Little buggers are persistent. Cleaned the house and within 30 minutes they are picking up the old nest material and putting it back in the house. Finally decided enough was enough. Opened the birdhouse and 3 sparrows flew out. Took the birdhouse down and found an old wasp nest inside. Going to put a v3 in tonight like the other bluebird house and when I see a sparrow inside, the siren will scare it out. Hoping conditioning will eventually keep them away.
As for the wasp nest, I read if bar soap is applied to the roof of the birdhouse, it will be too slippery for a wasp to attach a nest.
Thanks, Mike. Well Iâm glad you pointed this out. I see now that this isnât a bluebird at all. When I first saw it on the feeder I thought it was bigger than a bluebird but didnât think much else about it. It turns out that this is a Blue Grosbeak. It has reddish-brown marks on its wings. Theyâre also a darker blue than the Bluebird and the Bunting.
The Blue Grosbeak has reddish-brown patches on their wings.
Youâre right because bluebirds have a reddish-brown breast mixed with white. I wasnât looking close enough on my camera when I first saw him on the feeder (35 feet from the house). I just got real excited when I saw a blue colored bird feeding.
Blue Grosbeaks are pretty rare and you donât see many of them here in Virginia.
I got my first Wyze cameras late last month and have been moving them around to see which locations work best. A couple of days ago I placed one of my WCOâs on a ledge next to the front door. I got an interesting Person alert this morning. Itâs the smallest âpersonâ that has ever visited.
I set up a ânest camâ about a month ago in anticipation of a birdâs nest on a fence pole up against my house (happens often), but the only taker I saw so far continually scoping it out was a Robin, and they were too large to be comfortable there. So Iâm thinking about nailing a small piece of plywood to the top of the pole to expand how much space is available for a nest. The chewing damage is due to squirrels.
Finally a bluebird is making another nest! Had to clear a previous nest that a sparrow took over. The v3 has a siren so my plan is to scare the invasive species out without touching the nest.
Here is a clip of the bluebird bringing pine needles for a nest. Reminds me of the video of the dog trying to go through a door with a long stick in its mouth
I have enough pine needles to make a thousand nests. Bluebird can have as many as she needs. Momma makes the nest. Dad just brings food for momma and guards the nest.
Learning a lot about bluebirds. The eggs will not be incubated until they are all out so the chicks hatch about the same time. No new eggs and what I think is the male is incubating the eggs.
Papa bluebird is bringing some nice live juicy mealworms to Mama bluebird
Getting crowded. There were 6 eggs. One did not hatch. I suspect it could be in pieces under the nest, or mom ate it. She collects the poop (it comes out encased in something like a baggie) and deposits it away from the nest so as to not attract predators.
The 5th chick is out of the frame at the top. Donât want to mess around in there pointing the camera.
too bad the Cameraâs donât have an adjustable lens to focus on a close subject like this. I have a window mounted hummingbird feeder, where I thought it would be neat to get footage of the hummingbirds at that window. I mounted a V3 to the window viewing the hummingbird feeder. The result was not really worth it, as the birds were in focus as they approached the feeder, but once feeding at/on the feeder, they where out of focus.
I agree about the focus issue. The camera was not designed to be sharp 3â away from what is is pointed at. This is my third attempt and first actual tenant. Another, larger bluebird house is waiting to be swapped with this one. It is the same setup but in a larger bluebird house with a higher roof allowing me to move the camera farther away from the nest.
So far the white v3 doesnât bother them.
Feed me! Turn the sound up. Sounds like a smoke alarm.
Have a larger bluebird house ready to be swapped with this one. The v3 is aimed better to see more of the interior.
Last chick left. What I have been reading, all the chicks usually leave in a 2 hour window. This last chick hung around for more than a day after the previous chick flew out.
