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#11 |
Carbon
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Eclectic, Al USA
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I also have been spotting Eastern Bluebirds sitting on my clothesline! They have been visiting for a couple years now, wonder if they have a nest somewhere on prop0erty. I get so excited to see them. I put out some dried cranberries out, tried to take a pic but Mockingbird shooed him away!
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#12 | |
WG Hospitality & UAOKA recipient
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Pennsylvania
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![]() They are cavity nesters...do you have a nestbox or natural cavities they could use to raise their young?
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"If suburbia were landscaped with meadows, prairies, thickets or forests, or combinations of these, then the water would sparkle, fish would be good to eat again, birds would sing and human spirits would soar." ~ Lorrie Otto ~ A Native Backyard Blog ~ |
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#13 |
WG Fundraising Coordinator
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Kentucky
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We have 5 young nestlings in one box out of the four to choose from. I'm happy to see them year after year. This morning I saw what I thought was a bluebird but it happened to be an indigo bunting. No mistaking those bright blue birds.
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“To be whole. To be complete. Wildness reminds us what it means to be human, what we are connected to rather than what we are separate from.” ― Terry Tempest Williams |
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#14 |
WG Prize & Gift Coordinator
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Michigan
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Wow Would I ever love to see one of those! Are they this far north?
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The successful woman is the woman that had the chance and took it! A walk among the elusive Whitetail Deer |
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#15 |
WG Fundraising Coordinator
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Kentucky
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Day old baby bluebirds, I count 5 from today. Another nest box has what I think are 5 house wrens eggs and one larger paler egg. Note the bluebird feather lining. Cowbird maybe?
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“To be whole. To be complete. Wildness reminds us what it means to be human, what we are connected to rather than what we are separate from.” ― Terry Tempest Williams |
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#16 | |
Great Horned Owl
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Northeastern MA
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I'd guess cowbird in that second pic...
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"Know thyself." Oracle at Delphi |
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#17 |
WG Fundraising Coordinator
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Kentucky
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I worried about that too but I did see the female bluebird atop the nest box yesterday. If the male was killed I’ve seen broods raised by the momma alone.
__________________
“To be whole. To be complete. Wildness reminds us what it means to be human, what we are connected to rather than what we are separate from.” ― Terry Tempest Williams |
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#18 |
WG Hospitality & UAOKA recipient
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Pennsylvania
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I think house wrens killed my nestling bluebirds this year...and one of the tree swallows nests. A second pair seems to have succeeded in raising their young. It is very disheartening, and I wanted to start a post about it for a while...but I kept putting it off.
I fear that I won't see the bluebirds return. For every year since I put a boxout the first spring, I have had them best here. Often two or three broods per year. After adding a new nestbox to the far edge of our property, I am now considering removing all except the original four that used to host one bluebird pair and two to three pairs of tree swallows...with a chickadee pair once or twice. Hopefully that will get me back to more successful broods. I hope that the two house wren pairs that succeeded in the other boxes don't come back and cause problems again...but, with success, I expect them to return--hopefully removing their boxes will be enough to deter them. Sigh.
__________________
"If suburbia were landscaped with meadows, prairies, thickets or forests, or combinations of these, then the water would sparkle, fish would be good to eat again, birds would sing and human spirits would soar." ~ Lorrie Otto ~ A Native Backyard Blog ~ |
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#19 |
WG Fundraising Coordinator
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Kentucky
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Oh no dap, that's terrible. I'll be watching both nests carefully now. The strange egg in the wren nest actually turned out to be a wren egg after all. I think it was the angle of the camera and the flash. So far the 5 bluebird nestlings are OK and are still being fed. I'll keep an eye on the wrens. I haven't had them both nesting at the same time before. I usually keep an eye on the boxes earlier but it has been such a crazy busy summer. Usually when I see sticks in a nest box I remove them before any eggs are laid but I was too late this year. We've had chickadees in that box too from time to time. Two boxes that were used last year are empty.
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“To be whole. To be complete. Wildness reminds us what it means to be human, what we are connected to rather than what we are separate from.” ― Terry Tempest Williams |
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#20 | |
WG Hospitality & UAOKA recipient
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Pennsylvania
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Linrose, I hope yours will be fine. I am not 100% sure that the house wrens are to blame...but I do strongly suspect them. Are the nestboxes the bluebirds are using far away from shrubs and brushy areas? I think my land may be changing to habitat more favorable to house wrens. I will have to fight succession in the one section of my field where locust trees are starting to try to take hold. Keep us posted.
__________________
"If suburbia were landscaped with meadows, prairies, thickets or forests, or combinations of these, then the water would sparkle, fish would be good to eat again, birds would sing and human spirits would soar." ~ Lorrie Otto ~ A Native Backyard Blog ~ |
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