Carol Stein’s Gardeners Forum
Saturday, February 16, 2008 at 11am
“GOT THE BLUES?”
If not, this forum comes with a warning -- attracting bluebirds to your garden is addictive. 11 am. Free, but registration is requested.
The Garden Hut, 1004 Old Honeycutt Road, Fuquay-Varina.
(919) 552-0590, www.NelsasGardenHut.com
Thanks for asking a good question! Yes, I carefully removed the nest from the bluebird box to monitor the birds up to Day 12 after hatching. The boxes, designed by Mr. Finch, come with a nesting cup, which makes it easy to slide the nest out and check for parasites and spider webs.
Monitoring the nest is a controversial subject, but if done correctly and carefully, it's possible to monitor the number and the growth of bluebird babies without harming them. Momma and Pappa bluebird are not far off, and come back to the box with the babies as soon as I leave the area.
To read more about attracting bluebirds, see Carol's article in the N&O archives:
http://www.newsobserver.com/lifestyles/home_garden/stein/2006/story/388268.html
Did you remove the bluebird nestlings
Did you remove the bluebird nestlings from the nest cavity? I always considered it a bad idea to disturb a bird's nest. May I suggest those houses where you can see through the glass. Hope you have a large turnout for the forum, that's a good idea.