OP Blue Birds are in Town

I heard rumors that a pair had been seen, but I finally saw them on May 1st. The female stays up in the nearby tree while the male inspects the box. Thus, only photos so far are of the Mr. It looks like the box is directly under the tree, but it's about 25 ft. away. I will turn the box so the hole is facing the tree before babies fledge, but for now keep it facing north so rain doesn't blow into it. It's in the same location as last year - 5 ft. or so closer to the window!

They are quite verbal, and yes, I saw my first wing wave!

I'm intentionally showing the area where the nesting box is located for those of you wondering where to put boxes. This is a suburban schoolyard. The grass was mowed for the first time about five days ago. Pesticide-free lawn. You can see that the custodians are quite cooperative! I have three posts around the area for perching and hunting. I put mealworms in the Tupperware container at the base of the post. The second grade just finished their mealworm unit and contributed worms and beetles.

This series was taken on May 1st.

Isn't he precious? The four babies last year were banded by Dave Hoffer of the New York BB Society. It was coincidental that he works 2 miles from our nesting boxes! I could not detect a leg band on this bird.

The white thingie that appears attached to the back of the box is a plastic lawn chair in the backyard of the neighbor about 150 yds. from the box. The woods are way off, too. There are numerous very tall trees around.

Nice view of his beautiful back, and dandelions. By the way, my second box is 100 yds away and just around the corner of the building at the front of this wing. The bbs never even visited it as far as we could tell. Every morning I scrape the hosp garbage out of it. They use dandelions, feathers, litter. I'll take a photo tomorrow to show it's location. It is perfect viewing from a classroom window!

The front of the box is hinged and lifts from the bottom. The metal pole has a plate that is screwed into the box. The pole has a screw bottom. It was easy to screw into the soft soil. The bought this setup at Wild Birds Unlimited. They give me a teacher discount.

No one bothered the bbs last year - keep your fingers crossed for this year - as the seed feeders are in the courtyard that is surrounded by the classrooms.

Congrats on getting your bluebirds back and thank you for the photos and info on your bb nest boxes, OP.

I bet the kids love to have the bbs around the school yard!

It was raining too hard to get a photo when I stopped by to replenish meal worms, but the bbs ARE starting their nest. They are using the mowed grass as they did last year. However, last year by the time they started (June 1st) everything was much drier. The inside of the box was nice and dry.

As soon as I left, the sun came out and there was the most incredible double rainbow. I have never in my entire life seen a double. It was so large and close that I couldn't get the whole thing in my view finder. Hope you enjoy it.

Thanks Tab. Yes the kids have been converted! It such a pleasure to be interrupted by a student telling me he sees a northern flicker in the courtyard!

Fortunately, I can easily connect birding to curriculum. I teach NY state history, and the blue bird is the state bird! Also, in science we cover life cycles, etc. Otherwise I'd probably be fired!!!

Thats great OP! Its so nice to hear the kids are excited about it!

What a wonderful, rewarding project! Re: opening children's eyes.........when 4-yr-old GS was visiting, he saw his first arrowhead in a jar of collectibles. At five, when he came for another visit, he brought a gift...........an arrowhead he had found when digging on the playground at school! It was so primitive that I'm not sure I would have recognized it for what it was, but he did. Talk about amazed and proud!

I have to ask: what is the significance of the wing wave??

Thanks Pelle. I stopped by mid-day. The bbs were very active, zooming around the meadow. Hosp continue building a nest in this box. After observing the hosp flying clear across the meadow, about 200 yds, just to chase off the bbs, I took this box down. Do you think they liked this location because of the evergreens?

Hi Mima! It is communication between the birds. I'm a novice. Hopefully, 2cousindave, pelle, resin, and rose will visit, and explain fully its significance. It's discussed in the other bluebird threads, too.

I'll bet you're a GRAND gm, Mima. I love taking my friends' children out for hikes. I give scout nature hikes, too.

Mr. bb was so far away, but I was able to see him through my binoculars, so I tried taking a picture through them. It kind of works! I did watch the female up close, but they are still skittish, and didn't stay long enough for a pic.

Today was eventful for the bbs. They did not make progress on their nest today because they spent most of the day defending it from the HOSP. The sparrows also antagonized the goldfinches when they went to their niger seeds. Hopefully the bullies will let up and go elsewhere.

I did get a picture of the two of them today. They sure are a pretty pair.

Lovely picture! And the picture through the binoculars is so-o interesting.

