audubon-omaha.org/
To: bluebird-l"at"cornell.edu (BLUEBIRD-L) Hi All, I too had to put a trap in one of my two-hole boxes on a post. The Bluebirds are checking out the boxes, but not the two-hole yet. Only the House Sparrows are checking out the two-hole boxes. Maynard Sumner Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. On Sat, 26 Jan 2002 23:20:26 -0400 Haleya Priest <mablue"at"gis.net> writes: ...
Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2002 21:59:54 -0400 Haleya Priest Amherst MA It may seem early, but NOW is the time to do it while the weather is warm!!! My experience is if I wait on things like this, time slips by, and it is just too late - and I have a cold wet nest and lose babies because of it. Even if you think those seams on your boxes are tight - think again. Weather affects the wood so much and what started as a tight seam can easily pull apart just a hair - even within one season, enough to allow water in! :-) H Jim McLochlin wrote: > I don't want to be a pessimist here but... ...
From: "Debbie Brown" <Debbie"at"raex.com> I'm from Columbiana County Ohio, our mating pair of bluebirds have arrived already January 26, 2002. Is there anything that I should be doing for them. They are nesting as we speak.
From: "Gilliam, Jay" <jay.gilliam"at"pioneer.com> Hi All--- Jay Gilliam -----Original Message----- ...
Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 12:51:09 -0400 Haleya Priest Amherst MA
From: "Bill Darnell" <bdarnel3"at"bellsouth.net> In Jackson, TN, today, I saw a male and female carrying nesting material. Jackson is about 50 miles N. of the MS line. I have seen eggs in Feb., and I am about 20 mi. N of the MS line! Cold front coming, hope they wait a little longer! Bill > Haleya Priest Amherst MA
From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" <kridler"at"1starnet.com> Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas Bluebirds nesting: I found the first completed Eastern Bluebird nest yesterday & a complete Carolina Chickadee nest here at my house. I normally find bluebird eggs by the time the local pear trees are in full bloom or just about the time they begin dropping their white petals. Elm trees are in full bloom, trumpet daffodils, forsythia, quince are blooming in the area and my apple trees have a few blossoms open....Frogs are laying masses of eggs in the swamp and spring peepers are in full chorus at night in every ditch and puddle. Tiny crawfish are swarming in shallow water and wood ducks are working these areas. According to the wildlife, spring is here in north east Texas. I would think that the southeastern states will be a couple weeks ahead of normal for nesting bluebirds this year from the indicators I am observing! KK
From: "BONNIE A. YEAGER" <dement"at"frognet.net> Saw my first bluebird of the new year. A male perched on the grape arbor in the garden singing his head off. He showed no interest in my nest boxes. Smart bird, around here nest building doesn't start until the end of March, or beginning of April. In these parts, the early bird gets FROZEN. The temperatures in SE OH have been 4.3, 3.5, and 5.3 degrees F above
average for the months of Nov., Dec. and Jan., respectively. Only had about
5 inches of snow so far this winter. Fred Yeager,
From: "Phil Berry" <mrtony8"at"home.com> I just finished adding 11 boxes to my trail (total now 23). I must have been followed by a dozen bluebirds (EABL's) while doing so. they are everywhere here on the golf Course. It is almost as if they anticipated my outing. Saturday I placed the posts, concreted them in, and today added the boxes. This Saturday will (hopefully) see me adding another dozen boxes. Blubirds were sitting on boxes all along the trail, and when I went to the last post to install a box, a male was sitting on top of the post! It looks like it may be a good year. Although........I did hear my first "squeak, squeak, squeak" coming from the box in my yard, a male HOSP in the box, calling for a female. Time to get out the trap. Temps have been warm here, but mostly cloudy, in the mid to upper 70's daytime, mid 60's at night, with azaleas in bloom everywhere. Hope everyone else is doing well....Spring is on the way...we can't stop it. Phil Berry
Date: Fri, 01 Feb 2002 01:02:39 -0000 For the sparrow controls contact: fvanert"at"aol.com His traps are the best and easy to remove and replace on a moments notice. You instal two screws and then slide the trap slots on and off them within seconds. It has worked the best for me of any. Also you can put screws in different boxes and rotate the trap back and forth. Really confuses the sparrow and catches more. I saw my blues back in late November and then nothing until the 25 of Jan. Nothing since then but I am sure now they are around. I just haven't been looking at the right times. Ice in thick layers on everything now, been brushing 6" layers off the platform feeders. Couple of mealies put out in cups daily in case the mealies come back.
From: "Stan, Apple Valley/St. Paul, MN [44.44N, -93.10W]" <stan1bb"at"frontiernet.net>
Hello EveryBIRDie, Hello! As I'm reading a posting, The Journey North website has an opportunity for "practice." Check it out. Happy birding! Stan
From: "Phil Berry" <mrtony8"at"home.com> Putting up a woodpecker box this afternoon, my wife spotted many feathers
hanging out of a nearby EABL box. Was I surprised when I opened it to see a dead
female adult EABL, with telltale holes punched in her back and neck. Male was
sitting on the box when we drove up. What a way to start the season. HOSP trap
comes out of mothballs tomorrow morning, and I will sit there all day if I have
to. We have been saying that spring was early this year.
From: "Elaine Stayton" <moron"at"a-znet.com> Good morning--it's a cold 19 degrees here in CNY and the bluebirds are here eating the red off the sumac trees. They were here (4) of them last week eating berries off my shrubs. Nice early morning treat! They are here most of the winter in the last few years, Have a good day!!
From: "Dottie, Hickory Hollow, Brown County, Indiana" My first Bluebird of 2002 was sighted yesterday, February 1, 2002, in Brown County Indiana. However, I think this is probably one that has wintered with us. A male resting on a telephone line about one mile from my house. Dottie, Hickory Hollow
Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 07:49:23 -0800 (PST) Hi all, Nope, I don't mean the Olympic games. At my Illinois mealworm feeder, anywhere between 6 & 12 EABL would show up every day. Consistantly for the past 2 weeks, 8 EABL seemed to show up quietly, almost if they appeared out of thin air. I would fill the feeder with 100+ mealies which would usually be gobbled up in less than 5 minutes. I'd crawl out of bed about 6:30 AM, that was plenty early enough for the group of Blues that appeared around 6:50 AM. On Monday, I added two nestboxes (a total of 3 nestboxes on my blossoming Illinois trail) which went all but ignored by the Blues on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning however, it was like there were parties going on inside the nestboxes. All 3 nestboxes were quietly investigated. On Thursday morning, no activity again at the nestboxes. This morning was totally different. At 6:15 AM, the frosty morning air was full of EABL song. Not only the tell tale 'true-a-lee' but the 'chitter' call they use as a warning. I rushed like a fool to get the mealworms out to the feeder. A lone female EABL went to eat several of the mealies while a lone male EABL perched on the nestbox nearest to the feeder. He was doing the 'wing flap dance' and singing up a storm. She would fly towards him and perch on the nestbox or a nearby tree and join in on the 'dance'. There was not another EABL in site. To my surprise, he never ate a single mealworm. He would land on the feeder and continue his 'song and dance'. All the commotion began attracting both starlings and HOSP. For the first time in 4 months of feeding mealies to EABL, I had to go and replace the feeder plexiglass wall to keep the starlings out of the feeder. The male HOSP 'chirrup' could be heard from everywhere. Four HOSP picked at some of the 'oat scraps' at the base of the feeder (I keep the mealies in an oat mix). The 'games' have begun on my modest Illinois trail. The Illinois trail was almost 3 weeks behind my established Indiana trail (now at 24 nestboxes) for this kind of nesting activity. This will be a new experience. Whereas my Indiana trail has no problem with starlings and light to moderate problem with HOSP, the Illinois trail has large populations of both HOSP and starlings. Nearby grain storage silos provide fine nesting sites and plenty of food for the birds. I will put 'so-called' sparrow resistant boxes and monofilament line (which works very well in Indiana) to the test here in Illinois. Have a good day Bob Sitarski Jackson County Indiana & Clay County Illinois
From: "emcooper" <emcooper"at"bayou.com> I checked my trail today, and found a nest started in #3. This nestbox is about 200 yards from my den and I could see lots of activity today on it. Maybe they will be as smart as they were last year and wait for warmer weather for the egg laying. Evelyn Cooper
From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" <kridler"at"1starnet.com> Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas 40*F and headed for 60*F today For those people who have up boxes but don't know whether or not birds are checking out their boxes yet can wedge a small stiff piece of grass stem or pine needle in the entrance hole. This piece of grass stem or pine needle will get pushed aside if a bird enters the box to check it out as a potential nest site. The grass stem should be stiff enough that a wind will not blow it out of the box but loose enough that it is easily removed. Even though you do not see birds checking out boxes does not mean they are not slipping in when you are not watching! If you have boxes that have never been used, check to make sure they are clean inside of all wasp, mouse or mud dauber nests. Make sure the entrance hole is correct for the target species of bird you want to attract and that the hole is relatively smooth on the inside where the birds will have to push through. If the grass stem is often missing but the box is not used this spring consider moving the box to a different location! KK
From: "Dottie, Hickory Hollow, Brown County, Indiana" <yumyumkatts"at"voyager.net> Mom and Pop Bluebird on one of my BB boxes this morning. Sitting on top and going in and out. First time I have seen them since the first of December. A wonderful day here--sunny and up in the 50's. Dottie, Hickory Hollow
From: "Myron & Garnet" <mngrau"at"accn.org> To Sherry Hunter from Byron Center, Michigan: I have just joined this list and found your inquiry to Dottie from Indiana. I have been feeding bluebirds for about the last three winters here in the Martin, Michigan area, just 15 miles or so south of you. I have a bluebird feeder in which I put raisins. The last couple of years I had about three feeding. This winter I usually see up to seven at a time, and have seen as many as nine. Since I work during the week, yesterday (Saturday) I saw them coming and going all day long. I got my new neighbors who built about one-half mile from our house back near the woods, interested in bluebirding. Yesterday they told me that they have about an equal number of bluebirds visit their feeder, where they also feed raisins. Those that come to my feeder come and go to another direction than where these people live, and are apparently different birds. We both have been going through quite a few raisins. 20 Bluebirds do not migrate that far south, with Indiana being the northern-most boundary. Being not that far from there, and with the mild Falls and Winters we have had in recent years, bluebirds have remained in our area. A bluebird feeder is a special box with plexiglass sides, a hinged cover and holes on each side for entrance and exit. I got mine at Farm & Garden in Kalamazoo. My biggest problem for nesting boxes, is house sparrows. Myron Rau
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 19:13:58 -0000 Isn't that though? I really had a pick me up the other day. After being away from my computer for so long due to a power failure and finally going to my in laws to get warm. I didn't get to see birds or do much online let alone work since I had all my contact information in the desk top computer at the house. When I was able to return and was out pruning the dead limbs that feel from the trees in the field across the utility wires onto my peach tree I saw mine. They were out the fence in the field jetting straight out from my back yard. So of course I ran in for the binoculars... they were gone when I got back out but I brought some mealies out for them. I have seen flashes of blue since but nothing sitting still yet. Moved the box from the front of the garage to the back fence line. Turned it a little hoping the blues will see the entrance when they come closer to check out the neighbors box this spring. Maybe they will nest with me again this year instead of just coming here for the food to take next door (other side of garage) to feed young in the neighbors box! I had them the first year then she put up a box and they have nested there the first nesting and moved away for the second each year. I hope they will stay closer this year. Wish me luck. Keep us informed on your blues Jen..
From: "Dottie, Hickory Hollow, Brown County, Indiana" <yumyumkatts"at"voyager.net> A lot of activity on my BB box by my house. Mom and Pop Bluebird going in and out and Pop Bluebird on the ground and then going inside. Couldn't tell if he took anything in or not. However, he did bring out a white looking thing. Maybe someone roosted in there and Pop Bluebird was cleaning that out. Anyway, I believe they are going to nest any day now. And it's only the middle of February in the Midwest. I'll be checking the box later today. I still haven't got any answers to my question about placing a battery operated hunter's sock in the box under the nest. Was this a stupid idea? I think we are going to have to be ready to do something if the BB's nest this early in the Midwest. With the way our weather has been this winter, I can understand how things can be mixed up and think spring has sprung. But I can't believe our winter is over yet. People around here have been snowed in during the basketball tournaments the last of March. Can't get out of the gym to go home. I'm sure you can understand why I'm getting a little concerned. So if you have an opinion about the sock idea, I would like to hear it. Even if you think it's stupid idea. Dottie, Hickory Hollow
From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" <kridler"at"1starnet.com> Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant Texas If you are going to trap House Sparrows in boxes the Van Ert trap is a MUST have trap! I lost a female bluebird on Saturday and caught 21 sparrows on Sunday with a maximum of nine traps in use for four hours. Many of my nestbox sites have been in use for over 20 years so I always carry a tree saw and long handled pruners to cut limbs and small brush close to boxes. Carry information about NABS & your state group EVEN if you are not a paid up member! NABS information can be printed from their websites. Get your neighbors involved by giving or helping them choose a well built nestbox! Look closely at your area and see if dangerous situations for cavity nesters are present. Chimney caps missing on metal flues are dangerous! Steel fence posts made from pipe with open tops are DANGEROUS. Measure the fence posts and drop a tin can over the top to seal the pipe. Look for plastic tree tubes protecting newly planted trees to see if they have the mesh tops. Check EVERY nestbox to see if it is strong enough to survive a raccoon attack! Be careful checking nestboxes! I found a large, live black widow spider in a
nestbox that has survived the winter! We found 9 white footed mice in one
nestbox so read and be aware of the possible dangers of Hanta Virus. Wasps and
spiders WILL be hiding in old nests or other "winterizing" material. If you are a backyard bluebirder try to add one more back yard this year! If you already have a trail try to interest three more people in bluebirds along it this year! Build MORE boxes and spread MORE good information. If you see sparrows at martin house colonies print out information about controlling then and share where to buy traps and methods of control! Share the JOY of BLUEBIRDING! KK
From: "efkent" <efkent"at"fuse.net> Just saw the first blue bird of the season. Had a piece of dead grass in its beak. So presuming that it is nest building. Bethel Ohio.South West Ohio.
From: "Lee & Jim Johnson" <mybuffy1"at"mindspring.com> Could someone please tell me what is going on? About Feb. 3, we saw our first pair of bluebirds in the backyard near the nestbox where a total of nine babies hatced last year. The pair were sitting on top of our garden arch. I didn't see them again for about 10 days. This past week, each early morning, I see them doing their wing-waving thing, checking out one box and then another. At one point in the week, my husband said they fought off about 6-8 sparrows at the main nest box. I thought sure they would stay around, (as they have in the past year, once they appear) but haven't seen them during the day, just in the early morning. I have been cleaning out the nestbox each day, making sure the sparrows don't win. Today, I even opened the door of the nestbox to fend them off. I have put out a few mealworms for the bluebird pair so they know they are at the right place. They have shown no interest in them. Could it be they know it is too early to nest? Certainly, they haven't given up because of the insistent sparrows? I do see them in the morning still, going in and out of the box. Maybe food is readily available and they're just enjoying what little freedom they have till the responsibilities start. Any ideas? Lee in Missouri
Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 15:12:59 -0000 I saw some wing waving on top of one of my boxes a few days ago. Anyone else seeing early courtship behavior? (In my experience, it's still a good month to six weeks between the first courtship rituals and actual nesting. But it's not long now!) Jennifer, S WI
Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 17:59:31 EDT <<I saw some wing waving on top of one of my boxes a few days ago. Anyone else seeing early courtship behavior?>> Still seeing bluebirds at fairly regular intervals (including New Year's Day!) The last two days, including after it began to snow, there were at least 2 different males singing (not the usual winter burble, but outright song). There has been one unusually loud male the last 2 years; I'm fairly sure he was one of them. Rhonda Watts
Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2002 15:47:27 -0000 Jennifer, - In bluebirdtrail"at"y..., "jenniferswi" <jhoffman"at"s...> wrote: ...
From: "Jim McLochlin" <bluebirdbox"at"cox.net> Although the temperature today feels like spring it appears the birds still know it is winter here in Nebraska, well at least on my trail they do. I just returned from my first annual trip to open up my trail (I close all of the Gilbertson style boxes on my trail in the fall as they would make terrible roost boxes - and this keeps the wrens from using them late in the season). I had no surprises I didn't see or hear any bluebirds, although there have been reports in other parts of the state of them over wintering. The only birds I saw/heard were typical winter birds and year round residents (red-tailed hawks, canada geese, flickers, juncos, tree sparrows, etc,.) Of my four NABS boxes and one Peterson box on my trail there was no evidence of roosting by any species. Certainly there were no eggs or nests. All in all it was a typical first trip to do trail maintenance. A box was missing (wind or vandalism), a couple were knocked down (one vandalized the other mowed over). Next week I'll go back and add a couple new boxes to the trail and then it will be at least two weeks before there will be any need to check boxes again. Things usually don't start picking up on my trail until the end of March. I can't really say I am saddened by this as my experience has always been that eggs laid on my trail before the middle of April result in either frozen eggs or nestlings dying from hypothermia. Jim McLochlin The Audubon Society of Omaha = http://audubon-omaha.org/
Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2002 09:22:39 -0600 With Pauline Tom's announcement the other day (I was out of town and haven't had time to catch up with old Messages yet) of a first egg laid by a native cavity nesting bird, in this case bluebird, it appears that I am off to a late start to start the spring game of recording the first egg laid by a cavity nesting bird per state. Here are the rules (remember I can change them): The date/time of the email, phone call, postmark (for snail mail) will serve as the date/time of record, unless you specify another date (so be honest and play fair). I know to some this may not seem fair but it takes the burden off of me and puts it on you. Only one sighting per state will be accepted. In case of ties (two sightings from the same state, same species, for the same date, for the same time) the date and time of the email will be the tie breaker (earliest wins). To save us both some time please check the map before sending. I will record all three species of bluebirds, chickadees, tree swallows, and nuthatches, wrens, etc. In other words any native species. I will include a text line with your record of up to eighty characters.
