Bluebirds

Bluebirds have begun nest building in the house I put up back in February (see Feb. 26, 2007 entry). I opened it up as soon as I arrived and found a full blown nest which consisted of pine straw and hay.

Later that evening I watched as they made trip after trip bringing more nesting material to the box. The other bluebird house I put up on my neighbors property had a nest in it, but not a bird nest. Instead I found a "loaded" paper wasp nest. By loaded I mean it was covered with wasps and I came very close to introducing my hand to them. I should've seen this coming. I knew when I put up these houses that paper wasps would try to nest in them. Normally you would rub a bar of soap on all the areas of the house that a wasp could use as a nest area.

The soap prevents the nest from sticking. So that's what I did- I removed the nest and soaped it up good. I returned the next day to find that bluebirds had begun to build in it also. As the season progresses I will report on any and all activity.

Purple Martin Colony Update

Purple Martins are beginning to show up in force, and so far I've counted about 7 pair that have arrived. I've averaged around 23 pair over the last several years so there are more to come. English sparrows are (as usual) trying to take over atleast 3 of my 32 gourds and I continue to remove their trash filled nests to deter them. This along with an increased number of martins as the season progresses will in time cause them to just give up. Good riddance. These nest site competitors are vicious in that they will kill martin nestlings and destroy martin eggs if not kept under strict control. European starlings, another aggressive non-native nest site competitor has become less and less of a problem ever since I went to mainly gourd housing. There are some nice martin houses out there, but I strongly suggest anyone considering starting a martin colony or wanting to change or replace housing to use gourds. The SuperGourd, sold by the Purple Martin Conservation, is made of thick, tough, high-density polyethylene plastic that will, in my opinion, last forever. As the season progresses I will keep everyone informed on the goings on at my colony.