Disastrous Spring

So I give up! Once again the raccoons have raided a birdhouse, this time taking out the new bluebird nest and taking the four eggs!

I'm a nature lover and actually been tolerant of raccoons but this year they have turned destructive! They have raided my bird food buckets which are in a deck box. They have got into cabinets! They have broke bungie cords! They have killed over 15 babies! And today they broke a feeder line and carried off the feeder to parts unknown!

I've bought extension poles, feeders on metal wire, moved houses and feeders and this year nothing seems to stop them. I've been at this house for over 10 years and NEVER had this much damage in basically one month. ARGH!!!!

I love my birds but not sure what to do about these raccoons!

Let's try this again!

So my awesome bluebird couple is over the disappointment of the raccoon attack and have taken up residence in one of the other houses on my property. I wasn't sure they were going to stay as I watch the nest building but today we have eggs, 3 so far.

A few days ago they started the build but then disappeared. Not sure if the constant rain on those days made a difference or not. However, Thursday I noticed the nest was completed but still no sign of the couple. Well, yesterday I saw the male on a wire above the new house and today I saw them together by the house.

I took a picture and BAM we've got eggs. I'm actually glad they picked this house because my thin cell phone slides in a gap in the top so I don't have to disturb them too much to track progress.

Bandits in the neighborhood

Well, it's another sad time for me and my feathered friends. The gang of masked bandits came through with a vengeance the other night. The raccoons got into my birds seed which I thought was pretty secure. I always take the seed out of the bags it comes in and put it into buckets with lids then place inside a deck box. Well, they figured that out and got in the deck box and opened three of the five buckets I have in there. All I can say is they prefer Duncraft's Chickadee Blend (http://www.duncraft.com/Duncraft-Chickadee-Blend) because they throw that everywhere and ate every nut in the bucket. What a mess!

The saddest thing is that they destroyed the bluebird nest and all the babies are gone. The picture here was taken the day before the attack. I was scared that the mama didn't make it but happy to report that both mama and papa bluebird survived. I've moved the house about five feet and secured it to some lattice-work on the side of my house. I was hoping to do this early this spring but the birds beat me to it this year. If you don't know, this particular bird house was one I was going to throw away last year. However I changed my mind and sit it on the end of my deck while I decided where to hang it. In that time this pair of bluebirds build a nest in it so I simply bungee corded it to a pole to make sure the wind didn't blow it off. Anyway, last year they successfully raised three groups of babies in it!

This morning I'm happy to report that the pair is already exploring new nesting places. I've seen them go into the house the chickadees where in, which I'm a little nervous about since I still have no clue what happened to that nest. I'm hoping that will come back to their old box but they might not like the five feet difference. Either way, I'm just happy that they both survived the attack of the masked bandits and are still together!

Finally happy again

This spring I decided that I was tired of the 'normal' finch feeder style and the fact that seeds always stayed in the bottom and they were not the easiest to clean. So off to the Duncraft.com website I went in search of a new finch feeder. Of course I took the "what's on sale" route and ended up with the BirdsChoice Nyjer Forever Feeder - http://www.duncraft.com/index/page/product/product_id/781/category_id/22/category_chain/19,22/product_name/BirdsChoice+Nyjer+Forever+Feeder'

When the package came, the feeder was really easy to put together and I was very pleased with the quality, however my family of gold finches were not as thrilled as I was. They were not having anything to do with it and I had almost given up hope. I actually looked at the old tube style again but resisted buying one quite yet. Well, low and behold one little finch starting using the new feeder and soon the family was together again. The feeder is finally beginning to look more and more like the picture in the Duncraft advertising. I've posted both for prove. Mine is the one with the red barn in the background.

So I guess we'll be keeping the new feeder and I can recommend it but give your feathered friends some time to adjust.

Sad and happy update

I returned today from a four day trip and was excited to check on my baby chickadees and see if the bluebird eggs had hatched. I was home about 10 minutes before I took my dog out and happily checked the houses. First up was the bluebird house and upon taking a cell phone pic through the hole I could tell then had hatched. One other clue was that mama bluebird was not happy with me messing with her home. She didn't mind when they were eggs but now she minds.

Next up was to snap a picture of the chickadees to see their progress. I knocked on the side of the house to make sure mom and dad were out and then slid my cell phone in the crack to snap a quick pic. To my shocking surprise, the box was empty. Not just no babies but no nest. I lifted the door and my fears were confirmed, EMPTY! I take a quick look around and see the nest on the other side of the fence in a ball. I have no clue what happened, but this was no snake or raccoon - this was done by a human and I will find out why!

Despite it all, I'm excited to watch the bluebirds grow and hopefully we'll have a few more batches of eggs this season.