Nice picture OP!

Thanks pelle and mima for your kind words. I'm so upset. The pair spent the entire day yesterday - May 5th - fending off a group of HOSP. I fear they have left us as I didn't see them today at all. I don't blame them poor things. It was just awful yesterday.

Remember, I took the second nesting box down the evening of the 4th. Maybe I should have just left the box up and allowed the sparrows to have it, and they wouldn't have bothered the bbs.

I took down the box the bbs were interested in and scrubbed it really well, and put the other one back up at the other end of the buiding where I had it originally. My theory is the sparrows will go back to the original one and I'll just leave them alone. Maybe the bbs will come back - I think they're still nearby because the mealworms I put out twice daily are always gone.

I'll go to Wild Birds Unlimited for a sparrow spooker, too.

Oh, I'm so sorry. But better them leave than the unthinkable.

Oh, I hope someone more knowledgable than I will offer some suggestions. Fortunately, we don't have a HOSP problem (evil, evil little things....)

I am sorry to hear about the problem with the HOSP's! I have had them chase off the BB's from all but one nestbox. Have you checked the Sialis website that addresses this problem? There is a lot of good info and links to different sites that may help. Good luck...I know how discouraging it can be.

Thanks everyone. Good thinking rose. I'll go to the Sialis site.

OP, you also might want to Dmail Dave (2ndCousinDave). He will tell you of his efforts with HOSPs.

Ok. Thanks Mrs. Ed. I will d-mail Dave. I'm trying the passive methods suggested at sialis, too - the box that the hosp had taken over in the beginning is back at the front of the building. Of course the gang swarmed immediately. Sialis says once hosp control a box they will never give it up. Yesterday (7th) a.m. the bbs were looking for their box so I put it back. Remember, I took it down to clean it and let it dry over night because I was concerned about the sparrows taking it over in the absence of the bbs. I figured better gone than taken over by hosp or harming bbs.

The mealworms continue to be gobbled up quickly - bbs or robins? I think bbs since they come and go.

I hope readers will learn from this huge mistake - If you see any hosp, don't put up bird houses with entry holes that they can fit into. We have several cute little houses in the courtyard - all controlled by hosp. They have found crevices and holes in the brick walls of our building around the fire alarms. We have ended up with a colony of hosp. Hosp are opportunists. They chase away goldfinches, grackles, starlings, chipping sparrows, and even crows! You can hear them calling in reinforcements when they feel threatened. We have enjoyed feeding the birds for several years now, and we have had many various visitors, however, this year we are seeing fewer of them.

After bb breeding season we are going to remove all the houses in our courtyard, and stop feeding the birds. Hopefully this will eliminate the problem.

OP you have dmail from me!

Today was a calm day. BBs were on their house early but scattered when I put mealworms out. Hosp were in that area. Putting their house back up seemed to help . . . today, anyway. Still hopeful.

The bbs were sighted on the 9th and 10th still determining if they want to use the nesting box. It's such a good spot for them, I hope it works out. A hawk was apparently trying to catch a hosp in the courtyard (bbs don't go in there). This could be our ticket to reducing that population.

ooo, too bad you can't train a hawk to only go after mice and HOSPs.

:D

Hmmmmmmmm! Maybe I can pay them.

The bbs are still apt. hunting. I continue to put out mealworms twice daily, and they are enjoying them! They actually behaved in a similar manner last year. It took nearly a month before they took the plunge and nested. The sparrows have left the nesting box alone - no interest whatsoever. So, I'm hopeful.

Things have calmed down between the hosp and bbs. Goldfinches have been hanging out around the bbs seemingly eating dandelion seeds. I did see a robin chasing the bbs around briefly one morning, but they seem to have accepted one another.

bbs have a nest in the works.

Let's try this again.

This is the pair on a large branch that has blown off the maple tree nearby.

This is the project supervisor. Quite seriously, I watched him remove material from the nesting box that Mrs. put in!

This is one of the hunting posts I put out for them. I put mealworms in the Tupperware on the grass. They zoom in when they see me now.

The two of them on the post.

That is good news OP...hope all works out for the lovely couple!

Very good news today! Just went over to share mealworms with the pair, and counted 3 eggs. We are expecting thunderstorms tonight so I made sure the hole is facing away from the wind. Looks secure to me.

Will update tomorrow afternoon.

That great news OP!

YAY! Sounds like you are one your way finally to a successful nesting! Do sooo hope it goes well!