Included in this can be any or all of the following: actual date (if different
from the one of record), your name, city, trail location, email address, nest
box type, etc., In fact just about anything you want to include. You must define
this in the email, phone call, snail mail. The rules will change as I see fit. Notice this mapping is not limited to those who subscribe to Bluebird-L. It is open to all who monitor nestboxes in the US and Canada. Anyone can submit a sighting. In other words no restrictions that the person must be subscribed to one of the lists. You can submit a sighting by email, phone, snail mail. You can even submit a sighting for someone else. The last rule is this is my game, so I can change the rules if I see a need. Don't worry I don't change my rules very easily. I haven't created the map at this time, but the URL will be (when it is
ready): To see last years map go to: http://audubon-omaha.org/bbbox/firstegg2001.htm Jim McLochlin Jim McLochlin The Audubon Society of Omaha = http://audubon-omaha.org/
From: "Lee & Jim Johnson" <mybuffy1"at"mindspring.com> Hello Everyone, The male and female bluebird have been coming every morning for over a week inspecting the boxes; each day spending a little more time in the yard. This morning, while I was on the computer, I heard their familiar song. Just at the end of hallway is a backdoor that leads to my deck. As usual, I silently and slowly crept to the end of the hall to check it out. I then peeked around the corner, in view of a little decorative birdhouse that sits at one end of the deck. (Last year the pair were fascinated at the little house, but chose the more practical Woodlink for their family's home, thank goodness.) The female was sitting atop the box. I could see another female bluebird sitting, with the male, on the arch in the backyard. Immediately, both flew up to the deck as the female, still sitting on the little house, just glared at her! Momentarily, the male flitted over to the heated birdbath, sitting with his back to the whole scenario, as if to say, "Don't look at me--I did nothing."I don't know what happened." They all three flew off together. I am so glad it is almost Spring. They are such a joy to watch! Lee in Missouri!
From: "Elaine Stayton" <moron"at"a-znet.com> Good morning---thought you might find it interesting to know that the bluebirds are in their spring mode here in Central New York. After a mild winter their is a pair that is checking out the boxes on our farm. The male was fighting with another this morning so I know they are breaking up from their winter flock. The male is singing his spring song to entice his female companion.This is pretty early for our neck of the woods. Great way to start the morning! Have a great day] Elaine from CNY
From: "Pauline, Mountain City TX" <bluebirds"at"austin.rr.com> My early nesting bluebirds (in PVC nestbox) have 5 eggs - mom began incubating on Friday. Weather forecast calls for "norther'" to come in today - dropping temps into 30's tonight and then down into 20's (our coldest winter night - "hard freeze") on Tuesday night. Is there anything I need to do to protect the eggs from the freeze? It'd be fairly easy to pull a big warm sock over the bottom of the 4" round nestbox, if that will help. Thanks!
From: "Karen Harder" <karenh"at"praxisworks.org> It may be 35 degrees, with heavy rain in the process of turning to snow, but who shows up 6 weeks earlier than last year? Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird!! So far, they're perching on the nestboxes only for hunting purposes. They certainly wouldn't be considering building yet, would they? Being so very much earlier than last year, and since the female is with the male, I'm assuming they've been around all winter but only now are putting in a public appearance. If they were migrants, wouldn't the male have arrived a couple of weeks before the female? Whoever they are, it's sure good to see them. Last sighting was late October. Karen -- Cape Porpoise, Maine
Date: Sat, 02 Mar 2002 21:35:52 -0800 Susan and I checked La Mirada boxes early this morning. It is still early in the season, but as of today, no house sparrow seems to be in possession of any boxes at this time. I believe house sparrows had made a bid for the "Restroom" box at La Mirada (see http://home.earthlink.net/~lviolett/test2002.html), but today, the pine needle (bluebird) nest is about 1/2 completed and the bluebird pair was calmly flying about their territory, foraging and the female peeked in the box after the checkup. Bluebirds showed no sign of stress and no house sparrows were seen in the nestbox tree during today's check. That contest seems to be over. There is no other apparent bluebird/sparrow contest in progress.
From: kj4cn"at"juno.com I live in South Carolina. The weather here has been real crazy this year. Today it was about 75 degrees. Has anyone in the South East had any nests started in their boxes yet. This is my first year to really get involved in bluebirding. Fire ants killed all my little ones or ran off the parents and ate the eggs last year. That won't happen again this year. I constructed a "Fawzi feeder" and I am having great luck with the bluebirds using it. I have it and another feeder. When I put meal worms in them they are all gone within 10-20 minutes....usually faster than that. I use AOL instant messenger and also Yahoo instant messenger. I would love to
have the screen names of any avid bluebirders who would like discuss our
successes and failures one on one. Ron Hall
From: "Lee & Jim Johnson" <mybuffy1"at"mindspring.com> Hello, Lee in Missouri
Date: Sat, 09 Mar 2002 19:25:34 -0800 Linda Violett - Yorba Linda, Calif. Two other monitors in my area found western bluebird eggs earlier this week and today I found two (incomplete) clutches on my trail, each containing three eggs. Background Info: - One of today's clutches is adjacent to a site where all the nestlings disappeared in a shallow (7.5" drop) box last year. - The nestcup of today's clutch is built almost on the nestbox floor (probably only 1/4" of cushion between the center of the nestcup to floor). - The hole-to-floor drop of this box is about 8.5 inches and was *not* raided last year. - The female in this deep box was not rushed to finish her nest to lay eggs; she had been futzing with the nestcup finishes since 2/23 (i.e., she had plenty of time to build a high nest to the entry holes but did not choose to do so). I find the possibilities intriguing. Perhaps this female lost chicks last year in the adjacent shallow box and chose the deeper box style this year. Or perhaps she was safe in her deep box last year but witnessed the attack on her less fortunate neighbors. But most important are the facts:
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 09:07:10 -0800 (PST) Hi all, I am using the utility poles in our pasture and the neighboring pasture again this year. I have six nest boxes put up on about a 50 acre area. My husband and I took time Saturday to put Monofilament line on most of the nest boxes. I sure hope it works. I have paired the boxes where it is possible ... one box with the Monofilament line paired with another box about 10' to 15' away without the Monofilament line. I guess I will see which box the EABL will take and which the HOSP will take. I have put Monofilament line on the boxes that are not paired in hopes that it will deter the HOSP. I have been trapping the HOSP for about a week now and have cleared out about 5 males 3 females from my yard however I still hear and see more. I also hear the EABL almost every morning now in the BIG Mulberry tree outside my bedroom window. I'm sure there will be a nest soon ... :) Good Luck to all this year.
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 15:05:37 -0400 Haleya Priest Amherst MA Kerry Sweet wrote: > Hi all, ...
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 14:17:23 -0800 (PST) Hello all, I have two nestboxes on my Illinois nestbox trail that are in close proximity to a mealworm feeder. Although the male tried hard to 'sell' the female on the nestbox nearest the feeder, she built a full nest. in thenestbox furthest from the feedr nearly 2 weeks ago. Well on one of my recent trips back to Indiana, I picked up some white pine needles. Whereas there are hundreds of white pine trees in Indiana, I have only witnessed a female utilize the needles once in nest buiding and she built the nest totally of needles. So I wanted to see if the Illinois Blue would utilize white pine needles in the nest if they were readily available. I don't think that there is a white pine tree within 10 miles of my trail in Illinois. Anyway, I began dropping needles in the unused nestbox; 2 or 3 per day. The male seemed excited to see nesting material appear whereas the female appeared confused and would always fly back to the nestbox which housed her completed nest. Both male and female continued to enter the nestbox with the needles in it. As of last night there were 24-30 needles at the bottom of the box, all of them just laid flat by the weight of the Blues. Today at lunch I returned home to see many pine needles on the ground at the base of the nestbox. Upon inspecting the box, there were 3 needles left in the nestbox. The three needles have now been intertwined with similar fine grasses that she used to build the other nest. She is 25% complete with the 'dummy' or 'real' nest. I don't know which. It appears that this female Blue doesn't prefer white pine needles. But as I said previously, on my Indiana trail where white pine trees are plentiful, there has been only one Bluebird nest built of needles. By the way, the 2nd nesting of the white pine female didn't include not even a single white pine needle. I don't know why but I just find it all very interesting. Bob a.k.a. The Doctor Jackson County Indiana $ Clay County Illinois
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 22:22:07 -0000 Mr. & Mrs. Bluebird (Western) have started their nest today! They have been hanging around since January checking out two houses. They have finally decided on one and have started building their nest. MAD Folsom, CA (Sacramento County)
From: "Robt Rager" <rerager"at"bright.net> Just having lunch and saw birds at the front BB box. Got the field glasses
and had my first two EABL in yard for 2002. This is little
early for northwest Ohio but temp is 50 degrees been rather warm. Wife
took p[lug out of back yard box now wait and see.
From: Harkleen"at"sentex.net Well my first bluebird of this year has arrived.At 11:30am I heard the familiar sound of a blue bird... he flew past my barn and landed in a tree looking down at a bluebird box where he successfully nested last year (I am assuming it is the same one) he did not stay very long but what a treat to see. We are about 45 miles N/W of Toronto Ontario, Canada. Is the Bluebird monitor's guide available in bookstores such as Chapters and also can anyone tell me if there is a cassette tape of bluebirds' songs? Regards Bill Harrison N43* 49.38
From: "Bruce Burdett" <blueburd"at"srnet.com> Last year the first reported Sunapee Bluebird sighting was on April 27. This year it was on March 11 - two different widely separated sites had sightings on the same day. And what do you make of that?
From: Dinlows"at"aol.com Looked out my window this a.m. to see mom and dad EABL at the box. Last year
they arrived on March 18th. War is beginning with the HOSP as of yesterday! I
lost my blues last year
because of so many HOSP and this year I hope to keep that from happening!!!
From: haroldrev"at"webtv.net (harold barker) My pair of Bluebirds came back on March 13th and started building a nest in my nestbox using pine straw. Wish me luck if they stay this will be my first time ever to have Bluebirds nest here. Good luck to all. Harold in Orange,Texas
To: BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu (BLUEBIRD-L) Hello Everyone! I had my first Eastern Bluebird calls on February 8th and a pair at a nest box in my backyard on February 19th. The male was banded. It was 39* I had put out some meal worms and they ate them and then later moved on. Since that day I have heard Bluebird calls almost every day but not any sightings again at my nestboxes. Yesterday it was in the 50's I checked all my nest boxes to be sure they were clean and ready. I did some repairs and put up two new nest boxes. At my feeders: Tufted Titmice, Black Capped Chickadees, Downy and Hairy
Woodpeckers, Cardinals, Purple Finch. Robins have been here for two I have a particular Black Capped Chickadee though that eats the meal worms I
put out for the Bluebirds it is quite comical watching him bat the worm against
a branch over and over to be sure it's dead. Being such a little bird yet he is
quite strong! In reference to Nancy in NC: A question about herbicides harming birds: I am a licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator, Last year I was given 5 Bluebirds near fledgling age to care for that the Mother was presumably killed by pesticides being sprayed on a Cherry tree that she visited. The male was not seen. Kathy Bennett :o)
From: "College Town" <collegetown"at"I-55.com> Hi everyone. I am so excited. I just saw the blue bird. I thought yesterday I had caught a glimpse of a bird flying close to the birdhouse and then just a few minutes ago I am saw one sitting on the fence. I have never noticed the blue birds before and I am very pleased to see that ya'll were right about them leaving for several days and then returning to continue the nest building. Between seeing the blue birds and awaiting the arrival of the hummingbirds in this area--spring is def. looking good!!! Have a great weekend!!!!!
From: "Lawrence Herbert" <lherbert"at"4state.com> My 12-year-old Eastern Bluebird trail is located in extreme southeastern Kansas, Cherokee County. I repaired it March 13 and 14 and already had three nests with no eggs. They usually don't begin building here historically until about the 25th of March. This trail usually fledges about 100 bluebirds (104 last year). Other birds singing included: Eastern Phoebe 4, Bewick's Wren 1, Field Sparrow 2. Looking forward to visiting with all of you. Good birding, Larry Herbert, Joplin, Jasper Co., Missouri.
From: "Emily Smith" <emilys7"at"earthlink.net> Just wanted to report that our EABL pair has commenced nest-building in our single nestbox as of yesterday! They had been hanging around and going in and out of it for weeks now, but with the erratic weather, we are so glad they didn't start any earlier. We are very excited and hoping for more success than last year. Last year we put up the box later and had a May/June nesting period with three nestlings but no fledglings. We had to go out of town during the nestling stage, and we think a snake may have gotten them, because when we got home, the nest was empty, but it was too soon for them to have fledged. We were crushed. We weren't very educated then and had the nestbox mounted on a tree. This year we have it on a pole with stovepipe snake guard. We are very lucky to have no HOSP, cats, or other predators (other than snakes) to deal with here in the woods of central NC. Cheers,
Date: Sun, 17 Mar 2002 12:41:53 -0800 (PST) where do ohio bluebirds winter and when do they return? i have just recently saw the first one this year.
From: "Phil Berry" <mrtony8"at"mchsi.com> Finally I have some good news this season. I just finished monitoring my trail. We have 11 completed, active nests, and NO eggs. I have been installing monofilament lines on all boxes due to the deaths of two bluebirds already this year. No casualties today, just nests. Progress report coming later. Phil Berry Gulf Breeze, Florida
Date: Sun, 17 Mar 2002 20:12:41 -0800 (PST) Hello all, =====
From: "Cameron" <ccscott"at"iland.net> today my first female blue came she has be here for two days now havent seen any nest stuff yet she is probly still checking stuff out i made a mealworm feeder and i have mealworms on the way. as of today i put on predator gards she is looking confused im kinda scared she wont fit i made the hole 1 1/2 inch like every one says but this is the fatest pair of blues ive ever seen wish me luck p.s. i live in sedalia missouri and cameron is my dads name mine is brandon scott
From: "Bill & Dot Forrester" <forreste"at"ptdprolog.net> Joe, I lived in the Lake Ontario snowbelt just across from Canada for many years, and have seen bluebirds eating berries from shrubs that were not completely covered with snow. I made a point of planting such shrubs around my yard. The best were midsize-to-tall yews, which have juicy red berries (if female). Second was privet, with black berries that cling all winter because birds don't seem to eat them until they're desperate. I have also seen bluebirds eating less desirable foods like dried-up rose hips from rugosa roses, withered elderberries and mountain ash berries, shriveled crabapples, and even leftover barberry fruits. The swamps behind us had assorted wild brushy shrubs which usually had pieces of dried fruits or berries remaining on them. Such plants seem to tide them over during brief periods of bad weather. Dot (now in PA near Allentown) After receiving about 2-3 inches of snow yesterday with some high winds I was surprised to look out the window this morning and perched on a branch a few feet away from a cardinal feeding at the feeder was a bluebird. First one this year. We are expected to get some more snow tomorrow. How do bluebirds manage in these conditions?
From: "The Sneidars" <annajul"at"uscyber.net> I'm near Amherst, VA. The bluebirds are hanging around the houses, but not started nestbuilding here yet. "Love is totally giving of myself to meet the needs of another without
expecting anything in return." - Nancy DeMoss Have not seen anyone with Bluebirds in Virginia.I am still waiting. Neal..........Danville, Va.
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 17:20:16 -0000 Hello All.... With the first day of spring rapidly approaching, I am
wondering if any group members would be interested in posting information about
the arrival of Bluebirds to their specific areas? I am relatively new to
Blubirding and I have been unable to find any migration/sightings sites on the
internet that specifically address the arrival dates for Bluebirds (only for
Hummingbirds). I live in the South Western part of Wisconsin and have noticed a
gradual increase in other bird populations ; but no Bluebirds as of today. I now
have 5 boxes set up just waiting to attract a Bluebird or two. If anyone has any
"arrival" information for my area of the country or any suggestions on
attracting the Bluebirds to my boxes, Please let me know ...I would really
appreciate their help.
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 11:44:46 -0600 Renee, >From: "ruby_tuesday_sw_wi" <ruby-tuesday"at"wi.rr.com> ...
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 18:20:41 -0000 --- In bluebirdtrail"at"y..., "Mary Beth Roen" <mbroen"at"h...> wrote: ... Thanks Mary...I will watch for your posting. I'll be so happy to see
these birds again... OH .. I can hardly wait for them to arrive!!! My very first
pair successfully fledged 4 little ones last year. However, I first got the box
erected around June 18th. I was so Lucky to be able to witness the whole process
and knew that one box would not be sufficient this year. I put up 5 boxes this
past weekend and am planning on erecting 2 more. These 2 are of the "slot"
design. Any experience with this kind of box?
