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To: Silentgypsy
Also, eternal truth: With birds comes poop.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I'm surprised at how much they've actually gotten "in" the rain gauge ... not a very big opening!

The 'poopsters' are so cute ... the two that hang around are male bluebirds with their blue 'jackets' & rust upper chests & they puff all up in the cold weather. We have 2 boxes where they nest ... one is a "good" one, with a clean out door, etc. The other was at least 20 years old & literally fell apart last summer - I replaced the roof (split in half) with a mama bluebird sitting on a nest! I moved super slow & was as quiet/careful as I could be & she never budged, even when I briefly used a drill to help take out the screws. I ordered a nice house (a clean out door, wire sub floor, etc.) & took the top off the old one (again) very carefully to make sure there wasn't a 2nd set of eggs ... there was! So, they fledged two nests of babies out of that rickety old house. Finally, the babies were out & I was able to replace it with the new house. They're perching on it & seem to be ok with it so far, so I'm looking forward to more babies next year.

The "derelict" house, after I scrounged a roof off another junked house & replaced it, trying to get the old house through the nesting season:

The new house:

What was in the old, derelict house when I went to put the new one up:

New house, up & ready for the bluebirds. It's a great spot for them - when I mow the surrounding fields, they get really active, catching bugs:


21 posted on 12/07/2019 8:11:38 AM PST by Qiviut (I love the smell of covfefe in the morning - coffee or napalm, depending on the day.)
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To: Qiviut
You're a bird whisperer! We're not whisperers but we no longer use the front door since somebody periodically nests with babies above it. (Our neighbors think we're goofballs but they are real country people so they're pretty tolerant lol!)

If you do social media, there are some really neat backyard bird watching pages on Facebook.

33 posted on 12/07/2019 10:40:17 AM PST by Silentgypsy (Call an addiction hotline and say you're hooked on phonics.)
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To: Qiviut

Nice bluebird house! And, FWIW, I’m extremely JEALOUS of your freshly painted porch railings!

I cannot WAIT until next year when this @#$%^&*! house is painted in full and the porch railings are all repaired thanks to ‘puppy gnawing’ this past summer. ;)


41 posted on 12/07/2019 2:13:55 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'hobbies.' I'm developing a robust post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: Qiviut
I moved super slow & was as quiet/careful as I could be & she never budged, even when I briefly used a drill to help take out the screws.

That speaks to an incredible amount of trust!
52 posted on 12/07/2019 3:20:35 PM PST by Ellendra (A single lie on our side does more damage than a thousand lies on their side.)
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To: Qiviut

I have to tell a story about a Blue Jay. Kids found one that was injured, and brought it to hubby. We lived in a trailer, and hubby was constantly letting it out to fly around during recovery. (guess who got the honor of clean up-hint it was not hubby).

We took a trip and the bird got outside and few off a little ways, but then it turned around and came back and landed on hubby’s shoulder. Neighbors freaked out.

Unfortunately, it didn’t survive the trip home. It really didn’t like traveling in the car—so maybe stress. Or maybe the injuries were internal and finally took their toll.


73 posted on 12/08/2019 1:00:26 PM PST by greeneyes
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