Yesterday evening when I pulled in the driveway in the VW as it was getting dark I looked up to the right at the corner of the house and noticed a gray spot on the lower end of the freeze board where it meets the gable end soffit return . Hmmmm ? Do I have some rot going on there ?
Jumped up on the basement dog-house to get a closer look , and as soon as I had my head level with cap on the return , a gray flutter flew past my face . Startled me a bit but I guess that why we call those returns " Bird Coops " .
Could not figure out what kind of bird it was , so later I poked
my head out the upstairs window and spotted one very cold looking female Bluebird bedded down on the lead flashing of the cap . Given the pile of droppings it was evident it has been making it home
for some time . Checked the other " bird coops " on the house and there were as much droppings there too . Annie mentioned she had seen a pair hanging around the front of the house lately . . .
. . . so I checked the soffit return on the front foyer and sure enough there was the male of the pair .
Given that it was rather cold outside we were baffled as to how they were still hanging around here and had not headed south with the rest of their kind . That there is about eighteen below zero Celsius for yous confounded metric canukiestanians .
So this afternoon I cut some one-by wooden triangles , added a front fence and wrapped all sides with Reflectex bubble foil wrap . . .
. . . and filled them with wood shavings inside . Put three of these up . Book says Bluebirds do use birdhouses so we shall see if this meets their approval .
You are a good and kind hearted man Mike. Do you provide seed and suet? A peanut butter and fat suet would help them survive winter as well as water. Ya kinda took responsibility for these stragglers...
ReplyDeleteHey Kevin: In seventeen years here we have only seen bluebirds a couple times in the past. So they are fairly rare around here. I put seed out for the birds but reading up on bluebirds it seems they are classified as part of the robin family and are not really seed eaters. They eat fruits and worms so I am not sure what they are feeding on at this point. I have put suet up in the past and the birds we have here don't seem to care for it. 25 miles up the road at mom's, they wolf the stuff up. Popped my head out the upstairs window last night and no one was in the bird boxes so it may have all been a exercise in futility. Oh well !
DeleteI still get bluebirds and cardinals here at my feeder in the Frozen Tundra of Wisconsin. Maybe they don't migrate?
ReplyDeleteThey were never that common here in coastal southern Maine. But reported sightings have increased. Apparently they are expanding their territory northwards. This pair has not returned since I put the boxes up.
DeleteWell done! :-)
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately they did not like it and did not bed down in them. They are around and holing up in some old woodpecker holes in the maple tree in the front yard. More pix to follow soon.
DeleteMight be all that shiny stuff scaring them. Maybe more wood, less insulation visible.
ReplyDeleteYes, wondered about that. I removed all the Refelctex stuff and put the wooden triangles back up there with nothing else. But they have yet to come back to bed down there. I have seen them going in and out of the woodpecker hole in the maple tree in the front yard. Likely a more sheltered spot anyhow. Wind is howling with 50mph gusts out there right now.
DeleteThey aren't huge seed eaters, but will eat winter berries. I often see them in the winter here in Upstate NY, even in frigid temps! Might take them a few days to decide to look closer at your makeshift bird house, its not the style they usually prefer, but if they were roosting in the bare corners for warmth they might give them a try once they get a chance to get used to the concept.
ReplyDeleteAt this point I have left only the wooden triangle for a wind break and removed all the other refinements. They have yet to come back to bed down there.
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