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 12:57:42 -0600 Renee, >Thanks Mary...I will watch for your posting. I'll be so happy to ...
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 08:21:09 -0800 Portland, Oregon, USA Oh, How appropo! The first day of spring and "my" swallows have climbed the 700+ feet to my "trail" here at the university. Although I haven't seen any before this, I'm sure they've been in Oregon since the end of February or the first of March - they are really early arrivals - but they are slow to reach this level. They are usually seen in the morning, but as the day progresses they hightail it back down to the river. Right now, though, they are doing what I term "bad weather feeding". I can see them outside my office window skimming close into a grove of spruce trees. My guess is that insects hang out close to tree cover when the weather is inclement. *I* wouldn't call this inclement - it's not raining! But it is cold and foggy. Lunch time will be spent running around unplugging those boxes that managed to stay plugged during the winter. My heart's all a pitter-pat! -Marsie
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 18:43:42 -0800 (PST) Rob Yaksich Hi all - I visited Manzano Mtns State Park today, which is one of the Parks I'm assigned to. I checked on my 14 casas de aves (12 bluebird-style - 7 pole mounted, 5 hanging - and 2 owl houses). Nothing overly exciting to report other than a few "claim straws" in one house, and a few pairs of WEBLs bopping about. It's still too early at 7300' in elevation for nesting to occur, but it's encouraging to see them flying around and one house apparently claimed. Nothing in the owl houses yet, but the flammulated owls don't usually arrive until April sometime. The bears in this park will be of special nuisance concern, as it looks like we're going to have another bad bear year due to drought. We'll see. Last week, i had the awful surprise of finding a suicide victim in this park.
In fact, it was a week ago today. So today was much better, to say the very
least! =====
Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2002 07:20:41 EDT We're a bit more than an hour from Boston (that is, conventional wisdom and advertising says it's an hour, though it would be flying low!) The blues have been about off and on here since New Year's Day--in fact, one was singing this morning despite the snow! I notice he was back to his winter song, though. I had 4 boxes occupied by blues last year, three successful through both nestings, the fourth for one. Haleya, how far are you (in Amherst) from Boston? Rhonda Watts
Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2002 20:41:34 -0500 Mary, ----- Original Message ----- Renee, >Thanks Mary...I will watch for your posting. I'll be so happy to see
Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2002 22:53:59 -0800 (PST) >From Samuel S. Lewis State Park, I took advantage of the beautiful day, between yesterdays all day rain and tomorrows forcast cold (as I'm writing this it's ten hours later and almost forty degrees colder with a biting wind)to do a complete walk on the trail. Before I left my truck there was a male and female bluebird defending a box from a male house sparrow. There was no nest building by either species in the box. Two boxes down there was a house sparrow nest almost complete. I set a trap and continued on. There was little to no activity at the remaining twenty-nine boxes. A few had some grass and two with pine needles. I expected to have some activity from the Carolina chicadees by now. There were no house wrens or tree swallows present. The park was very quiet today, birds and otherwise.
The most abundant, or at least the most vocal of the
birds were chicadees, titmice, and cardinals. The best
bird sighting: yellow-bellied sapsucker. Best non-bird
sighting: many mourning cloak butterflies. As always,
a pretty nice hour and a half spent. I returned to the
trap box after my tour and bagged my first sparrow at
the park for the season. Won't my local raptor Until we meet again, =====
From: "Les Roslund" <Lroslund"at"bluecrab.org> The boxes of the Bluebird Trail at Pickering Creek Audubon Sanctuary near Easton, Maryland are beginning to show activity. As of March 21st, five of the boxes contained nest material. No eggs yet. This trail includes a total of 57 boxes. In the 2001 season, there were 47 nests which hatched 107 young. Most of the young successfully fledged. By the way - of the 300 or so subscribers to this list - I would like to hear from any that are located on the Maryland Eastern Shore - or located anywhere in Maryland for that matter. I am curious as to how well this area is represented amongst the active bluebirders of the country. Les Roslund
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 23:26:36 -0000 Mrs. Bluebird stopped building her nest(there are just a few blades of grass in the house.) Mr. & Mrs. are still around eating suet and mealworms and still seem to be checking out the house...what's up with that? MAD Folsom, CA (Sacramento County)
From: kj4cn"at"juno.com I checked my 13 nest boxes yesterday. Three completed bluebird nests, 1 brown-headed nuthatch and chickadee nest. No eggs yet, which is a good thing.....temp last night went down to 25 Fahrenheit. If I am using the HTML format would someone be kind enough to let me know. I think that I may be, but there isn't anyway that I can find to turn it off with JUNO as my service provider. If I am, to make some happy, and to protect myself from a virus I will remove my name from the list. Thanks,
From: Susan654"at"aol.com Hi All! >From 4 eggs, I have for certain 3 baby bluebirds. I could not see a What a delight! >From my calculations, I think Tuesday may be about day 12, so I wont be checking on them in the nest. But I will be watching closely, when I can, for the babies to fledge. Happy Bluebirding ! Susan Townsend
From: haroldrev"at"webtv.net (harold barker) Hey pauline and every one else in Texas and every on the Bluebird list i am happy to say i have my first Bluebird egg in my nestbox today on 3-23-02. Harold in Orange,Texas
Date: Sat, 23 Mar 2002 17:09:29 -0600 I have a pair of blues nesting in my yard and plan on checking tomorrow to see if the eggs have hatched. I do not see a lot of activity with the parents delivering food. I will keep you posted. Sharon
From: "Jenni Sofjan" <jennisof"at"houston.rr.com> There's a little blue egg in the nest! Never even saw a live bluebird till this past Feb., and here we may have a clutch of them hatch behind my house. Jennifer
From: "Shane and Emily Marcotte" <marcottesixx"at"hotmail.com> I put up a nestbox about a month ago and I now watch with great delight A beutiful pair of Eastern bluebirds as they tend to their nest and four eggs that will hatch between the 28th and 30th of March.I live in south Louisiana near Baton Rouge.Its quite warm here so I shouldnt have to worry about cold problems but I am really concerned about all the things that can go wrong.So far everything seems to be working out o. k and I am keeping a very watchful eye on things.Does any one know why the birds have sand and bits of gravel under the nest?Ive been trying to read and learn all I can about and from these magnificent creatures but havnt run across anything on the sand and all under the nest.I built a second box using the measurements from the first.Is it to late to erect it and still have new bluebirds come in and use it?Thanks for any help...............Shane Shane and Emily Marcotte
From: "george wagner" <bluebird44840"at"bright.net> In regard to early nestings, I am watching one of my pairs of EABLs build their fist nest of the season here in Ashland County, Ohio. It is Mar. 24th, and the temperature is 40 degrees. I also give my bluebirds mealworms. I started feeding them on Christmas Eve when I figured they were not going to migrate, so I might as well help! Val from Jeromesville, OH P.S. I also feed them raisins and bluebird treat in a plexiglass sided two-holed feeder. I know breeding season is upon us when the male starts feeding the female the mealworms.
From: "Allyson Gilcrease" <allycat8"at"bellsouth.net> Hi All! Am new here, but just wanted everyone to know that I have two bluebird nests, one with babies, one with eggs. I live in Carencro, which is just north of Lafayette. My box with eggs is in Opelousas, which is about 12 miles north of here, while the one with babies is here in Carencro. Sincerely,
From: "Dan Hanan" <danhan7"at"earthlink.net> Dan Hanan I ran my trail of 19 Bluebird nest boxes on Saturday. There was one nest with 3 babies (out of 4 eggs laid before the below freezing weather several weeks ago). Two boxes had 5 eggs each. Two others have nests nearly completed. Eight boxes are showing no activity at all. Two boxes have apparently abandoned nests. The rest have straws in them. My question is, is it unusual for nests to be abandoned this early in the season? One of my nest boxes has had a completed nest in it for 4 weeks and has not had any activity since. Another Titmouse nest, that was almost finished, has also apparently been abandoned for 4 weeks. Dan
Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 14:02:41 -0800 (PST) I was out Saturday, cleaning out my boxes, and box 31 and 39 had a small ring of dry grass like a bluebird would start to make. With the on-off cold-warm weather, I wonder if bluebirds started to make a nest. Anyone on the list in Ohio have signs of early nesting yet? Darrell Gammon
From: "Dottie, Hickory Hollow, Brown County, Indiana" <yumyumkatts"at"voyager.net> Discovered today that I have three BB boxes with partial nests. Looks like we are on our way--ready or not. Dottie, Hickory Hollow
From: "Nancy Van Note" <stormyspal"at"hotmail.com> Hi all, Went up to my trails yesterday and cleaned out wintered over boxes and generally made notes of repairs that had to be done. No signs of any early nestings yet but I did see some blues flying around so maybe they were waiting for me to clean house? Hopefully some activity will start soon. We are still getting 20 degree nights here so a little early yet. Good luck this year! Nancy ...
From: "Debra Steinhausser"at"" Darrell, ...
From: "Jim McLochlin" <bluebirdbox"at"cox.net> Just returned from my trail and all was I expected it would be, Quiet! Last weekend on the first day of spring we had six new inches of snow. Today the temp will get into the upper 50's. My trail had a few "winter" birds left on it, a few tree sparrows and some migrating waterfowl (canada geese (10), blue-winged teal (25), mallards (15) common goldeneye (3), bufflehead (1)). I saw/heard very few "breeding" birds. I saw just one robin and heard a couple more, heard a single red-bellied woodpecker, saw one chickadee and heard two more. Only the robin and the chickadee's were singing. I did see a red-tailed hawk. So you are probably thinking I was disappointed. No, not really. This is pretty normal for my trail this time of year. It is very early and any nesting activity would probably result in nest failures. I am hoping for the end of April to see things in full gear and then I too should have eggs to report I did take the opportunity to do a little more trail maintenance. I replaced one vandalized box and added two new Gilbertson PVC style boxes. I did see a first on my trail and it kind of worries me a little. I found about twenty paint balls (the ones used in the war games that are becoming popular) scattered around my trail. My trail is in a public park and I don't mind sharing the area with others, even for this purpose. My concerns is if the people doing this get bored and start shooting at other things, like nest boxes and birds. Jim McLochlin The Audubon Society of Omaha =
http://audubon-omaha.org/ You can send me an instant Message from Windows messenger to omahawebsol"at"cox.net
From: "judymellin" <judymellin"at"netzero.net> While I know that many of us own Living on the Wind, I will admit that it sat for a long time before I truly began reading it. It is so beautifully crafted that I'm sure I'll start all over again once I finish it! I just reached the section Northbound and couldn't resist passing on these wonderful words: The truth about migration is that birds are conjured from the soft April air of a Gulf Coast sky. The blue is rolled up to make indigo buntings and cerulean warblers (and certainly all species of bluebirds), the fog folds in on itself to birth gray catbirds and gnatcatchers, while the orange clouds at dusk give of themselves to create orioles. And the liquid gold of the afternoon sun is measured out, drop by precious drop, to form male prothonotary warblers. Once the sky is full to bursting with these new-made wonders, it lets them fall like snow on the land. Take heart- Spring Bird Count is only five weeks away! Judy Mellin
From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" <kridler"at"1starnet.com> We watched a couple of Tree Swallows today skimming a lake on strip mined
land. They do not nest near here yet but are truly wonderful flyers. Keith
From: "emcooper" <emcooper"at"bayou.com> I am really excited over three new EABL so far out of 5. This is day 13. Seems like the little ones did just fine in the 30 degree weather we had a few days ago. Looks like mama did a great job! I am restraining myself to not look again today and open the box as it is so windy. My trail is some kind of busy with Bluebird activity. Evelyn Cooper
Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 00:36:59 -0500 Hi all, Gina
From: "george wagner" <bluebird44840"at"bright.net> I just thought I'd share that the TRES are back in Jeromesville Ohio, Ashland County Ohio as of this morning (Mar. 29). I looked out my window and saw one on top of my EABL houses. Now I know that Spring is here! Val from OH
To: BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu (BLUEBIRD-L) Hi folks, Yesterday we had a lovely sunny day in the 50's . Bluebirds returned early morning to my front yard. There were at least 4 and some fighting was going on. What a racket they made, and I noticed a male doing the wing wave and trying to entice a female to a nest box I had put up a couple weeks ago. I am 280 feet plus back from my street so my front yard is good nesting sight. For the past three years I have had Bluebirds successfully nest in my back yard. Yesterday I put meal worms out near the front yard nest box and the male that was doing the wing wave and then he ate them. They stayed for hours then left. No female went to the box. This morning about 8 am a pair returned and were near the back yard so I put out a few meal worms back there as usual and the male ate them. He was not banded. So far the female seems to keep her distance. The male then flew to the front yard box and immediately flew down to the ground and picked up a fat juicy earth worm, he then flew up to the highest tree( banging the worm) I wondered was he trying to show the female he had something and was he trying to bring her closer? Any ways he then flew down from the tree out of my sight. He still is in the front yard as I write this. All of my nesting Bluebird parents and young have been banded over the years and I have had them return. It is always exciting to have them come back to the same box and yet to get new ones ! Last year the first Bluebird nest was completed by April 16th and the first egg laid on April 22nd. By April 25 there were only two eggs. The nest was abandoned. I cleaned out everything when they did not return. A pair returned May 11th and built a nest in the same nest box by May 24 and 5 eggs laid by June 1st. 50's temp during the day and 40's at night. It was a successful fledge of 5 bluebirds. No second nesting attempt. It sure is a joy to monitor them! Kathy Bennett
From: LRBPERF"at"aol.com Shawna B. NW NJ Zone 6 LAT.: 41.244n/ LONG: 74.555w Tree Swallows arrived this AM was very happy to see them, they are right on time for this part NJ, even though we have had and unusually WARM/DRY winter it did not bring the TS early, BB are just now thinking about nest building, wont be long till the nesting season is in full swing. YAHOOOOOOO
Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 14:32:40 -0800 (PST) From Samuel S. Lewis State Park, What a difference a week makes! The entrance field was full of robins. There was no activity at the first pair of boxes, house sparrow or bluebird. The second pair, where I trapped a sparrow last week, showed no activity. The next box had a male bluebird perched on top and the following pair had a female. Neither sites had any nest building. I thought I caught a glimpse of a tree swallow but that quick it was gone. The interior of the park, where I usually find house wrens and Carolina chickadees, still showed no signs of activity. Coming into the exit field was like stepping into spring. A small squadron of tree swallows escorted me through the entire area. They dove and twittered constantly, except for short breaks to perch on every nestbox. There is pretty stiff competition between the bluebirds and tree swallows in this area. At the furthest box I found a pair of boxes with house sparrow nests in both boxes. Setting a trap in both boxes I continued on. Before I got to the next box I saw the sparrow enter. The next two boxes had tree swallows on top. A pair of bluebirds were on the utility wire above the last box in the field. In the box I found the first bluebird nest for the season. No eggs yet, but it’s almost a month earlier than the first nest last year. This box fledged fifteen bluebirds last year and eight the year before. More birds were heard than seen. Two of those were eastern towhee and northern oriole or maybe just a darn good mockingbird. I trust my eyes better than my ears. I returned to the trap box and removed a house sparrow. I removed both traps and tied monofilament on one of the boxes. This is my first attempt with this technique. I haven’t decided whether or not to add it to the box with the bluebirds. I may try after they lay eggs. My best to you all, =====
Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 20:17:42 EDT The tree swallows (at least one) arrived in Wilton, N.H., this morning! I got dive-bombed when I took the horses in at 7.20 A.M. Nice to have them back! Rhonda Watts
To: BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu (BLUEBIRD-L) Hi, The male Bluebird that had the earthworm this morning finally attracted a
female to a nest box that was on the side of my property line. Interesting thing
is that it wasn't the box he was going in and out of this morning. This time she
was going in and out of the box while he chattered at her and fluttered his
wings. For the past two years TRES have nested in the nest box they were visiting. Kathy Bennett
From: "Norrie Franko" <nfranko"at"vaxxine.com> Hi All, Happy Easter Norrie
From: Brucemac1"at"aol.com In a Message dated 3/31/02 11:11:04 AM Eastern Standard Time, > Subj:Tree Swallows in Ontario I'm also near Lake Erie, but much farther West, just south of Detroit. I saw
my 1st Tree Swallow (TRES) of the year just this morning. Very early Bruce SW Ontario > ...
From: "Norrie Franko" <nfranko"at"vaxxine.com> Hi Judy, Bruce and all, Norrie
From: "Fawzi P. Emad" <femad"at"comcast.net> Norrie, I wish you good luck! Though I have had Bluebirds all year, it is still cold here, and I don't expect nests till about two weeks from now. The Juncos are still around, meaning winter is still in the air. Soon I will miss the cheerful Juncos, but I can then welcome Spring and Bluebirds nesting again... Fawzi Fawzi Emad in Laytonsville, Maryland ----- Original Message ----- > Hi Judy, Bruce and all,
From: "Gretchen Hughes" <lghughes"at"
joink.com
> Good morning everyone, \ From: "Gretchen Hughes" <lghughes"at"
joink.com
> OOps!!!!
