2024 season, David, Broussard La

[mwren]

We hope so David. He has had some bad luck with the injuries. He is great quarterback and great young man. Athens Ohio Bulldogs are very proud of him. !

Mike "Bird" Wren

[dsonyay]

10 March— lots of PMs circling around at dusk- too many to count. Well over 20.

The rack is filling up fast.

5 bluebird eggs being incubated as well— the box is a few feet away in backyard.

Video:

https://youtu.be/c8f4bcOEFno?si=-WhQJ1M95tNWwuX7

[brent]

David, you just described my back yard. Your birds look great and definitely they’re in good spirits! My little Bluebird pair have 5 eggs in their nest too. My neighbor who will do just about anything to disturb the birds sprayed some chemicals on his lawn. He’s aware of the danger that poses. Those little Bluebirds were feeding. Of course that concerned me so much. Disturbing. I can only do so much. Keep posting. I read them all. Brent

[dsonyay]

David, you just described my back yard. Your birds look great and definitely they’re in good spirits! My little Bluebird pair have 5 eggs in their nest too. My neighbor who will do just about anything to disturb the birds sprayed some chemicals on his lawn. He’s aware of the danger that poses. Those little Bluebirds were feeding. Of course that concerned me so much. Disturbing. I can only do so much. Keep posting. I read them all. Brent

Awesome.. haven’t had anymore hawk/falcon issues since that one report.. of course, I’m not in the backyard every second, so who knows what I’ve actually missed.

[dsonyay]

Quick update— no major changes. Lots of morning activity.. about 22 total (very hard to count). No nest building yet. No SYs yet.

I saw a hawk fly to the gourd rack and land on an arm! I ran out from back porch and scared him off.
He was heavily pursued lol.

Close by- bluebirds are incubating 5 eggs.

Nice weather here. Mild

[dsonyay]

Overcast and rain and drizzle til tomorrow afternoon. Many Purple Martins came in for the night - seemed to be about 20+ ..

Have not noticed any hawk attacks for past couple days.

No signs of nesting yet.. also, have not spotted any SYs .. but any day now I expect to see these wild eyed troublemakers

It appears my Bluebirds have two chicks out of 5 eggs. It’s been three days since hatching and maybe the other three are duds.

[brent]

Hey dsonyay. I had a hawk attack today. It’s a small hawk. I spotted it perched in a distant pecan tree. I waited and sure enough it attacked. That hawk is no bigger than a pigeon but fast. I mean fast. It swung by the houses but did not get a bird. Of course the whole time I’m sounding the air horn. It then turns around and hits a decoy then flys back to the pecan tree. I took my sling shot and from a pretty far distance and not wanting to hurt it I unleashed marble sized ammo. That spooked it and off it went. It’ll be back and I’ll be waiting.

The martins have been actively nest building. I’m going to look at them this weekend. By the looks of it they are building fortresses.

The Bluebird pair are feeding 5 chicks. Today I noticed the insects are getting pretty big. They will fledge around next week end.

Good luck. I enjoy reading your posts. Brent

[dsonyay]

Thanks

Sounds like your season is fantastic out there.

[mwren]

Thomas,
We are watching closely and we hope that Joe is done with the serious injuries . Hopefully they will do a better job of protecting him in the pocket! He has really earned his contract money because he has brought life to the Bengal's , sold out tickets, lots of new fans!

Geaux Joe !

Mike

[dsonyay]

Last night a large swarm flew in for the night.. a couple of male ASYs went into same ChirpyNest box and quite the fight broke out inside. Lots of loud rasping. I was worried about one of the males getting stuck inside or injured… but eventually one of the males won out, and the other escaped and flew off. I am probably running out of cavities.

There are three more PM houses within a couple blocks around me.. so there are plenty of openings… it seems there are zero martins interested in them. One of the houses is the really nice double sized compartments like I have but a 4 story model.. the other two are the 6”x6” types. The past three or four years since they were erected it doesn’t appear any martins have attempted to nest there. Very strange- seeing how close they are to me.. and they are in excellent locations as well.

[dsonyay]

Spotted a male SY at the gourd rack. My First SY sighting of the season. Well— first male.

[dsonyay]

Nest building in at least one gourd (Bo9). Male ASY bringing in a leaf.

[dsonyay]

02April. (late update)
Nest building:
Gourd16 bo9
Gourd 12 bo9
ChirpyNest 10
ChrpyNest 13

09 April-
Due for a nest check/inspection. Last night I noticed a female trying to find a spot for the night— possible new arrival.. kept getting kicked out of a particular house cavity.. then was too dark to watch any longer. Lots of PM chatter heard well after dark, while female was trying to fit in somewhere.

[dsonyay]

09 APR
Nests:
House 3 - Nest start
ChirpyNest 6 - Nest
Gourd 7 - One oak leaf
Gourd 8 - Gourd Couple leaves
ChirpyNest 9 - Nest
ChirpyNest 10 - Nest
BO9 Gourd 12 Nest
ChirpyNest 13 - Nest
ChirpyNest 14- Nest
BO9 Gourd 16 - Nest

[dsonyay]

12 April—

14 of 18 cavities have nests.. two ChirpyNests have eggs.

Hawk lands at gourd rack a few minutes later and chased away by PMs.

Beautiful weather out here.

[dsonyay]

Video: https://youtu.be/R6kYew-0zjo?si=WEp2Gfw1CFM4-MrA


So much fighting today. Lots of birds locked up and falling to the ground. Appears I have only one cavity left: Comp 1 on the house. And funny thing to watch is the ASY female below it, going back and forth taking the pine straw in 1 to add to her nest in 2. A few days ago I saw another female doing same thing between two other cavities. Always interesting.

Lots of additional SYs are here - both female and male.. 4 gourds occupied over past few days.

Regarding use of mud.. one gourd in particular has a very large amount of mud inside. So much mud the entrance is all muddied up lol. Sloppiest front porch in the neighborhood.

And BBs are starting the next nest build in the box nearby.

[Thomabear]

Thanks for the update David. Good to see your colony is thriving and now you have Bluebirds. Your setup looks great with all the housing options.

[dsonyay]

So much fighting! SYs are in full force.. battling it out for the last two or three cavities. Multiple times two fell to the ground in a ball of flapping wings.. incredible to witness.

I was only able to get this short of a pair going at it since sunrise.

https://youtube.com/shorts/fvdFDVyjkGA? ... UOTr3Q2zUd

[dsonyay]

Nest check today— 14 nests w/ 36 eggs. Two of the nests have at least one.. kinda hard to count those .. so may have a couple more eggs not spotted.

A couple more cavities may be starting nest building.

No HS / SH issues. Fingers crossed.

Beautiful weather

Nearby Bluebird box has 4 eggs now.

[dsonyay]

Nest check today:

62 eggs
7 hatchlings.

5 compartments unclaimed (out of 18). But seems like two maybe three compartments have had pairs going in and out.

Hatchlings in Chirpynest #16:
https://youtube.com/shorts/JKPy6EA0UKM? ... VR0kvti_n6