Another busy morning at the BB house

[mjs1973]

I was starting to wonder if they BB's had found a new place to nest as I haven't seen them much this week. I was happy to see them very busy this morning bringing in nesting material, not to mention "getting busy" on top of the nest box.

[Singletracklovr]

These are really nice Mike.
Do you have your tree trunk house up yet?

[mjs1973]

These are really nice Mike.
Do you have your tree trunk house up yet?

Thanks Bob. Yes, in fact I have 2 of the tree trunk houses up now. I have 7 nest boxes total, but so far this is the only one with anything in it.

[billy320]

I have not seen anymore bluebirds and Sparrows moved into the house

[paulnj]

that last one is great.

[mjs1973]

I have not seen anymore bluebirds and Sparrows moved into the house

That sucks. Are they house sparrows? They are a non-native species and are not protected. You can evict them if you want.

[mjs1973]

that last one is great.

Thanks Paul. I'm sure I will be posting lots more images of this pair in the coming weeks.

[mjs1973]

Good news. Something has finally found the mealworm feeder I have put out to help draw the BB's closer to me. Not sure if it's the BB"s that found them or the chickadee that couldn't figure out how to get into the feeder on Sunday. Either way, I'm happy. I have Friday off, the weather looks great, and I'm planning on spending the morning with the BB's. The nest looks good, but no eggs yet.

[Singletracklovr]

I am really looking forward to seeing the BB nesting season this year thru your lens.
Can't wait.

[mjs1973]

Thanks Bob.

Turns out it's chickadees that found the mealworm feeder. I watched them empty it on Saturday morning. The BB's didn't come close.

I checked the BB box last night and I'm happy to report that there was a single blue egg in the nest. Hoping they add a few more over the next couple of day.

One of the boxes I made with the log front now has a black capped chickadee nest in it. I'm glad something is using it!

[billy320]

It's very depressing around here, not only have the bluebirds left here they are not at the teatown reserve anymore, they had 10 BB houses set up last year now there are only 3 and there are no BB to be seen, I hung out there for 3 hours yesterday.

[mjs1973]

Didn't spend anytime photographing this weekend do to a cold, but I checked my boxed this afternoon. The BB's now have 4 eggs in the nest. Still no eggs in the chickadee nest yet. Notice the difference in the nesting materials. BB's build their nest out of dried grass. The chickadee's use moss, and then line it with fur.

[mjs1973]

Update:

I have been monitoring my next boxes on a regular basis and this is what I have to report. The box pictured above with the chickadee nest has been taken over. I haven't see any birds near it but the box is not filled with sticks. My guess it's either house sparrows or a wren.

Last weekend 2 of the bluebird eggs had hatches. I figured the other 2 would hatch in the next day or so. I didn't check the box for a week and when I did, it was empty. The nest was still there but no sign of the chicks. Much too soon to have fledged so I can only assume something got them.

Two of my other boxes now have wrens building nests in them.

The other box I put up this spring with the log front on it now has chickadees in it. There were 7 eggs in the nest on Sunday.

[Singletracklovr]

That is very sad news.
I wonder if the hole in the bird box could be modified to slow the predators down?

When I was building bird boxes for my backyard, the research I did stated the hole size and depth was very important for this reason. I had to buy 3 different size drill bits depending on the type of house. Some houses needed an extra piece of wood attached to the hole to make it deeper.

[mn shutterbug]

Perfect lighting on the first one. It sure brings the colors out. The second one is great, too.

[mjs1973]

You're correct Bob. The BB boxes have pretty specific sizes for the interior as well as the hole. Some of the boxes I build do have the extra piece of wood on them to make the opening deeper but a couple of the older boxes I made don't.

Thanks Mike. I haven't had the time this spring to spend at the boxes but I was happy to get a few images in early April.

As of right now it appears that wrens have occupied at least 3 of the boxes, chickadees are in one, another box I'm not sure of. It's either wrens or sparrows. One box was still empty last time I checked. I'm happy to report that there was some activity at the bluebird box mentioned above over the weekend. I checked it tonight and there was one BB egg in the nest. Looks like they are going to give it another go, so I still have some time to get some more photos!

[mjs1973]

UP DATE:

The BB's are well on their way with brood #2. A couple weeks ago they had 5 eggs in the nest. Today it appears the eggs have hatched! Mom and dad were busy this morning bring food to the nest. I wasn't able to stay long but I did manage to get a few shots of them.

The chickadee chicks are pretty big and look like they will be leaving the nest any day now. I wish I had more time to try to photograph them...

This was one of the shots I I took this morning.

[mjs1973]

I got up early this morning to stake out the BB box. I only had about an hour before having to leave to get ready for work. As I was about to start packing up I noticed a deer working it's way through the field. Then I noticed 2 more behind it so I sat back down. This is the only one I got a shot of before they saw me and headed for cover. That is my tripod set up at the next box in the FG.

[paulnj]

I really like the out of focus tripod that tells the story and gives perspective. Quite early for a buck to get antlers too...... I think .

[CaraRose]

I really like the out of focus tripod that tells the story and gives perspective. Quite early for a buck to get antlers too...... I think .

Most of the bucks around here have their antlers started already. I saw one today that is going to have a heck of an impressive rack if they're only half grown!

[mjs1973]

I saw another deer sitting in a field tonight. I thought it was another buck, but it was a red wing blackbird sitting on her head!