From: "Lee & Jim Johnson" <mybuffy1"at"mindspring.com> Hello All,
From: "Emily Smith" <emilys7"at"earthlink.net> I just knew there would be a pretty blue egg in our nestbox tonight, and "Mrs. Blue" didn't disappoint! I saw her head out of the box (under "Mr. Blue's" guard in the nearby tree) this morning while I was ironing my clothes for work, and I felt sure she had been there laying an egg. Hurrah! She started building the nest on 3/15, so I've been waiting/monitoring expectantly since then. She is a bit slow to get started laying, perhaps because of very erratic weather (first hot, then cold, then warm, then cool) here in NC lately. Cheers to all,
From: "Joe Schultz" <joschultz"at"hotmail.com> Joe Schultz
From: "Karen Harder" <karenh"at"praxisworks.org> After writing a few days ago about the disappearance of my Bluebirds, of course they returned the very next day. (If *that's all it takes to get Bluebirds to come...!) Anyway, this morning Mr. and Mrs. were doing their first serious investigating of my paired houses. He went into one, and she perched on the outside of the entrance hole. They stayed that way for 3 or 4 minutes. And they've been perching on the boxes off and on all morning for their preening and insect hunting. And now a mail Tree Swallow has just shown up -- the *first of the season*! A pair of TRES nested in one of these boxes last year, so maybe it's the same bird. I didn't get the boxes up last year in time for the Bluebirds, so one box remained empty. Maybe this year the pairing will work and I'll have both Bluebirds and Tree Swallows nesting! How glorious that would be! Karen Harder -- Cape Porpoise, Maine
Subject: First egg on my trail in Indiana! Hi all, Just checked a box on my trail and had one pretty little blue egg! The bb pair had the nest completed a week ago. Swallows arrived about two weeks ago. Have about three other bb pairs checking out other boxes. Successful box is a peterson mounted about five feet off ground. Bill Morgan
From: Shane Marcotte <marco50"at"bellsouth.net> Hello All,
From: "H. Lee Banks" <hleebanks"at"coastalnet.com> Greetings, I am located on the coast of NC, about 3/4 of a mile from
the inland waterway near Swansboro and the back gate of Camp LeJeune Marine
Base. H.Lee banks
From: "Karen Harder" <karenh"at"praxisworks.org> ----- Original Message ----- > Karen, ... Hi Bruce-- I certainly enjoyed having the Tree Swallows last year, but I was crushed that I didn't have Bluebirds. I'm so hoping for both this year. Today the Tree Swallow never showed up, but the Blues were here several times. Here's hoping! None of yours are showing any signs of nesting yet, are they? Karen Harder -- Cape Porpoise, Maine
From: Shane Marcotte <marco50"at"bellsouth.net> Hi Everyone,
From: "Dan Smith" <asmithfamily"at"attbi.com> Here is an interesting scenario, I have one pair that nests early every year: 2/28/02 - First egg There were freezing temperatures again later in March, but I didn't think they were severe. No sign of predators and I have a guard and greased pole. Any experience like this? Any theories? Kind regards,
From: Susan654"at"aol.com Hello all.. I was gone for 4 days over the Easter weekend and when I returned there was only one baby left in the nest. I though perhaps they would fledge while I was gone and apparently that is what happened. I waited 2 days to check on the other one and she/he is now gone also. It would have been a great experience to have seen them on their first flight. Now, I have no bluebirds in sight. Hopefully, they all made it and are doing well! I have two other nestboxes up. One seems to have the beginnings of a nest...with several pieces of grass weaved in a circle at the bottom. But it has been there for several days with no further nest building noted. nevertheless, it was a great First bluebird experience! Susan Townsend
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2002 11:47:23 -0800 (PST) Hello all, Well, I was hoping that she would wait two more days but she didn't. A first
egg appeared in a nestbox on my Illinois trail today. It is the second EABL nest
with eggs in it here. The other nest had a first egg on March 27th and saw
relatively moderate night time temperatures during the egg laying time period.
This most recent first egg will see a night time low of 27 degrees tonight. It
is predicted that the weather will get progressively warmer as we approach the
weekend. Question is: is this first egg doomed at 27 degrees?. Have a good day Bob Sitarski a.k.a The Doctor Jackson County Indiana ( 385244N 086023W ) & Clay County Illinois ( 384008N 0882908W )
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2002 13:18:08 -0800 (PST) Hello all, I have Reports from my Indiana trail that first EABL eggs began appearing on April 2nd. Same scenario there, cold temps and the incubation process hasn't begun. Speaking of Indiana, I have a neighbor over there whose husband had good success with purple martins; unfortunately he passed away 3 years ago. The purple martin houses (5 of them) quickly became HOSP and EUST slums. I've talked to the widow several times, she must be at least 80 years old, about giving me the boxes to take care of. She said that she knew that HOSP and EUST were "bad birds" but said that her daughter wanted the boxes. I offered to take them down for her until her daughter came and got them. I believe that maybe she was quite intimidated by me so she said no. A month later, the houses now filled with HOSP and EUST, I stopped in again. She said that her daughter didn't want them so I could have them for $40 apiece. I never thought that I could get so mad at another person about a bird issue. It seems that greed became more important. The purple martin houses are still up with all of the HOSP and EUST. Obviously she thinks that she can wait me out. Recent posts about killing cats, robins, mockers etc. show a complete
disregard for life. Reading those posts took me to even higher levels of mad. I
really think it is sad. Have a good day Bob Sitarski a.k.a The Doctor Jackson County Indiana ( 385244N 086023W ) & Clay County Illinois ( 384008N 0882908W )
From: "Norrie Franko" <nfranko"at"vaxxine.com> Hi All,
From: "Mary Beth Roen" <mbroen"at"hotmail.com> The Eastern Bluebirds have arrived in Western Wisconsin! My sister-in-law gave me an unconfirmed sighting of one at a box along the road on Thursday, April 4, but I got up this morning to the cheery sound of EABL singing. He was sitting on the eave of the house outside my living room window, and the melody filled the room, even with closed windows! I then saw him fly to the nestbox in my back yard and he went in briefly. Since there is still snow on the ground here, I will get an order for mealworms called in ASAP. I did walk my trail of 26 boxes yesterday (with boots for the snow!) and everything seems ready. I had mice in two of my boxes, so I will have to add some more hardware cloth to the areas they snuck through. When I emptied one box, the mouse came right back to the post, climbed up through the stovepipe baffle, and squeezed it's head and part of his body through a very small gap in the hardware cloth, until it saw me and pulled back. It's no wonder they get in so many places that they are not wanted! Mary Roen, River Falls, WI
From: Kdye1"at"aol.com I'm new to the list, so will probably ask some dumb questions. I checked my nest box the other yesterday and found a beautiful nest built already, no eggs. Isn't this early? Do they build the nest early and then wait until the weather is suitable or what? I put up another homemade nest box, designed like the Wood Link brand, and there looks like the start of a nest, but perhaps abandoned or not finished? As I am gardening, cleaning up leaves, turning over soil they are waiting and the minute I leave the area, swoop down looking for food. Thanks for any comments.
From: Shane Marcotte <marco50"at"bellsouth.net> Hello,
From: "Mary Beth Roen" <mbroen"at"hotmail.com> Good Morning Everyone, The Eastern Bluebirds have arrived in Western Wisconsin! My sister-in-law gave me an unconfirmed sighting of one at a box along the road on Thursday, April 4, but I got up this morning to the cheery sound of EABL singing. He was sitting on the eave of the house outside my living room window, and the melody filled the room, even with closed windows! I then saw him fly to the nestbox in my back yard and he went in briefly. Since there is still snow on the ground here, I will get an order for mealworms called in ASAP. I did walk my trail of 26 boxes yesterday (with boots for the snow!) and
everything seems ready. I had mice in two of my boxes, so I will have to add
some more hardware cloth to the areas they snuck through. When I emptied one
box, the mouse came right back to the post, climbed up through the stovepipe
baffle, and squeezed it's head and part of his body through a very small gap in
the hardware cloth, until it saw me and pulled back. It's no wonder they Mary Roen, River Falls, WI
Date: Sun, 7 Apr 2002 18:35:03 -0700 (PDT) Hello all, Beginning Wednesday and ending today I had some time to check the nestbox trails in Indiana and Illinois. Even though I only have 37 nestboxes they are spread 150 miles apart so it's tough to inspect them all. In addition, my mom had some health problems this weekend so I spent a considerable amount of time with Ma, a # of doctors and two hospitals.Ma is much improved tonighti but still has a way to go. It was soothing walking the trail. Final count; nine nestboxes with Bluebird eggs. In addition, Two full EABL nests built and one partial nest. Only one partial HOSP nest. Two EABL pairs near the nestboxes have opted for natural cavities. One female is incubating four eggs and I will check the other natural cavity when I return to Illinois this week. Eleven active EABL nests simultaneously is the most I have seen on my young trail. To my surprise no TRES, CACH or HOWR yet although I often see them checking
out the nestboxes. An Update on a recent post: I talked about a male Blue that
was being tolerated at a feeder that was claimed by a nesting pair oof Blues.
Today that male Blue ventured too close to another mealie feeder which is in the
territory of another nesting EABL pair. He was rejected immediately by the
territorial pair...the battle was quite intense and I did not see him the rest
of the day. Have a good day Bob Sitarski a.k.a The Doctor Jackson County Indiana ( 385244N 086023W ) & Clay County Illinois ( 384008N 0882908W )
Date: Sun, 7 Apr 2002 19:08:07 -0700 (PDT) From Samuel S. Lewis State Park, The boxes we put up yesterday already caught the attention of two tree swallows. Throughout the entrance field there were only a few tree swallows present and a pair of bluebirds. They were more interested in feeding than nesting. The interior of the park still shows no nesting activity. Earlier in the week I saw a Carolina chickadee at one of the boxes. The exit field had quite a few tree swallows but the only nest is one box with an as of yet unidentified nest. I had trapped a house sparrow in this box a week ago but the only birds I’ve seen near the box have been a male bluebird and a chipping sparrow hunting partner. It followed the bluebird around the entire time I could see them. Last weeks completed bluebird nest now holds four eggs. This is three weeks earlier than last years’ first eggs. No bluebirds in sight. With only three more boxes to go we finally found a box with the start of a chickadee nest, amongst a small grove of white pine. Climbing the hill towards the kite flying area brought us a box with a bluebird nest made entirely with pine needles. On the way home from the park we saw a northern harrier. We watched it sail
across the field at only a few feet in altitude. Three times it hovered, dropped
and came up empty before it was out of sight. Hope you all had a great day too, =====
Date: Sun, 7 Apr 2002 21:33:43 -0700 (PDT) Rob Yaksich Hi all - I made it up to one of my State Parks today to check on my trail for the first official time this season. We finally got some rain here overnight and throughout the day, but up at over 7,000, I ended up getting pelted with ice. Quite the thunderstorm. I can't recall a time when I've watched ice turn to snow and heard thunder. Veeeerrrrry cool. While the weather was calm and sunny, I checked mi casitas. Of my 12 blubird houses, 2 had half-completed nests, 2 had claim straws, and the rest were empty. All the nesting activity is in houses mounted on poles. None of my hanging houses were touched, yet. And I'm rather nervous about those houses too as I have several elderly people who want to volunteer as monitors. So I may unhang them and do a telescoping pole mount. I want them nice and high off the ground to discourage bears, which will likely be a pain in my git-along all sumer. Two owl houses had no evidence of any use, but it's still a bit early for the flammulated owls to be back (at least I think so). Plus, this habitat is mostly young ponderosa pine with alligator juniper and Gambel's oak, so it's not ideal flam habitat. I just need to find a better way to examine these houses. I used a telescoping pole with a mechanics mirror velcroed to one end, and managed to pop the hooks on the roof to take a look. Now, I can't get the hooks back through the eyes! Always something. All in all, a good day at the park. AND THANK GOD FOR THE RAIN!!!!!!! =====
Date: Mon, 08 Apr 2002 15:17:56 -0000 Our Bluebird babies were hatched late yesterday and last night. This morning there were five little bitty babies in the nest. This is several days earlier than our first last year. Good luck to everyone in this new nesting season. Jeanette in MS
From: "Jacque Turner" <turner"at"texasisp.com> Tuesday, April 9, 2002 My oldest son and I went out to check on boxes today. This is what we found. 1. Box with seven titmouse eggs has, for sure, 6 babies hatched and probably 7. It was hard to tell in that little cupped nest. Mama was ready for us to leave, so we did. The nest of this house was a neat little cupped shape. This is a Peterson style box. 2. Chickadee size house tucked way back into oak ticket and brier patch has at least 5 wren babies. I believe they are HOWR. Have learned these smaller houses are hard to look into and monitor. 3. Another box with titmice babies gave us a full show of seven gaping mouths when their mom came up fussing at us. This titmouse nest is totally different than the other box of titmice. But then again it is also a different type of box. The whole bottom section of this box is squared off with nesting material, and a small soft cup. Now I'm wondering if one nest could be by Black-Crested Titmice and the other a Tufted Titmice nest. I will pay more attention on my next outing and try to get a more educated look at these birds. 4. Two boxes had the makings of a HOSP, but no eggs. Traps will be installed this weekend, when I can hang around and monitor the little darlings. 5. One other small chickadee size house placed amongst small oak thicket and briers contains a wren nest and Luke counted 3 small eggs, but hard to tell, maybe there were more. 6. Claim grass in four more boxes. 7. Several boxes had nothing but one or two yellowjackets (wasp). I have used Ivory soap to coat the ceiling of the boxes, but the yellowjackets are locating other spots within the box or on the bottom of the box. 8. Trying to look in natural cavity of EABLs was unsuccessful. I did purchase a mechanics mirror, but when I got up to the stump it was a good six foot tall at the hole, not five as I had originally thought. First time I walked out there today, I had forgotten my small flashlight to shine in the mirror. The second time I walked out there, there was a whole host of different types of birds chattering in the three trees surrounding this stump where the natural cavity is. Thought all the birds were upset with me, and was sure that some of the chattering was coming from parent EABLs, but could not make them out anywhere. Tried again to look into hole with mirror and flashlight, but it was just too tall and the sun was just in the right direction to be glaring into my eyes right where I was trying to look. My fourteen-year-old son had taken my seven-year-old across the pasture via four wheeler to his dad so he could go to baseball practice. Luke came back and parked the four wheeler on the road and walked out to where I was to try to get a look at the baby EABLs also. As he got close to me, he went to speaking in some foreign tongue (not really, but kind of sounded like it) and went flying backwards a long distance after he had a Diamondback Rattlesnake strike at him. I had walked the same path and had my head up focused on the chattering birds. Let this be a lesson for me - right! Obviously, chattering is not always for the person, but possibly for the snake they have spotted from above. It has been our experience with rattlesnakes, that when you find one, there is almost a 100% chance you will see a second one in that same spot within a day, and usually lying beside the one you killed the day before! We have an abundance of Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes in our county, and they are definitely not welcomed, especially when we'll be moving out there and my boys have turned into true country boys, running around everywhere. It's always good, I think, to get this type of warning to keep you on your toes. This snake was about 2 feet long and very healthy looking. He had 3 tiny little buttons on his tail. If he had rattled to warn us, we never would have heard him. I have asked before about snakes in the traps and whether anyone has ever caught a poisonous snake. Do you think this stump is a candidate for a snake trap? Can this even be done on a stump? A tangled rattlesnake is not a pretty vision in my mind, and this girl would certainly not practice the catch and release system in this situation. Please reply if you have experienced thoughts here. I don't know if these baby EABLs are close to fledging or what size they are. Saw EABLs several times perched high several different places today, but I think it was the same pair. By this time, don't you think the nest building spots have been established? Is it possible I might get another pair of blues this breeding season? Or is it a pretty for sure thing that this will be my only pair? Just wondering. Jacque Turner
From: "BONNIE A. YEAGER" <dement"at"frognet.net> Hello Bluebird People, Well, spring has sprung in SE OH. I can report one bluebird nest is just about completed and I am expecting the first egg any day now. No signs in the other nest 6 boxes yet. Three of the nest boxes are new this year and the others are old wooden ones that are usually inhabited by sparrows. Don't have a sparrow problem and wouldn't worry if I did. Bluebirds need to adapt by becoming more aggressive, otherwise they won't survive if we aren't here to protect them. You can't trap or kill all of the sparrows in the USA - there must be 1,000,000,0003D 1 billion3D 1000 million - and as fast as you trap them or kill them, they will be replaced. That is the way the system works. So, what's the point! The female bluebird just finished topping off her nest with mane hairs from one of my horses. The hair came from Whizzer. Whizzer is a 16 hand, 3-year-old black and white Tobiano Tennessee Walking horse. She was born on the farm. We called her Whizzer because after she was born she couldn't seem to get her feet under her and just whizzed around the barn on her side. The hair in the nest box is white - so I am sure it is from Whizzer since I just combed her out a few days ago and Whizzer has a white mane. I'm not sure that horse mane hair in the nest is a good thing because the hair from a horse's mane is strong and long and can easily entangle a bird. I know this can happen, because many years ago I had to unwrap a young barn swallow that had been entangled in horse mane hair. Saw my first barn swallow today - can summer be far away! Last week we shipped three of our ladies (mares) to FL. They got a good home and the people were thrilled to have them. The other horses got good homes in MI, CA, and UT. Now we only have three horses on the ranch - that is a far cry from 20 a few years ago, but we are getting older and just had to reduce the work. We are not expecting any foals this spring so life won't be quite as exciting as it has been the past years 20 years. Nothing like a new born foal, or two, or three, or four, etc. to get you in touch with Nature. Just finished planting my spinach. The blueberries bushes, Forsythia, Lilac are starting to leaf out and the apple trees are starting to blossom. The daffodils are getting old, but they still have blossoms. Won't be long until I cut some fresh asparagus and the dogwoods are in bloom. My God, it is a long, long time from September to April!
