I put up a meal worm feeder on a very tall pole right outside my living room window. I'm hoping to attract bluebirds this season with it. Something has been eating the worms and I finally caght the culprit on camera... a carolina wren. Here is the wren sitting on the top of a nearby shepherds hook deciding if the worms are worth flying so close to my face in the window lol.
Anything for a mealy lol. This wren couldn't make up its mind even so. It stayed on the outside for a few minutes checking me out.
Unable to resist the lure of these yummies, the wren enters the inner sanctum.
so many to choose from! hmmm is she still looking?
oops, sent the wrong picture.
here we go!
Believe me, it wont take them long before they are DEMANDING worms. They must taste like chocolate, cause they get absolutely wacky for them. I had a lot of warblers chowing down on mine; theyd sit in my crepe myrtle that was about 10 feet away from the feeder and when I was filling it, they'd hover over me chirping to get out of the way. They'd go right in there while I was still there, grab one, and take off. The blues were shyer, would wait until I was gone, but then they'd come. They got so fat I didnt think they'd ever squeeze in those holes, but they did.
Yummm!
Susan,dont tell me you take those with "our" lens?
Ha ha - I can't wait Halo!! Your experiences were the reason I did the monkey see monkey do thing! I hope the bluebirds are noticing. I have a feeling I won't be as lucky as you are with warblers but I'm giving it a good try! Would you post some of your warbler pictures here again? That was so neat!
Yes, that is with the 18 - 70 mm lens. The feeder is less than a foot from the window. I have the camera on a tripod and I have it set on action (the running figure) I also have the rapid multi shot button pressed so the camera keeps taking shots as long as I have the button pressed. I ended up buying two poles that came in sections from Walmart. I used one complete pole and two sections of the second pole to make the feeder high enough to be on the level with the window and I can see right into the feeder if I sit on the floor. I'm so glad I finally got a customer lol!
Great pics Susan! I just love the C. Wrens, they are one of my very favorites.
I've decided to order that Meal Worm feeder.
I'm sure that will make the DH good and happy (NOT)!
Susan, I cant find those pictures. Who knows where they could be. I took my mealie feeder down. I had it hanging from my back porch, and the blue bird feeder is just a few yards from it, and the blues are building their nests, so I am trying to get the population down around the back porch so the blues can nest in peace. Once they have babies I might put the feeder back, tho they did such a good job with the local population that I may not.
I can't wait to see pictures of the nesting bluebirds. I hope you get a chance to take some!
Oh boy, you are going to have lots of fun with this feeder Pell! Do you already know where you are going to put it? I didn't get any takers from mine for a few weeks. Now that the wren ha broken the ice I'm hoping more birds will check it out.
Where do you get that feeder from? How much is it?
Marilyn
Lily,
Great pics and cute comments with each! The CW is so adorable! Thanks for sharing!
Here you go Marilyn.
http://www.tmbstudios.com/proddetail.asp?prod=BBNDMWF
Oh thanks pell!
Mariylnbeth, I tried the bb feeder a few years ago that is enclosed with plastic sides and has a hole on each end and didn't have much luck with it. I have since read that sometimes birds get in and then panic when they can't get out right away. One poster mentioned that they had to take the feeder down and take it apart ot get the bird out. Plus this one would be easier to take pictures with. I keep thinking that if you were clever this way you could make something similar. I was surprised when this one arrived at how large and heavy it is. So far I'm loving it!
Susan I forgot to answer your question. As soon as the ground thaws (grrr) I planned on putting the BB house and feeder in the side backyard right near my deck. Just heard the temps are going to plummet again next weekend. :-(
Great set of photos! Thanks for sharing!
Pell,
Thanks for the link, now I just have to get DH to let me buy mealies. He already thinks "the birds eat better than he does!" lol
That sounds familiar Marilyn! ;-)
Pell,
LOL, sounds like you heard that before too! ;-))
I can't complain the DH is making me a bird house at this very moment; I'll let you know how it turns out,lol.
Pell
lol
Interesting about the starling proof mealworm feeder. Thanks for posting the link.
I wanted to add that a good place to get Live Meal Worms in bulk is http://www.grubco.com/
(Marilyn--that's pretty close to us--you might mention to your DH how much money he would save if he picked them up himself! LOL)
OR... you can offer to make a meal worm omelette for his next breakfast so he won't feel second best lol! Seriously though, I hear the same thing here.
Tabasco,
Thanks for the link! I knew about Grubco being in Hamilton and I would be the one to pick them up, not him. lol
Lily,
He would pass up the mealworm omelette, lol.
How long does it take to go through 10,000 mealworms? Seems rather expensive for the price.
Its much less expensive than buying it from the bird store.
I've been watching this topic from the start, but hesitant to say anything, at first. Because, some of you seem so squeamish about mealworms. I raised meal worms for years back when I was raising tropical fish for sale. It is very easy to raise your own meal worms if your not squeamish about it.
Mealworms are the larvae of the darkling beetle. Darkling beetles undergo complete metamorphosis, and have an egg, larva, pupa and beetle stage. The female beetle lays up to 1000 eggs. These are small and seldom seen. Eggs hatch in about one week but the larva are very small so it may take a few weeks before the larvae are large enough to be seen well. As a larva grows it molts several times- shedding its exoskeleton. After a period of approx. 3 months the larvae becomes a pupa. The pupa stage lasts about two weeks. The beetle then emerges from the pupa.
If you Google “MEALWORM CULTURE” it will give you links to a number of different methods. (NOTE: some vendors will attempt to sell you over priced adult beetles. Just use the worms.)
The method I used is as follows:
Materials list:
Container - Metal or Plastic pail.
Pores cover - heavy cloth or screen.
Food - any grain or meal. (I used cracked corn)
Mealworms.
Put cracked corn in pail. Add Mealworms. Cover with cloth. Add food as needed. Maintain room temperature. Do NOT add any moisture, or the culture will turn into a rotting stinking mess!)
The squeamish part: about once a year pour top part of culture into new container. Dispose of the mess at the bottom (without looking or smelling).
Good luck to those who want to save money and have an endless supply of mealworms. Usually, the biggest problem is finding a place to keep the culture.
Gary
Hey Marilyn,
You asked, in another thread, what they felt like on bare skin ~ kind of like cold, uncooked spaghetti noodles, broken into tiny pieces of course, LOL! I won't hesitate doing it bare handed again, not an ick factor for me, they're pretty inactive when they first come out of the frig too :-)
I have no problem picking up meal worms but I think if I started raising them the DH would really flip his lid, lol.
Hi Grass - I have thought about raising them myself a number of times. Your post is making me think about it again. When things slow down here a little I think I just might try it. Thanks.