Fred Yeager, SE, OH
From: "Lawrence Herbert" <lherbert"at"4state.com> My 30 box Eastern Bluebird trail is in extreme se KS, Cherokee County, east of Baxter Springs, KS> I have 18 active nests. First ones to hatch this year did so yesterday, April 9. Waited to check them when the weather warmed up since I knew there would be a lot of bluebirds in the incubation stage. Good birding, Larry H.
From: haroldrev"at"webtv.net (harold barker) Four out of five eggs have hatched. I have four pretty little Bluebirds. Harold in Orange Texas
From: "Norrie Franko" <nfranko"at"vaxxine.com> Hi All, Here in Dunnville we have the heavy artillery ready for the house sparrow attack. I hate to say how much money went into the electromagnet trap boxes... I've yet to see a sparrow enter one! You have to laugh. Where did the sparrows go? Did we just plain scare them away? It is early yet here for nesting but there have been many tree swallows checking out the boxes so I know we'll have occupants for all these houses we built. I haven't seen a blue bird here since Easter Sunday, I'm still hoping. Sad news I found a dead brown creeper by the garage window, I hadn't seen one before. It won't go to waste, Glenn will use it for a study skin, he is well know in the carving world. He is currently carving a couple of warblers, they are so cute and a change from birds of prey and ducks. Have a great day. Norrie
Date: Mon, 08 Apr 2002 15:17:56 -0000
From: "Kromel, Terri" <tkromel"at"state.pa.us> My backyard is not "prime" bluebird habitat as we commonly think of it. I have a lot of trees and minimal open space, however Eastern Bluebirds have chosen one of my boxes, located in my rose garden, which itself is in the most open space I have in the yard. This garden faces my neighbors large open field! After living in this house for three years now, it looks like I'll finally have a pair in my own yard instead of having to depend on my neighbors nesting success for all the excitement! These eastern blues started building the nest during the week of March 10. The first egg was laid Thursday April 4 and as of last night she has six. The nest is completely made of dried pine needles. Terri Kromel
From: Afinechef"at"aol.com From: Donna in Central CT. Hi All, We're enjoying some "warm" (60s-70s) weather here in Connecticut-it's very welcome. The bluebirds are enjoying it as well, as a bluebird pair has started making a nest in one of my NABs type boxes just today! What a joy to see them working together. He's guarding the nest for all he's worth, and wing-waving her back when she's returning from collecting nesting material from the woods. I'm also thrilled to have white-breasted nuthatches nesting in another of my bluebird boxes (about 75 feet from the one the bluebirds are using). The nest is so cute; it's made of small wood chips, some twigs, and soft fur in the nest cup. No eggs that I can see yet, but Mrs. Nuthatch was sitting on the nest at sunset last night, so maybe she's starting to lay. Also, I have had a pair of mallards on my pond since March 15th. They are also beautiful to watch. They come into my backyard for corn, and yesterday they didn't fly back into the pond when I went outside to feed them! I hope they are getting used to me. Mr. Pileated spent hours in our trees today. He's a spectacular sight, being in full Spring regalia. Questions: Thanks to all,
Date: Sun, 14 Apr 2002 01:39:05 -0700 (PDT) Greetings, =====
From: "Bruce Burdett" <blueburd"at"srnet.com> Terry,
From: "Emily Smith" <emilys7"at"earthlink.net> Hi all, It's gorgeous here this weekend in central NC -- close to 80 degrees with sun, and supposed to be a very warm week with highs of 80+ most of the week. Our bluebird eggs are due to hatch this week, so the babies will stay plenty warm! We also have a darling pair of Carolina wrens in the yard, who have just this week built a nest in the end of a long length of 4" dia. PVC pipe in my husband's open-sided woodbin. Seems a good place for their side-entry nests as it will be completely protected from rain, sun, etc. We're looking forward to seeing if they actually lay in the nest and if we end up with baby wrens in addition to baby blues. Should be fun. The first male ruby-throated hummingbird of the season arrived at our feeder on Friday late afternoon. We hastily made some nectar and have been seeing him visit all weekend! Gotta love springtime! The best news of the weekend is that we finally washed our windows, inside and out, yesterday. What a different this makes!! Now we can actually tell what birds we have outside without the use of binoculars! ;-) Hope everyone else is having a great spring weekend too. I know it's not so nice everywhere yet, but it will come! Emily ----- Original Message ----- ...
From: "Gretchen Hughes" <lghughes"at"
joink.com
> Hello All--
Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 09:29:03 -0700 (PDT) Rob Yaksich Hi all - I chekced my 14 houses at Manzano yesterday, and am pleased to
report 4 complete nests, but no egg laying activity yet. I was distressed to
find a large wasp in one of the houses with a complete nest, so I hope I got
her. Is there anything I can put in my monitor's ditty bag (other than sting
ointment) to So far, only the houses mounted on posts are showing any activity. None of the hanging houses are yet, but that may be more a function of habitat. One nest is very unique. It comprised of lots of shredded juniper bark. The other nests are overwhelmingly grasses, but this one is predominantly bark. Another has several flicker feathers in it. That's a first for my trail. All of them appear to be WEBL nests. No evidence of bear visits yet, and neither of the owl houses are showing any
activity. =====
From: "Dottie, Hickory Hollow, Brown County, Indiana" <yumyumkatts"at"voyager.net> The Helmsburg BB box has a full nest and still no eggs. Mom BB was sitting on her five eggs at the Cottonwood box so I left her alone. I could see her head thru the hole. She ducked down when she saw me. I figured she was raised up so she could get a little air. Hot here today. Then checked my other BB boxes here at my house. I have five BB eggs in one (Peterson) and full nests in three others. A total of ten BB eggs so far for the first nesting. Dottie, Hickory Hollow
From: abitabar"at"bellsouth.net My 2 boxes with 5 eggs each are full of sleepy babies. When my Mom comes to visit in 3 days, I will check the boxes again so she can see the baby blue birds. I also discovered a mourning dove nest on a pine tree limb 30 ft from our back window yesterday. The 2 babies in the nest look very mature, so they will probably fledge soon. How did we not see this nest sooner?!!! And, our veggie garden has the first tiny tomato and zucchini starting to grow. I guess I'll be able to "fledge" those edibles soon. Ah, spring Barbara, Abita Springs, LA
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2002 04:30:40 -0700 (PDT) From Samuel S. Lewis State Park, Plenty of birds but little nest building. Carolina chickadees have four nests started, two with moss, one with moss and ribbons of plant fiber, and one with fur lining ready for eggs. Thankfully none have attempted to build on wren corner yet this year. The chickadees are the only nesters that compete with the wrens at the park. The two boxes in the wooded areas have no activity, I was hoping the chickadees or other forest dwellers would use these boxes to escape the wrath of the wrens. No house wrens have been sighted. Eastern bluebirds have four nests started. One seems complete with only four eggs. I believe they have started to incubate but the parents are not seen in the nest or in the area as much as I would expect. I identified another nest from last week as bluebirds. Male and female both very active at the box. There should be afew more eggs before my next check. The tree swallows should also start nest building soon. They are getting defensive around many boxes. I removed Four house sparrow nests but only removed three birds. I spent a lot of time with return trips to the park. Trapping gets a little riskier as the EABL and TRES begin to nest in earnest. I got an earlier start with trapping this year so I hope to have their numbers down before then. Other points of interest: cherry trees are in bloom, butterflies are abundant, tiger and zebra swallow-tails were among the many smaller butterflies. 'til next time,
Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 11:47:23 -0400 I'm sooooooooooooo excited! The tree swallows (TRES) have re-claimed their old box. For those who didn't follow this last year, I have a non-conforming habitat for tree swallows, to wit - a patch of open lawn in a largely wooded area. Last year to my great surprise, a pair of TRES, with a first-year female, decided to nest there. I saw them first on May 3, so they're early this year, possibly because of the warm weather we've been having. It was in the 90s here yesterday. Their nesting attempt survived the attack of a house wren (they lost two eggs but saved three and reared three nestlings, all of whom fledged gloriously). Of course I can't be sure it's the same pair as last year, but I would bet almost anything it is, since this is, as I have mentioned, a non-conforming habitat which would not normally attract TRES. I was certain they would find a more open nesting place this year, being older and more experienced, and possibly higher in the pecking order, but this morning when I went out to examine my Gilbertson box, which a pair of black-capped chickadees have been inspecting for the past several days, there was Mrs. TRES in her old box, while Mr. TRES kept guard from a dead branch at the top of the maple tree - his favorite perch last year. Of course there's no guarantee they'll actually nest here - they may yet find something better and TRES often take a long time to actually make up their minds and start a nest. But meanwhile, here they are. And no signs of the house wren yet. --
From: "greenacres001" <greenacres001"at"msn.com> There is a bluebird God. Right inside each bluebird, I think. Tonight, after a long day of snow like tiny cotton balls, monofilament installations and removals, fretting over every house sparrow and black-billed magpie that entered my western bluebird's domain, I went out on the deck at near-dark to look, hopefully but not optimistically, at the bluebird house that has successfully housed probably 60 babies over the last 6 years. Here in northern Nevada, and perhaps this is their M.O. all over, but here, the bluebirds say the very last "Goodnight moon," second only to the American robins, which tonight were singing around Jacks Valley where I live in the desert, which catches sounds like a bowl. I listened to their chorus for a while and tried to spot the awesome planet line-up we are witnessing now, and then a flutey bluebird twitter. Not the "here i am," call, but different. I had to use my binoculars to see the pair, there in the dark by the nestbox, sitting and looking at the entry hole has they have off and on all day, vexing me with that tentativeness. I looked away for a moment at the planets, so humbling, and then, the male bluebird was gone! It was cold and I'd been hoping they'd find a warm place for the night. The female was there, alone on my kids' old playhouse skeleton, where the birdhouse is hung, and then I saw something at the entry door of "their" house. Couldn't make it out, feared it was a you-know-what, but all at once, she went to the hole and slipped in! I knew her mate was in there already and it was like that feeling you have when your kids are fed, bathed and in bed asleep for the night. The planets were gorgeous -- all five of them lined up just for me! I have always struggled to describe bluebirds in my writing, using words like "ephemeral," "angelic," "ethereal" ... I know what you all feel about these birds and why they deserve our protection. Just remember, there is a bluebird god that looks over them, it's not all on your shoulders ... Linda Hiller in northern Nevada
Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2002 10:39:42 -0500 Good to hear from Wisconsin "folk" as this is my second year with nestboxes and Bluebirds nesting. I had lots of activity last Saturday morning and sighted my first pairs at several boxes. The tree swallows were everywhere too, and I could see birds at all of my 7 boxes which are by the way visible from my windows. After that beautiful day I have not seen the blues at all. The swallows are still around though not active, but hey, maybe they all know better. Snow is expected again today with a winter storm advisory in affect. In spite of what I observed last year with at least one successful brood that I watched from start to finish I can't really remember what to expect. We will see what nature does, and enjoy watching it fully. (I look forward to warm weather to enjoy the front porch with my morning coffee and birds all around).
From: "Cameron" <cscott5"at"charter.net> the tree swallows are here at Missouri
Date: Mon, 22 Apr 2002 18:02:19 -0000 Well, Keep me informed. My email for bluebird correspondence is: I just saw the blue near the box early this morning. I checked the box this afternoon. There is a nest inside!!! If I had not seen something faintly with the binocs slide in after she went in I would have thought the sparrow had started in the box!! She seems to be using thick but soft grassy like weed stems. Some leaves also
in the box. Cup is forming but seems to have Just started hailing and the hs pair at the front of yard came to the trap box at garage side. I got so excited I ran out and instead of getting the larger clear bags grabbed a while bag for tiny cans. Before I got the top closed off he escaped!!! After he so bully like shoved the female off so he could get inside out of the hail first!!! Man those things aren't even good to their own mates when hail hits!!! I hope he won't be too smart to go in agian and get trapped. I don't want any problems with the bb nest at the back of the yard. keep me in touch on yours and I will let you know if the blues finish the nest at the fence/gate.
Date: Mon, 22 Apr 2002 18:15:33 -0000 Oh, oh.....today I saw her at entrance, head turning back and forth poking in and out over and over again then after she went in I thought I saw something golden slip in the hole like a kid slurps a spagetti noodle in their mouth!!!! Grabbed the binoculars and sure enough it was the end of a yellowed grassy stuff disappearing inside!!! And Betsyblue was inside the box! Waited and watched.... she left toward the field behind...saw blue blobs from bush to ground several times. Both were out there halfway out in the field. They did not keep coming back and since I saw a sparrow in front half yard I went out to set trap in front box and peeked in the bb box at fence/gate....there is a nest.....circle for cup forming but no real bottom yet! I just looked Sat night and nothing.... NOW a nest!! YIPPEEEE looks like neighbors box lost this year....they will be mine!!!! Set up my sons lap top here at kitchen table and am watching the trap box at the front of yard on garage. Going to get that sparrow pair before they check out the box Betsy claimed and is building in. Can't see her box from here (its around the corner of garage. I guess I need to go check out the sink window to see both boxes but my feet are killing me with the weather today. Hail right now!
To: BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu (BLUEBIRD-L) Hi folks, Saturday I looked in a nest box that a pair of Bluebirds were checking out and when they left I looked in the nest box to find a female Tufted Titmouse on a nest! She flew off and I counted three eggs. They were cold. So she must of been laying. The pair come to my feeders daily. What a surprise to me as I watch this nest box from my deck daily and to think I missed all of it. I know that they are very secretive when it comes to building a nest as I have had them nest before.Unfortunately that 7 egg nesting attempt was destroyed by Wrens. The male Bluebird that has been singing for a mate to come, has attracted one. This morning at 8am it was 30 degrees!And it will only be in the mid 40's today. BURRRRRRR! We had a dusting of snow. Kathy Bennett
Date: Mon, 22 Apr 2002 06:29:51 -0700 (PDT) From Samuel S. Lewis State Park, The Carolina chickadees have been busy this week; going from four nests to
seven. No eggs as of yet but two nests seem ready to accept eggs. One started
working at the new boxes in the wooded area and another started in wren corner.
Keep your fingers I expected to find some nesting activity from the tree swallows, but other than a few feathers in a couple of boxes they seem to be holding off. They are making their presence known with much posturing and displaying. Chris tried to entice them to play with a few feathers but no takers. Eastern bluebirds are getting a little busier with one box soon to hatch another with three eggs and two nests that look to be ready to accept eggs. Next weeks check should be a good one if the cold weather doesn't back the off any. I want to thank everyone for the "heads up" concerning wasps. Only a few boxes had small nests started and fewer still had any wasps in the box. Nothing compared to what many of you have been facing. =====
From: "Dottie, Hickory Hollow, Brown County, Indiana" <yumyumkatts"at"voyager.net>
I have five BB babies just hatched out. Expecting five more BB babies next weekend. What a day with the BB babies hatching and the first Hummingbird arriving. Now if only the Purple Martins and Tree Swallows would get here. Dottie, Hickory Hollow
From: "Jacque Turner" <turner"at"texasisp.com> Breckenridge, Stephens County, Texas - where temperatures reached 98 degrees this afternoon! Update since my last email 4-9-02 concerning EABL nest in natural cavity and rattlesnake episode: Four total Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes within that week. The last snake, a beautiful tiny 8-inch rattler just about did me in. For several days everything brown on the ground looked like a rattlesnake to me. Also got my first look at a Copperhead yesterday, a really gorgeous snake. Baby EABLs must have fledged the day prior or the day of (4-9-02) my unsuccessful inspection of their hole with the mechanics mirror. For a full week afterwards, mom and dad EABL were in the area in plain sight, but no little ones could be spotted anywhere. I went out every morning and evening searching for them, thinking I'd see one occasionally, but just not sure whether I'd seen one or some other kind of bird. There are lots of different types flying around. Finally about a week later I see five babies for sure, and possibly six. What a joy to see this EABL family with their sweet little speckle freckled children. Every evening I see them doing their family thing - mom and dad perched somewhere keeping lookout. Is it a pretty for sure thing that the above pair will build again in the same natural cavity? I have not seen activity from them at this same spot as of yet. Just seen them busy with the little ones. I was expecting them to start another nest as soon as the babies had fledged. They seem to be big on family time. Another pair of EABL (I don't think they are from the above family group) started building a nest Sunday in a nestbox my husband's grandmother started years ago. EABLs have built nests here before. HOSPs are arguing with the EABLs here. Husband's grandmother told me today this happens every year and the EABLs always win the battle. I'm keeping an extra eye on this box. Tonight was my first look at an EABL nest. No eggs. A male EABL stays close to one of my new boxes, just sitting on a telephone line and singing his little heart out. I'm assuming he looking or calling for a mate. Inspection of titmouse nest this evening shows seven have fledged since Sunday. This is my second titmouse nest of seven to fledge this year. Bewick's wrens have seven babies in a Country Crock margarine bowl tucked into a dilapidated plastic bird feeder. We are finding tiny nesting boxes and places like this all around my husband's grandmother's house! This evening, an inspection of a chickadee-size house, which my son had previously counted three little wren eggs, revealed a cute little country mouse. My son was standing on the four wheeler looking for any signs of babies or eggs. This particular telescoping pole needs repair help from my husband and I can not lower it. I handed him a spatula to coax the nest out for a better look. Imagine Luke's surprise while standing face to face with the box and having a little mouse stick his head out of the vent cut into the side of the house for Texas heat! And the little critter just sat there looking at Luke not knowing what to do! Luke tucked everything back in and apologized to the little guy or gal. My Bluebird Monitor's Guide is loaned out to a new potential monitor, so I'll have to check on what to do about this situation later. This smaller box is difficult to monitor, so I'm considering just letting the small one have it. What sweet little beady eyes! Just as long as he stays at his/her new house and doesn't come to mine! Funny how they look different in a country setting then they do in your house. Past two weekends have kept us busy with HOSP control and their nests removal. One box trapped a pair at the same time in a Van Ert trap! How convenient! Happy birding! Hope to report that I've seen my first blue eggs soon! Jacque Turner
To: BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu (BLUEBIRD-L) Hi Folks, We had a killing frost last night dipped to 28 degrees. I checked all my bird houses yesterday. I was thinking that it was odd that the TRES have not began to nest here. To my surprise all my houses had paper wasps and some had wasp nests started. This must have taken place last week during the heat spell as all my houses were cleaned out and empty before last week. On one inspection I found a Bluebird nest started with pine needles on the floor. An interesting thing is that all the houses but that one had the wasps. It has a side door. Yesterday the Bluebird pair were at this nest box too. I found another Tufted Titmouse nest in another box. It looked just like the
other one and it too had 3 eggs. Both nests had the eggs on the wood I think they both might be a first year nesting attempt by the same bird? I think they usually have 6-7 eggs. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Also in answer to Dot's comments. I think before next year I'll definitely change a couple nest boxes to 11/4 hole size to accommodate Titmice and Chickadees. I tend to favor my boxes for the Bluebirds but you are right that the others need cavitys.Thanks for the reminder! I do have plenty of nest boxes available but this particular house that the Blues were checking ( and the Titmouse chose) has always had Bluebirds nest in so one or both of the Bluebirds might be returning to it . Kathy Bennett
From: "Jess's Federal Account" <jnichols"at"pkgfo.wvparkersb.fsc.usda.gov> Well what a first I had yesterday afternoon. I talked to the dog all the way up the hill. Knocked on the side of the box and unscrewed the top to look inside. There she was which surprised me so much I almost fell over and down the hill. I did recover quickly when I found she still wasn't going to fly out. Peeked in one more time to make sure it was a bluebird (no mistaking that!!!) There she was just looking up at me as if to say ok you've seen me now shut my roof. It only got up to 51 here yesterday so I am glad she was on her nest but I didn't even know they had finally laid eggs. For three weeks I have been checking on a perfect but empty nest. This morning it was 33 out. I am glad she appears to be a dedicated mother. Four boxes in two locations. One box now occupied but the other three are empty of anything. Jessica Nichols
From: "Kellams, Dina M" <dmkellam"at"indiana.edu> I am so glad I have this list to share my bluebird news with - non-birders don't understand the excitement... :) Yesterday I checked my box and found that mama EABL has laid 6 eggs! Pretty excited about this, as I read through the list archives and read that one woman with a trail only rarely sees 6 eggs. Too much fun for a newbie to have.... Dina
From: Tskinn22"at"aol.com We live in NE Georgia about 40 miles from Atlanta - Subdivision but everyone
has about 2 acres. A neighbor gave us a bluebird house he made - terrible design
- opens at the bottom. Anyway my husband never got around to putting the box up
and I set it out on the deck corner, hoping this would spur him on to putting
the box up. Two days later I noticed the bluebirds inspecting the box and low
and behold they built their nest in it. It is about 6 feet from my kitchen
window. We have 2 children aged 11 and 4 and we have all enjoyed the bluebirds
so very much! As soon as we get up everyone starts asking how Mrs. Blue is and
did Mr. Blue feed her today, etc. We have 5 eggs that should be hatching anytime
now. We feed them meal worms and have read everything we can get out hands on to
be supportive of our new friends. They don't seem the least bit worried about us
- come right up even when we are sitting on the deck or watering plants. I know
this is not the best place for them but don't want to move them - just praying
they will be okay. We will move the box to a more secure location after the
babies fledge. I have enjoyed your emails and find them informative! It is nice
to have a place where others Tammy Skinner
From: "greenacres001" <greenacres001"at"msn.com> Right now, outside my window, a scrub jay is terrorizing the house sparrow pair that have taken over one of my bluebird houses. it's tearing nesting material out, and i'm watching it all flutter to the ground. I started to yell at the jay, a very tame bird that almost eats out of my hand, and then realized he/she may spare me the job of having to climb to that nest and pinhole the eggs! The HOSP built the nest up so high in the box that the jay can get its beak in and tear stuff out. Normally, it can't reach in far enough to harm the bluebird babies, but these HOSP made themselves vulnerable ... maybe they aren't avian geniuses after all! now i need to continue to train that jay ... linda from jacks valley, nevada p.s. i piggybacked this question onto another e-mail which sometimes doesn't work on this list ... what do HOSP eggs look like? I'm assuming the bluebird eggs are just solid blue.
Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2002 18:15:29 -0400 Wow, they nested in the box sitting on your deck! I had a similar experience, but it didn't get that far. Had a new box setting on the deck this spring as I was preparing boxes to add to my trail. My backyard pair of bluebirds had already claimed their box and had a nest built in it. However, they could resist checking out this new box setting on the gound on the deck! In and out they went. The male even placed a couple of claim straws in the box. Seems they can't resist checking out the neighborhood! Off topic, but today I discovered a Robin incubating three eggs in a mud and grass nest in a juniper tree right next to the front porch. The tree is only four feet from the front door and she's built the nest about four feet high. Boy, is she upset at us for using our door! What made her think that this was a good place to build? Oh well, guess we'll try to use the back door for a while. Thank God for spring! Pam in Harford County, Maryland ...
From: MSBOC"at"aol.com Just to let everyone know I have four healthy ( I think) babies. They look to
be two days old at the most. I think this could be the earliest ever. Anyone Nancy
From: "Karen Louise Lippy" <brdbrain"at"superpa.net> OK. I can quit whining and blaming everyone who is bragging about having 6 eggs in the nest for feeding viagra to their birds or sending the hens to a fertility clinic. I found 3 nests of 6 eggs and 2 of 4 eggs, and have only done a portion of the trail tonight. I have never seen a six-egg nest before this year! Is it in the water? I think I'll stick with coke for the summer. Karen from South Central PA
From: "Lawrence Herbert" <lherbert"at"4state.com> I have a Bewick's Wren nest, no eggs, on my 30 box bluebird trail in Cherokee Co., extreme southeastern Kansas, as of 4-21-02. This is my first Bewick's Wren nest since 1984 on a trail in Finney County, sw Kansas. So, goodie for me.
From: "Lee & Jim Johnson" <mybuffy1"at"mindspring.com> Hello All,
From: "Lee & Jim Johnson" <mybuffy1"at"mindspring.com> Hello All,
From: Theresa Brandt <Theresa"at"Bowecho.com> Hi guys I am in SW Michigan where the weather is totally unpredictable.. after an 80° week a couple of weeks ago, it went down to 22° last night. Maybe it's too early yet for them to lay eggs? Maybe they have better weather forecasters than I do. Your thoughts, please. -Theresa SW Michigan
From: EHDerry"at"aol.com Theresa: We live in NW New York State. I have a EABL box behind our home that has had a completed nest for 10 days now - built during the warm spell. I have another in the same situation on our short trail. But no eggs! I have been worried but maybe it is the cold weather - we have been having it, too. I know they have not abandoned the nest behind our house as we see them going in the nest box a couple of times a day. The one on the trail I am not so sure as we found wasps in it a week ago which we removed. Let's hope that it is just the cold. Next week it is supposed to warm up! Judy
To: bluebird-l"at"cornell.edu (BLUEBIRD-L) On Fri, Apr 26 2002 13:25:31 GMT-0400 Theresa Brandt <Theresa"at"bowecho.com>
writes: ... Theresa, I too have a lot of Tree Swallows nests and no eggs. We have time to get eggs when the weather is better. I have some Bluebird eggs, but no babies yet. Maynard Sumner NABS MBS GAS OBS OBC NAHC NAFC Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
From: thbkab"at"juno.com Hi Judy & Teresa, I know this may sound strange but one year I had a Bluebird pair build a complete nest and leave for almost two weeks! They did return to lay 5 eggs and all 5 chicks successfully fledged. Sometimes I wonder if it's the cold weather around here that they leave? I have an elderly veteran Blue birder friend that says when this happens they
go on a Honeymoon!:o) Kathy Bennett
Date: Sat, 27 Apr 2002 02:57:58 -0700 (PDT) --- Theresa Brandt <Theresa"at"bowecho.com> wrote: ... =====
From: Calyco"at"aol.com Hi,
Date: Sat, 27 Apr 2002 09:39:21 -0700 There are possibly 5 baby bluebirds in one of the nest boxes, but it has been to cool to have mom off the nest very long. There is also a titmouse sitting on eggs and think there are 6 in that box. That is the box with the ants and went to the pet store and got some cage bird mite spray and used it. Thanks to every one for their help in what to do. I have 15 boxes. 3 are along a creek that is part of the county parks department and 1 is in a city sports complex. 3 more are in a cemetery in a city close to here and 8 are in a waste water treatment plant and that is a good area because they should not be bothered there as it is a stay out place. One of the boxes at the cemetery has a bluebird setting and should hatch next week. At the creek area are 2 boxes with titmice. The habitat has change there and do not get bluebirds there any more. Norma Zier
From: haroldrev"at"webtv.net (harold barker) I was lucky and was home to witness my baby bluebirds leave the nest. This was my first year to have bluebirds nest here and four out of five eggs hatched and now they have fledged. Harold in Orange Texas
From: Shane Marcotte <marco50"at"bellsouth.net> Hello All,
From: "Mary Beth Roen" <mbroen"at"hotmail.com> Shane, Congratulations! How exciting! It just never gets old, having successful fledging of Bluebirds, does it? My first eggs have now gone through two snowstorms and freezing weather, so it will be very interesting to see if they hatch. Hopefully Mama Bluebird stayed on the nest those nights or I am afraid I have frozen eggs. Time will tell. If they are frozen, I hope the birds renest soon. I'll let you know. Mary Roen, River Falls, WI >From: Shane Marcotte <marco50"at"bellsouth.net>
From: "Jacque Turner" <turner"at"texasisp.com> I am very happy to announce seeing my first Eastern Bluebird egg! Sunday, April 28, 2002 Jacque Turner
Date: Sun, 28 Apr 2002 21:20:20 -0000 Our five babies fledged yesterday and are in the Oaks in our yard. I have never had them stay in the nest longer than 18 days, but these fledged on the 20th day. Mom and Dad are busy feeding as are the tree cavity parents on the other side of the yard. Taking a lot of mealworms for them right now. I hope they will start another nest soon. Jeanette
Date: Sun, 28 Apr 2002 23:32:22 -0400 The blues have been very busy these last few days. I did not look in their nest, but was able to hear the babes...Boy they can go thru some mealies when they are feeding the babes.. The mocking birds are driving us crazy,, they are monitoring the feeder..So I took the suggestion and was going to stop feeding the blues for a day or two. I took the bowl and put it on my porch, with a few mealies in it..Needless to say the blues are now feeding off my porch. Tooo cool...Easier to keep the mocking birds away too. Going to get our camera out and try to catch some pictures. How long before we see the babies? Kim
From: "Dottie, Hickory Hollow, Brown County, Indiana" <yumyumkatts"at"voyager.net> I am happy to report I have five new BB babies just born. That makes a total of 10 BB babies and 9 BB eggs still waiting to hatch. All was well even though we had a terrible rain and wind storm. Four more BB eggs should be hatching any day. Dottie, Hickory Hollow
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2002 21:44:35 -0700 (PDT) Two weeks ago, I found one box that had a male bluebird inside next to an old
dried up female and 3 eggs. Well, since it was the first time for that box, I
just left the eggs, hoping that he would find another mate. Well, then last
Saturday, that box had 3 babies and in a nearby tree, was the male and a female,
so I am assuming that the old female must have died way earlier, and that the
male found another mate, and she just accepted that nest, with the old female in
it....well, an interesting story, and I am glad that I didn't throw out those
eggs, too.
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2002 12:07:26 -0400 The slot (horizontal) box also is supposed to provide an escape route for the blues. I installed a slot box in a neighbor's yard late last summer. About three weeks ago, I saw a male blue nearby fighting a HOSP who displayed interest in the box. Now, a female blue is brooding 5 eggs in the slot box, due to hatch next week.
Date: Wed, 1 May 2002 04:54:37 -0700 (PDT) From Samuel S. Lewis State Park, Another beautiful day for a walk in the park; sun shinining, birds singing, flowers blooming and butterflies every where. There are Carolina chickadee nests throughout the park. Now both new boxes in the woods have moss in them for a total of eight boxes with some chickadee activity. I typically find more nests started than are ever used. One box has six eggs and two more have five eggs each. The box in "wren corner" still only has moss in it. So far I haven't seen or heard any house wrens at the park but I'm sure they're there. Tree swallows still dominate both the entrance and exit fields. Four boxes in the exit field have nestsTwo just started, one with feathers and another that I'm pretty sure is tree swallows. I'm somewhat surprised there are no nests in the entrance field. The first eastern bluebirds hatched last week. The expected hatch date was 4-22 but I think it was a little later by the look of things. Mom was a little reluctant to let me see much. One nest in the entrance field has four eggs. The remaining seven boxes at four sites remain empty. Two other nests have four eggs and another with five. Two of these are mounted on sign posts along the road through the park and the other is at the edge of the kite flying area. My most productive areas seem to be shunned by the bluebirds, but it's still early. There has been no activity at all from house sparrows. I haven't removed a nest or set a trap for over two weeks. Non-bird news...dogwoods, european honeysuckle and rhodura azaleas are in
bloom. Three species of swallowtail butterflies were seen; zebra, tiger and Gee, but a weeks a long time this time of year, =====
From: "Kromel, Terri" <tkromel"at"state.pa.us> I was disappointed to find 4 dead nestlings in my backyard nestbox during last night's check. I watched both adults feed the young on Saturday while I was gardening. Then we had 3 days of cool rainy weather. Last night the adults were not around. I watched the area all evening and they never returned to the box before, during or after my check. Bummer! Terri Kromel
From: "Lynn Demsky" <bdemsky"at"qcinet.net> About a week ago I saw a Bluebird sitting on our deck railing, I thought, but he went and took off so fast I couldn't be sure and -- I know they migrate through here but, --- I've never noticed them living here so figured I just wanted to see one! But as I was in the kitchen, munching cookies, waiting for my coffee ----there was one of them in the trees! Just made me so very happy! And, just had to share ----now I guess I have to go find "mealworms" ---ugh! Doesn't sound appetizing to me at all but, they're so very adorable! But last week I watched a young adult rapture bird eat another bird, rabbit - whatever alive....so, these can't be too bad! And, he looked just like the Mad Bluebird! Just adorable! Lynn
Date: Fri, 3 May 2002 00:59:11 -0700 (PDT) Sorry about the two previous posts--it's getting late. Yesterday we had our first bluebirds to fledge this year. This is the earliest that we have ever had bluebird fledglings. This pair is approximately 10 days ahead of any other nest box that we have. A very good nesting season for bluebirds so far! =====
Date: Fri, 3 May 2002 09:40:47 -0700 (PDT) From Samuel S. Lewis State Park, It was a steamy seventy-five degrees today at noon. The breeze atop Mount Pisgah brought some relief, but still pretty muggy. The entrance field has three new nests started, most likely tree swallows. As I aproached the only eastern bluebird nest in this area I noticed a male tree swallow perched on top of the box and a female peering in the hole. They flew off and I found the female bluebird sitting tight inside. When I left the male swallow returned to his perch. A male bluebird was sitting on top of a nearby box, one with the start of a swallow nest. Moving into the interior of the park the Carolina chickadees are coming along. The first box has six eggs. The next box in "wren corner" showed no change, still only moss. The middle box is empty and the third box has the first house wren nest. I expect all three boxes to have wren nests soon, including the one the chickadees started. I'm glad they never finished this nest. The next two boxes, on elevated posts in the woods, last week held two chickadee nests started. This week one has one egg and the other is full of sticks. My hopes for this area was for the chickadees and other forest dwellers. I don't usually have much complaint with the house wrens but I'm not happy to see them in the new neighborhood.At the south end of the pines a chickadee is sitting on seven eggs. The two boxes on the fence-row are empty and the box at the north end still has only moss. The exit field with eight boxes at six sights has five tree swallow nests;
two with feather linings and three with just the grass base. The one box at the
edge of The biggest news is the up-coming native American pow-wow. The busiest three days at the park and a stressful time for me and the birds. More people visit the park during this annual event than some months. This is also the only time the park offers camping for the participants and vendors. In the past two years the trail has suffered losses during this event. I'll be busy this coming week to secure all doors and roofs. I'll also be tacking up the small placards designating the boxes as "property of PA DCNR and protected by law". Maybe next year I'll set a booth at the event. For this year if anyone's interested in box sitting with me, let me know! See ya, ===== ... Subject line should read Trail Report 5/2/02. I'll figure this darn thing out sooner or later.
From: "Dottie, Hickory Hollow, Brown County, Indiana" <yumyumkatts"at"voyager.net> I am again happy to report that I have four new BB babies making a total of 14 BB babies. Five more BB eggs to go. Dottie, Hickory Hollow
From: "Robt Rager" <rerager"at"bright.net> This has been an odd year weatherwise my check of 5 years covers 130 boxes to
last years 84: 2002 Apr 16th 4/29 ESBL first eggs were few days later number nestings were about the same. TRSW
were really early as first eggs proved with total nestings being a little
lighter this year. My records go back to 1985 and more less the same for
bluebirds with tree swallows first eggs being May 15th or so.
From: "Mary Beth Roen" <mbroen"at"hotmail.com> Hi Everyone! For the first time ever, I have two pairs of EABLs nesting, one in my front yard, and one in my back yard. All other years, I got only one pair of EABLs and one pair of Tree Swallows. I did move the post in the front yard to more in the center, so maybe they like this location better, or maybe the number of EABLs is increasing enough that they are willing to nest closer. (The boxes are not in view of each other) Mary Roen, River Falls, WI
Date: Sat, 4 May 2002 19:00:24 -0700 (PDT) Hello all, I'm certainly not complaining as I just love the TRES. I have had only one
TRES nest in the past four years. This year I have 7 complete TRES nests, 3 of
them have the white almost translucent eggs in them. It appears that as many as
3 additional nestboxes have been claimed by TRES. This could be 10 active TRES
nests on my Indiana trail of a total 31. I have 13 active EABL nests and 2
Carolina Chickadees too. There is a problem with all of this good fortune. My
first attempt at starting a PUMA colony is now looking less and less likely to
succeed. Where as many as 5 PUMA frequented the gourd racks daily the first two
weeks in April, I have not seen a PUMA for 13 days straight. The TRES seem to be
very territorial, even more so than the EABL. I have had to quick in setting up
housing for the TRES so they don't take over the gourd racks. This stuff is just
great fun and rewarding too. Have a good day Bob Sitarski a.k.a The Doctor Jackson County Indiana ( 385244N 086023W ) & Clay County Illinois ( 384008N 0882908W )
From: "Dusty Bleher" <dusty"at"fsinc.com> I had a bummer of a monitoring day, yesterday! Found all 5 hatchlings in one of my best boxes, dead. No obvious cause or reason for their demise was apparent. Both parents were in attendance and made their usual complaint passes around my head as I opened the box. It was clear that they had aged little (if at all) from my last check the previous Saturday. They were such a lively and healthy bunch last week, that we'd intended to return with the camera to get that "perfect" nest picture. The way the box is situated, soft light naturally falls on them when it's opened. They were of the age where they were all "beak and attention"--all 5 heads were up, mouths open, and vigorously peeping for food. Too bad. An opportunity lost... In contrast to that, a box of Tree Swallows, that we thought were lost, were fledging as we watched. As some of the more "long time" readers on this list know, even though I court our Western Bluebirds, I get mostly TRES. Actually, truth-be-told, I kinda like them. The brooding hens are fearless, and need to be picked up in order to count the eggs. So, I've kinda adopted the habit of not bothering them if they're brooding. I mean after all, who cares if they laid 4 eggs or 12? They either hatch or they don't. I figure that if I can't count "young'ens" and subtract the number of eggs left, then I don't have any business trying to do this... The way my boxes are mounted, I can't easily see into many of them; but I can easily reach in and "finger" the contents. Eggs are easily counted by gentle touch. If momma's on 'em, I usually just close up and leave her alone. How can I tell if she's brooding? Why I can feel her head and back with my finger. Well on one box, I had marked as unknown number of eggs--because someone was always on the nest. But this time, the calendar and my ears told me that I should have hatchlings. Time to disturb 'em a bit more, give momma the boot, and get a firm count. Unfortunately, when I opened the box I found a dead adult sort of half over the young. The bird was too far gone for me to be able to sex it, but my best guess was that it was the male. However, because it was so light (desiccated), it was clear that it had been dead for quite some time. Consequently we removed the entire nest for a thorough check over and nose count. Besides the dead adult, we found one dead hatchling, and another with a few slight wounds on his back (looked like scratches from a sibling). The dead one was pretty small (as compared to the survivors), and looked like it had gotten trapped or pinned under the dead adult. A check of the nest eliminated parasites, so we scraped out the box and reinstalled the nest with the 5 survivors. With one adult caring for 5 hungry hatchlings, we feared that they didn't have much chance. However, surprise! Surprise! We spent some time, last week, observing the box before I opened it. We noted that there were a least 2 adults and 1 (possibly more) juveniles "working" the nest. This early in the year they'd had to have been last years juveniles. This was something I'd not noted previously. At any rate, a few minutes of watching yesterday, showed considerable traffic to the box, but no real food delivery. So I opened the box, and found 3 ready to fledge young still inside. Good! I quickly closed it, and we stepped back. After several more visits by adults (which went inside), we were surprised to see one of the fledglings pop out and take to the air. Now I've witnessed hundreds of fledgings over the years, but I've never seen one like this... The youngster flew and fluttered looking much like a drunken sailor. But, he did not struggle to the nearest tree and land to get his breath. In a few moments he seemed to get his "sea legs" and started to swoop and loop like a pro. I watched it for the better part of 5 minutes, and never saw it land or take a break. Last I saw it was over a kilometer away flying in a cloud of other swallows... So, as I alluded to in the subject line; according to my experiences, I'm going to alter my inspection methods a bit. I formed my current monitoring habits around my schedule, what seemed right, and after listening to the collective "wisdom" of this list. I changed my original more hands-on and frequent monitoring to one of a more "hands-off" approach. That's out! I'm going back to my twice a week visits. If the hen's on the nest, she'll get disturbed and will just have to deal with it. I used to take the young out, once, when they were around 5-10 days or so, to check them over carefully for parasites or injuries. Now I'm going to check them all each time I get to them. Hopefully, ratcheting up the attention level will ratchet up the survival level too... I guess I'll just have to wait and see... Later all,
From: Jgandy8580"at"aol.com It's now 2 weeks since EABB lost 3 eggs from box #2, presumably to house
wren. Have not seen or heard from wren since. After I trapped 3 male HOSP
From: TonyTrz"at"aol.com Hi,
From: Shane Marcotte <marco50"at"bellsouth.net> Hello Friends,
From: "Lee & Jim Johnson" <mybuffy1"at"mindspring.com> Good Morning, Last year they fledged at 17 days, but this seems like an extra-active bunch. It looks like Mom and Dad are constantly going to the box to coax them to stay inside a few more days. I'm not sure if all 5 eggs hatched--it hasn't been easy to get a peek, (prior to the 12 days) what with the dive-bombing that Mom does everytime I go outside. I guess we will have to wait till they fledge, when Mom and Dad bring them back to introduce mealworms, before we know for sure. Lee in Missouri
From: "John C James" <jjames14"at"nc.rr.com> I am happy to report that the last of my 5 bluebird babies have fledged. I took the nestbox down doused it with a stream of water, and then cleaned it with a 15% solution of bleach, and then rinsed it again. It is now open and when dry will be closed with a cleaned cup. A second unused nestbox is about 10 feet away, so the parents need not wait for the old house to dry. The nestbox was about 10 feet high off my deck. It was difficult checking on my first brood so I moved the box to eye level to make it easier for the next time. For me that's about 74 inches. I have just sealed the nest that had some strange looking "thingies" in it. It is now boxed, and will be sent to Dr. Terry Whitworth so he can examine it, and perhaps tell me whether I should have left the "thingies" for him to examine, or perhaps could have cooked and eaten them. Five new bluebirds, and I did not even know what I was doing, and without all the help from you wonderful people would probably have been unsuccessful. I feel great, and thank you all - Oh I forgot, I am now a new southern gentleman, and Mary Jane Shearer has generously been sending me lessons by e-mail on how to improve my Southern social skills so I will say instead, "I thank ya'll kindly for your help, and I am now 'fixin' to raise another brood.". How was that, Mary Jane? John James
From: "Robt Rager" <rerager"at"bright.net> Bill got 84 bluebird eggs 10 hatched with more everytime I check. Have 5 TRSW eggs earliest ever with several TRSW NESTS so sure will be more next check. Robt Rager N/W Ohio
From: "Dottie, Hickory Hollow, Brown County, Indiana" <yumyumkatts"at"voyager.net> I have four new BB babies. That makes me a total of 19 BB babies. All my BB eggs have hatched out now. My first brood should fledge about May 12. Dottie, Hickory Hollow
From: "Kelley Family" <herbsho"at"usmo.com> We are pleased to report that we have 37 nestlings and three eggs in fourteen houses. The eggs should have hatched with the nestlings but as of the last check, Sunday they have not. We are about 12 hatchings ahead of this time last year. Last year we had 70 Bluebirds fledge without a loss to predators. So far this year, we have not had a sign of attempted predation at the houses. All of our houses are mounted on telescoping copper poles. When extended the bottom of the box is seven feet plus above the ground. Twelve houses are located along public roads in a low density rural development that is Audubon certified.
Date: Thu, 9 May 2002 20:00:21 -0500 >In case anyone is interested in bluebird bandings, thought I'd let you >year-old. Much fun capturing the banded returns. Erv How are you doing? We're freezing to death and blowing away here in southern
Wisconsin. I have about 45 nesting pairs of EABL's at the moment, have banded 10
AHY-F's(after hatching year-Females) and recaptured 8 adult females banded by me
in previous years.........two of which are mother and daughter, the daughter
nesting less than a mile from where her mother is nesting! The other 7 breeding
females were recaptured in the very same boxes in which they were originally
banded as breeding adults.............! I'm especially pleased to have 6 pairs of Black-Capped Chickadees nesting on my trails this spring. I've always had a few pairs, but never this many. Tree Swallows are just beginning to build nests. The last time I monitored my trails was this past Sunday/Monday. Noteworthy is a pattern of fewer eggs/clutch being laid this spring........perhaps due to our very cold weather???? Ann Wick
From: "Doug Rohde" <d.rohde"at"attbi.com> Highland Village, Texas (N. of Dallas) What a beautiful day in N. Central Texas. We just finished an afternoon of monitoring and maintenance. Since the EABL's never leave here and the weather warms up quickly in spring, they get an early start on the nesting process. Most of the blues have completed their first nesting cycle and have started the second (most will have a third). It's been a great year so far due to absence of predator problems. We've lost 3 eggs (to a wren I think) and that's it. With 43 nestboxes on the trail, we've had only 3 HOSP nesting attempts, which Van Ert quickly solved. Results so far: Eastern Bluebird: Chickadee Doug Bluebirds across Texas.... one nestbox at a time.
Date: Sun, 12 May 2002 09:00:23 -0700 (PDT) Boy, am I excited! After taking over nestboxes that the state of Ohio place in the Berlin Reservoir area, about 5 miles north of Alliance(and no one manages), I have my first fledgings. Even though I had found 2 tree swallows pecked to death in my monitoring run and eggs missing in others, I still am happy of the success. I know that there has to be some losses(some could be prevented), but its the successes that pushes me on. I want to thank Jennabird.com for the Bolt traps to catch the house sparrows
to elimnate the house sparrows form boxes and allowing bluebirds and tree
swallows to come in and nest. Not a bad price for the traps. Darrell in N.E.
Ohio
From: "Marysue" <mamakitticat"at"earthlink.net> I am pleased to announce the hatching, so far, of three out of four Eastern Bluebird eggs, in a NE Georgia EABL Box. This is the first born clutch ever on this property. The proud parents are hoping for the fourth egg to hatch soon (as am I!) I am super pleased with the turn of events, since yesterday when I checked the box there were at least two babies, and I couldn't tell if there were just one or maybe two eggs left, having not much time or light to check further. Just seeing two little naked faces was joy enough! Back when I first joined this list I reported on our nest box having eggs, but that one egg was cracked, or semi-crushed early on, when only two eggs had been laid so far. Well, the female laid two more, for a total of four eggs, and began sitting on or about May 1, 2002. All through her sitting, the cracked egg remained. This past Saturday the eggs were all warm. Yesterday, Sunday, two were hatched (Happy Mother's Day)! One egg was visible in the front of the nest where the opening of the box is, so I could see it quite well. It was the previously cracked one. This early afternoon I took the opportunity to check the box again, as both Mr. & Mrs. Bluebird were not in the box, while I was doing some work in the yard. I opened the box to see no egg in the front as before, and further inspection showed three baby EABL's and another egg underneath them. I inspected the egg, it was a sound uncracked egg! THE CRACKED EGG HATCHED A LIVE CHICK! Hurray! So we're crossing our fingers for a fourth baby soon. Marysue In the South NE Georgia
Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 18:53:15 -0700 (PDT) Hello.... I'm just curious if anyone in the Virginia, NC., Tenn., or SC. area has the start of their 2nd cycle EABL nesting yet? Also, is the nest being built over the previous nest or from scratch (a cleaned out box)? You can reply directly to me if you like. Thanks for your replies....Horace in NC. =====
From: "Emily Smith" <emilys7"at"earthlink.net> Hi Horace, Our babies fledged a week ago today, but so far no more interest at the box. We did see the adult male and one fledgling taking a bath in our birdbath yesterday, though! What a great sight. I'll be adding new photos to my web page probably over the weekend. We have cleaned out the nestbox and are hoping for a second nesting.... Emily ----- Original Message ----- ...
From: "Emily Smith" <emilys7"at"earthlink.net> I may have spoken too soon - just caught Mr. Bluebird fluttering around the nestbox hole a couple of times -- first time I have seen him do that since the babies fledged last week. Oh boy! I love working at home, which I am doing today since I had a dr. appointment mid-day -- I get to see so much more bird action!! Emily ----- Original Message ----- ...
Date: Tue, 14 May 2002 16:44:25 -0700 (PDT) Hi all, I have a pair of EABL in a real hurry on my Illinois trail. She laid a first
egg of 3 March 25th. One of those 3 eggs was infertile, another hatchling
cracked the shell but failed to get out of the egg and the 3rd egg hatched. That
hatchling eventually fledged and evidently Ma Blue thinks that Pa Blue can
handle the training phase on his own. The nestbox was cleaned 5/2 and the first
egg of 5 total was laid on 5/5. This pair of EABL is re=writing all the record
books that I have put together so far. Have a good day Bob Sitarski a.k.a The Doctor Jackson County Indiana ( 385244N 086023W ) & Clay County Illinois ( 384008N 0882908W )
Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 04:44:45 -0700 (PDT) From Samuel S. Lewis State Park, I removed the first house sparrow nest in three weeks. This has to be the most artistic and ambitious house sparrow I've ever come across. The base of the nest consisted of fine rootlets and a nest cup of fine grasses. This was topped off with longer grasses with seed heads intact. The box was stuffed full and had very little trash. I returned later to remove a male house sparrow. The tree swallows, who only started building last week, now have six separate nests with eggs. Three boxes are still without eggs, but the others have from two to six eggs each. One box had a mother reluctant to leave so I'm not sure what that box holds. Carolina chickadees are doing better this year than the two previous years. One box has six eggs while the other three boxes are busy hatching; one with six eggs and one hatchling, one with one egg and six hatchlings and the third full of lots of gaping mouths. I hope they all continue to do well. Last year was a total loss for them. House wrens are rather quiet this year so far, both in nesting and vocally. Only two nests have been started and only one of those has two eggs. Most of the action in "wren corner" was provided by three Baltimore orioles today. All three of them flying from tree top to the ground, in and around the trees, tangling and tumbling to the ground and off again. Eastern bluebirds are occupying seven boxes on the trail. Two boxes still without eggs. One has four eggs and one with five eggs, the first five egg clutch so far. Two boxes have four nestlings that hatched in the last week and one box with three nestlings soon to fledge. I was hoping they would fledge before the week-end but they should be gone soon. Maybe the excitement of the Pow-wow will incite them. In this case I think they'd be safer out of the box than in. As I'm writing this a few days late the storms have moved on and the cold
temperatures have returned. I'm anxious for the return of good weather to make
my next rounds. Talk to you soon, =====
From: "Bruce Burdett" <blueburd"at"srnet.com> To: The Constituency, This morning, here in Sunapee, a white snow-squall, and 33°. They had to close the road up in Smuggler's Notch the other day because of too much snow. Bruce Burdett, in SW NH
Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 11:53:52 -0700 (PDT) Hi all - I made it up to my Parks NestWatch trail an hour southeast of Albuquerque this morning. The seasonal staff and the camp hosts have been monitoring faithfully twice a week and are loving it. I went up today to confirm some species and see for myself what was going on. Here are the hightlights: 12 bluebird-sized boxes; 5 active nests including 3 western bluebird (at least 9 eggs altogether - mom
wouldn't leave another nest to check eggs + 3 babies in another nest) and 3 other boxes with half-built nests, 2 of which appear to be ash-throats and the other WEBL; hanging boxes finally being occupied (ahs-throat nest with 4 eggs in hanging box); snake got 4 babies in another box not included in regular monitoring rounds; I got dive-bombed for the first time ever by WEBL parents - I even felt wind on my face from one of them! WHAT A DAY!!!
Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 19:04:58 EDT At the moment I've got 4 babies hatched on Sat., with one egg unhatched. Mama has been brooding them assiduously. Two other boxes have 4 and 5 eggs respectively. Most of the boxes near the house have tree swallow grass (no feathers yet). At least the cool weather is helping with the wasps (still lots of the bright yellow-striped wasps that seem to come in pairs, and make a single cylindrical cell on a long stalk.) Rhonda Watts
From: Shane Marcotte <marco50"at"bellsouth.net> Hello All,
From: "Jacque Turner" <turner"at"texasisp.com> I am happy to announce the birth of three tiny baby Eastern Bluebirds, Wednesday, May 15, 2002, with one egg left to hatch! Jacque T.
From: "BONNIE A. YEAGER" <dement"at"frognet.net> First bluebird fledge of 2002 occurred yesterday at about 5:00 PM. I saw two
of the four hatchlings actually take off into the Wild Blue Yonder. Fred Yeager,
From: "Cinda J. Salisbury" <cjs"at"cvns.net> Hello All, Cinda S-C Pa. ...
From: "A K Johnson" <annes"at"apci.net> About 15 minutes ago, I had the privilege of seeing 2 EABLs fledge. It was my first time to see this event. I became suspicious when I saw Dad sitting on the bird feeder looking at the box. I was so excited, but quickly my excitement turned to worry. The 2nd one only flew about 5 feet and landed in some long grass. Just at that time, some EUST decided they wanted to look for dinner in that same area. Needless to say, Mom and Dad were very upset. They kept dive bombing the EUST, but the EUST kept looking for dinner. Finally, they decided to leave. Then, I noticed Mom and Dad flying wildly in the trees. I noticed a Blue Jay near by. Just then, one of the fledgings came straight out of those trees heading directly to the house! Even though I waved my arms and yelled, the baby blue hit the house and fell to the ground. I could see he was still alive, but I could not tell if he was hurt. I decided to let him be for a while to see what would happen. I could not wait. I went downstairs to look at the stunned bird. I don't think either parent knew where he was. Dad was back on the bird feeder. I was not too far away, but he did not dive bomb me. I decided I would send this email and get the experts advice on what I needed to do. While I was composing this note, my husband told me the stunned fledging flew to a concrete retaining wall and then flew back to the woods. That poor little guy had a rough first day out in the big world. Now, I wonder where his 3 other siblings are...... Anne
From: "CJ Hazer" <CeeJaaHzr"at"starband.net> At 9:41am Central I experienced my very first EABL fledging. What a joy it was. I had the camera clicking and the camcorder rolling. I was amazed at how gracefully the little guy/gal (couldn't really tell) flew with its dad up into the tree. As I watched it poke its little head out, then its little body, I was bursting with anticipation! Then dad (Jack) flew in with an insect. But he didn't give it to the babe. Instead, he enticed the little one away with it. The dad flew off and the babe followed on his wings. WHAT AN EXPERIENCE. And now, with this being fledge day #20 (they were supposed to go between 15-18 days), I've got to start living in the human world again. I just didn't want to miss that very first flight. There's two (2) more in the nest. As I leave the house to run some much needed errands, my camcorder will be rolling to catch another one or two. SO HAPPY IN MISSOURI!!! CJ CJ & Doug Hazer "Be who you are and say what you feel because those who matter don't mind, and those who mind don't matter."
Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 14:05:47 -0400 Yesterday, the male bluebird finally brought his 26-day old fledglings back to the yard. The female bluebird has finished her nest for the second nesting in the backyard. The TRES have spent the morning swooping down in the yard to pluck the dead grass in the dog's urine spots and take it back to make their nest in the field behind the house. (Yuck?) The 11-day-old Robin nestling is doing fine just 4-feet off the ground in the Juniper right next to the front door. The Chippping Sparrows are collecting our Golden Retriever tail hair for their nest in the Abelia next to the garage door (only 3 feet high). And now, I've discovered a House Finch nest (made of pine needles and dryer lint) with three eggs in the Juniper at the corner of the house. All this on a quarter acre in a suburban development! I wonder if they know I like birds?! Below is the updated photo albumn link for fledgling pictures. http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4292217759&code=2724568&mode=invite Pam in Harford County, Maryland
Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 10:40:11 -0500 (Central Daylight Time) Our bluebirds deposited their first egg of their second clutch this morning - I think. It could have been late yesterday. I checked the box around noon yesterday and the nest seemed ready to go. This morning as I sat eating breakfast, I saw the female arrive at a favorite perch near the nest. Daddy arrived and landed on top of her - she popped out and into the nest and was there for 10 minutes. The two of them then cavorted around for about 20 minutes while I slipped out and checked the nest to find one egg. Then she went back into the nest for another 10 minutes. Thinking that the egg might have been from yesterday, I checked the nest again - but no more. We theorized she had slipped in there to escape Daddy's attentions for a while They fledged their first three chicks on May 5. As far as we know that was the number of eggs she layed. Do they lay their eggs at any specific time of day?
From: SHbirder"at"aol.com Sherry Hunter---Byron Center, MI A pair of Eastern Bluebirds finally arrived and are checking out one of my nestboxes. I thought maybe I wouldn't get any bluebirds this year but they are back! :) Hip hip hooray!
Date: Tue, 21 May 2002 08:42:14 -0700 (PDT) From Samuel S. Lewis State Park, Hi all, This past Friday my daughter, Jessica, joined me on the trail. I handed her the pen and pad and told her I'd tell her what to write but take a look at last week's notes so she'd have an idea. "WHAT IS THIS???" By the time we got to 4A she was telling me . The tree swallows have really stepped up their pace. The entrance field has one bluebird nest that has five nestlings and the swallows have three nests with two, three and five eggs. Last week I noted how minimal the nests were. This week the nest with three eggs has no feathers at all. The interior of the park is still going good with the Carolina chickadees with three boxes with nestlings and one box with eggs. House wrens are only active at three boxes with eggs six eggs in one and none in the other two. The first three bluebirds fledged this week. I was up earlier in the week and found the male sitting on a sign post. I pulled off of the road but sat inside to avoid the cold and damp. I got the male in my side mirror and the nestbox on the passenger side mirror. I watch him hunt for awhile when the female joined him on his perch. He hopped down and she followed. She then flew off towards some trees, away from the box. Shortly after he followed and they were gone. I took this as a pretty good sign. There are three other bluebird nests with four eggs each. This is the first time that I've had three nests so close in age. The exit field is dominated by tree swallows. Three with six eggs and two with five. One of the boxes of a pair has the beginning of a nest but it's early to tell if it's house sparrows or bluebirds. (I was just up to run the weed-eater and took a trap along. A male and female bluebird were sitting on the box with a complete nest inside. In the other box on the same post sat the mother tree swallow on her eggs. I had hoped this would work but up until now I had my doubts. Last weeks Pow-wow was a success with good weather for them and no losses on the trail. The park is again quiet. The woods are filled with birdsong and the scent of multiflora roses fills the air. By next week the mountain laurel should be in bloom. until we meet again, =====
From: Jgandy8580"at"aol.com Weather in south Jersey more like March than May. No frost right here, but twice nearby since our "frost-free" date of 5/15. Female EABB continues to sit on 5 eggs. This male EABB is very attentive and I see him at box a dozen times a day, at the hole, sticking his head in, presumably feeding her. She is seen out only about twice a day. 50 mealworms quickly consumed each morning and afternoon, and small amounts of dried fruits, mostly raisins and cranberry. Hoping for hatching by Friday, when the weather is warm again.
From: "Elaine Whitworth" <visionfarm"at"earthlink.net> I'm so sorry to hear that many have lost BB babies due to the weather and HOSP. After the rainy deluge I checked all the nests and found them dry. But the cooler temps still worried me. The lows this week have been 37 here in NW TN . Today I am pleased to report that my first BB nest of the season with 4 eggs now contains 4 beautiful BB babies. They are about 9 days old today. For the first time I have ordered mealworms, as there are so many birds in our area with babies to feed, not to mention the two other BB broods hopefully on the way and unaffected by the weather. Another nest in the back of the property has 4 eggs due to hatch any day. And the nest that the BB's put in a grand central station area of the yard (I had been using that house to trap HOSP) has 5 eggs due to hatch in a few days. The other BB nest has been apparently abandoned with a nest only partially completed?? So I ended up just have the 3 pair. The HOSP have now decided not to use our boxes. Smart birds. Let me again emphasize how great the bolt traps have worked for us and our Bluebirds. Elaine in Nw Tn Line of zones 6 & 7.
From: "Dottie, Hickory Hollow, Brown County, Indiana" <yumyumkatts"at"voyager.net> Nine new BB babies fledged this week. (two boxes) Five more BB babies should be fledging next week and that will be the end of my first nesting. We had some awful cold and terrible rainy weather in Indiana this spring. And also much wind. However, I didn't have any problem with any of the BB babies. I checked them after each storm and they were high and dry. I believe part of my success this spring was because I left the duck tape, that I used to winterize my BB boxes last fall, on the boxes. I only took off the tape that was around the door cracks. Of course, I had to take that tape off so I could open the door and check the BB babies. I think this helped greatly in keeping out the cold and blowing rain. Dottie, Hickory Hollow
From: "Fawzi P. Emad" <femad"at"comcast.net> As promised, this is a follow-up on my previous E-mail. The weather is now very nice and all danger of frost is gone, I hope for the rest of the season. I have checked all my boxes at the park, and I am happy to announce we did not have any losses due to cold or any other factor. Here at home we have a TRES nest starting and the three bluebird families are still around, and I expect three (second) EABL nests soon... [TRES=TREe Swallow and EABL=EAstern BLuebird.] Fawzi Fawzi Emad in Laytonsville, Maryland
Date: Fri, 24 May 2002 03:29:40 -0000 After struggling with House Sparrows, bad weather, the breaking of their first(and only egg), and the possible disappearance of the original female it appears that the Bluebirds are going to try again. After House Sparrows drove off the original pair, I only saw the male for a long time. Then, maybe a couple of weeks later I finally saw him with a(nother?) female. They have actually built nests in both houses (30 feet apart- the second house was supposed to be for the Tree Swallows). In one house though, the nest is more complete and today there was an egg in it. It is strange though because at first I thought that another house sparrow had built nests because the nests were rather sloppy and actually had feathers in them. Only the fact that the nests didn't fill up the entire box and the distinctive cup built into the nest indicated that these were indeed the work of the Bluebirds. I'm hoping that they have better luck this time. The Tree Swallows seem to have left because of the House Sparrows and the weather seems to be getting better. This year seems to be difficult for many of the birds. Upon reading the PMCA forum, many Purple Martins have been killed because they couldn't find insects to eat during the cold spell.
Date: Fri, 24 May 2002 14:42:17 -0000 Hi all,
Date: Fri, 24 May 2002 23:14:05 -0400 We had 5 babies that successfully fledged, starting to see them around...Today I saw my female building what appears to be another nest in the house!!! Could I be so lucky??? K
Date: Mon, 27 May 2002 20:29:22 -0700 (PDT) Well, I went last Saturday to check my trails and the boxes that I skipped
the week before(babies to be fledging) and found that 15 more were dead in the
boxes, most likely from that cold spell here in Ohio. Gee, just when you think
youre going to be cleaning out the old nest, youre cleaning out a mess of dead,
rotting babies. I left the doors open, to help dry out the wettness. Now I am
down to only having 64 babies fledged instead of over 80...kind of disappointed.
Oh, and found another female tree swallow pecked to death inside a box. THE GOOD
NEWS>>>I have trapped about 63 HSP on my trails. Darrell in N.E. Ohio
From: "College Town" <collegetown"at"I-55.com> Hello everyone!!! Last Friday I checked and thought I had 3 babies. I checked yesterday when I returned from out of town and there were 4 big mouths. I did have 5 eggs, so either I did not see the 5th or it did not hatch. Mom and Dad have been busily feeding their sweet babies. I did not get a chance to put up my second box, but I will get the materials today. I am still feeding the bb mealworms from a dish I put out in the morning and evening. The daddy visits everytime. I have not seen any other birds eating from the dish last night or this morning. All is going well. Kim
From: Afinechef"at"aol.com from Donna in Marlborough, CT Hi Friends, Add five more fledglings to the number successfully fledged this Spring! Mine left the nest this morning. All seems well. Donna in Marlborough, CT
From: "Marysue" <mamakitticat"at"earthlink.net> After their last nesting failed, my first hosting of a nest box, my Eastern Blue Birds seemed to be interested in building another nest right away and they did start building ... and today we have an EGG! Hurray! So three babies hatched on Mother's Day ... and were missing one week later ... and Mom and Dad Bluebird mourned for a day or so and then got right back to business. And a pair of House Finches are showing interest in my Hanging Basket of Petunias, the same basket that a pair of House Finches build in, laid 2 eggs and abandoned ... the same timing of the first EABL nest above. Second go-round will work out all-around -- I hope! And there is definably big activity in the Maple tree in the front yard, with two Northern Mockingbirds coming and going. They built a nest last week, and now they seem to have decided to use it! The nest is high up, the highest our tree goes, in the only thick part :-) It's a new tree, big, but not that big ... it's got lots of growth ahead of it. So it was nice to see a pair of birds choose it for it's first Spring in our yard! While I'm at it I'll just mention that the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are coming around every day often for the past week or so. It's nice to see them this early. Last year it was a drought for us with them until into June. It's bird central lately, with all the baby House Finches coming to the feeders, and the Cardinals, and the Tufted Titmouses, and now the Hummers too. Hardly ever a dull moment between them all and the EABL! Marysue In The South
Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 20:19:49 EDT Four bluebirds fledged sometime in the last 3 days, the first of the season here. Another 3 should be off within another 4-5 days--chronologically at least, but they look rather small to me yet, so I'm wondering if they may be a little delayed by the cold, rainy weather the first few days after fledging. The pair in the back hayfield whose nestlings died in the first day or two (during the rain) have moved to another box all the way at the other side of the field. Easier for me to check, but not as convenient for them--the other location was facing the neighbors' lawn. (The neighbors got a big kick out of watching them the last 3 years, too!) Four eggs so far. And, a nest in a new location, across the horse pasture from the house! Three eggs there. The tree swallows have made up for lost time, nearly all the other boxes occupied (other than pairs). A chickadee (nest virtually complete) was evicted by a TRES; so far the chickadee has not moved to the other box. One TRES nest has a large amount of birch catkins, the ones that look just like caterpillars! Off topic of cavity nesters, I'm glad to see more bobolinks in the hayfields this year than the last couple. I'm also hearing more veeries and wood thrushes than last year! Rhonda Watts
From: "Dottie, Hickory Hollow, Brown County, Indiana" <yumyumkatts"at"voyager.net> I just had five more new BB babies to fledge. That makes a total of 19 BB babies for the first nesting. Waiting on the second nesting now. I may have a Tree Swallow nest in the Peterson Box which I paired with a BB box. It doesn't look like a BB nest--too loosely made. Looks like straw. Tree Swallows were over there checking out the box a few days ago. I saved the Tree Swallow feathers from my Tree Swallow mystery last year so I thought I would take them out there and put them around the box to see what will happen. Dottie, Hickory Hollow
Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 09:29:21 -0700 (PDT) When I started with the weekly trail reports I was afraid time constraints
would get the better of me. As I'm due for my next trip to the park, I should
get this done. My Field Data Sheets are like paint-by-numbers sketches and I
need to see the color. The mountain laurel is putting on a good show and the air is perfumed by the multiflora roses, a plant that I love like a bluebird and hate like a house sparrow all at the same time. The weather has been wet and windy with three days of record lows in the mid-thirties. With reports of losses due to the weather I was a bit concerned as I had four bluebird nests and four chickadee nests with nestlings. The entrance field with one box of four bluebird nestlings look big and healthy. Uncooperative tree swallows occupy three other boxes. The first chickadee nest I checked was down to only three nestlings, but beautiful birds that actually look like chickadees. The other three boxes with nestlings suffered no losses. The house wrens are still only occupying one active nest with six eggs. I'm undecided as to the other two boxes, whether they are dummy nests or just reluctant layers. The three bluebird nests in the interior of the park have two with four nestlings and one with three nestlings, all due to fledge within a week. The exit field has five active nests with one of the boxes holding the first six nestlings. The others all have eggs. One box has the first two eggs of the bluebirds second brood. I believe this is the same pair that fledged four young last week from a near-by box. I'll make my rounds after lunch today and hopefully get that report off a
little more timely than this one. But as I have about a dozen e-mails to send
off I might be a little late again. =====
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