NEW NESTLINGS!

We have more baby bluebirds (called nestlings). The nest box in the cow pen has four baby birds. They look to be between 5 and 7 days old. Bluebird watching is becoming addicting.

More Eggs

Well, I just checked the bluebird nest boxes. The one in the cow pen has a new, complete nest with 4 eggs. The one in the orchard has a new completed nest with two eggs. The box behind the barn has a nest and two eggs. The parents were sitting on the fence beside the box. There are two eggs in the box. It looks like we are going to have more baby bluebirds.


Sharon

treasures2yourdoor

Roofing Specialists

Nest Box Observations

Nest box 1 has new tenants looking at it. They are building a nest so hopefully a bluebird family will be raised successfully this time.

Nestbox 5 still has babies. The parents are staying close by. I didn't open the box today because the babies are older than 12 days. There age causes them to be a risk for an early first flight if the box is opened. They are not really old enough to survive outside the box yet.

We found a baby cardinal on Friday. It had either fallen or flown from its nest. It did not survive. How sad!

Until next time....

Sharon

treasures2yourdoor

Roofing Specialists

Another Baby Blue Bird

Nest box 5 has another baby. When Amanda and I approached the box the mother flew out. She flew up into the tree close to the nest box and watched patiently while we checked the box and photographed her chicks. Before we opened the nest box we could here the babies cheeping. When we opened it, they were very quiet and lay very still. The birds are getting gray tufts on them. They are about 6 or 7 days old now. There are still four eggs. I don't think they are going to hatch.


Sharon

treasures2yourdoor

Roofing Specialists

TAMING OF THE DUCKWEED

Duckweed is a very small floating plant. It consists of a single leaf with a single root attached. It spends its life floating in ponds that are rich in nutrients. It multiplies like crazy and if left alone, can grow to two or three inches deep. At least that is how deep we have found in on our small pond.

In past years, we have spent many hours removing this nuisance weed. Howard sets up a pump with and intake hose and a discharge hose. Someone mans the intake hose in pond and keeps duckweed being sucked into it. The discharge hose is laid high on the bank. The water and duckweed shoots out of it. The grass traps the duckweed and most of the water runs back into the pond. We call this process "vacuuming the pond." I jokingly say, "It is really bad when you spend more time vacuuming your pond than you do your house." But in the growing season that is what happens.

This year we are going to try controlling the duckweed with chemicals. We purchase Sonar AS last year, but conditions were never right for putting it in the pond. We spent several hours on Monday, April 7 and Tuesday, April 8 pumping duckweed out of the pond. We removed several hundred pounds of the stuff. We at least have reduced it to a thin layer across the surface of the pond. Wednesday, April 9, Howard measured the pond to be sure that we used an accurate amount of Sonar to control the duckweed. Right now the pond is approximately 42' X 150' and averages a depth of 3'. It only took 5 oz. of the Sonar.

Howard dispensed the Sonar. Now we just have to wait for it to do its work. It can take up to 30 days to kill the duckweed. We will see if it was worth the $200 investment for a pint of the chemical.

Sharon

treasures2yourdoor

Roofing Specialists

Newly Hatched Blue Bird

Nest box 5 seems to the successful one for this season. When I checked the nest boxes on April 6, there was a baby blue bird that appeared to be one or two days old. There were five more eggs in the nest. It would be great if all of them hatched and the babies survived.

Whenever I check box 5 the parents fly up into a nearby tree and keep watch. Hopefully I will be able to get a good picture of them this year. They do not seem to understand about how lighting and glare affects a picture. The silouettes of them in the tree do not give too much detail.

Nest box 1 appears to have been abandoned. I have not seen any activities around it. There are three eggs, but I think it is way past the incubation period for them. They were in the nest when I checked it on March 14. The maximum incubation time is 15 days. When I check the nest next time, I will remove the nest and eggs and maybe someone else will decide to occupy the box.

Predator Control

Have you ever thought of those little bitty, stinging ants as predators? Well they are. You know how much the sting of a fire ant hurts on a human, but can you imagine being a small, featherless, baby bird and being stung by one. Fire ants are one of the creatures that can dimish the number of song birds in an area. They have an uncanny way of sniffing out a new nest of newly hatched songbirds and invading.

The weather was so crazy last year that we didn't get the ants poisoned on the whole place. On March 22, Howard pulled a spreader behind the four wheeler and put out fire ant bait on the whole property. A week later there were still some fire ant mounds. Spot application was the next order of control. Hopefully this year no baby birds will be lost a fire ant!

Bluebird Nest Box Check and Plowing

Today is an absolutely beautiful day, though a little warm. Of course it is only in the high 80's. People from a cooler climate would be suffering from the heat. March 15 is the official day to begin monitoring the Bluebird nest boxes.

#1 which is located in the cow pen is being a success. It already has a nest and has three eggs.

#2 located in the orchard has no nest-- except for a wasp nest. We cleaned it out.

#3 also had a wasp nest.

#4 had no nest of any kind -- not even a wasp.

#5 does have a nest, but no eggs. Hopefully it is just in the building stage and has not been abandoned.

Howard also chose today to plow up an area to plant peas. Peas are not only good for the soil when they are plowed under. But when they are growing they attract insects which provide food for the bluebirds and other species. Of course the deer enjoy eating the plants. This summer when they go to seed, it will be interesting to see what is attracted to the plot during that time.

Mockingbirds

Watching the birds is quite an education. I used to think a bird was just a bird. It is fun learning the different species and their habits. There is a pair of mockingbirds hanging out around the yucca plants. For a couple of days I have noticed them flying in and out. I will check later and see if by chance they are building a nest there.

treasures2yourdoor

Roofing Specialists

February Nearly Gone

It seem that time passes so quickly these days. Here it is at the end of February and it seems like it was just yesterday that we were celebrating the arrival of the new year.

This week we have had true Texas weather. One day it was in the high 90's and the next day there was a light freeze. You have to love this Texas weather. Of course weather is not the only thing that can change quickly.

Suddenly we are seeing more birds. Every day this week we have seen a flock of white wing dove checking out the food supply. We are also seeing more bluebirds. There is a pair that is showing a lot of interest in the nextbox in the cow pen. We see them not only sitting on top of the box, but flying in and out. Hopefully they will be successful nesters this year.

For several days Dustin and Dylan have heard a woodpecker. We have been diligently looking for it. They were so excited when they finally spotted him. He looks like a ladderback woodpecker. He is probably the one of which we snapped this picture last year.

On Tuesday evening we heard the owl. Every once in a while we will see it sitting on the power line post or swooping into the trees where the guineas roost. I am sure that the dissappearance of guineas at night are to be attributed to him.

Monday of this week, Howard and I attended the annual Wildlife Management Workshop. We heard great speakers from the Texas Parks and Wildlife, the Texas Bluebird Society, the FDA and more. One of the sessions was on trapping cowbirds. We are now certified to trap cowbirds. I guess the next step is to build the trap. Some people wonder why any bird should be dispatched to bird heaven -- well, the cowbirds affect the songbird population. They lay their eggs in the next of the songbirds and leave. The songbird mother, incubates the egg; it hatches; then because the cowbird is so much bigger than the songbird babies, it hogs the food. So since our management plan for our property is to provide habitat for the songbirds, we will discourage cowbirds from living here.

Sharon

Treasures2YourDoor

Cardinals and Doves

02-16-08
This week the cardinals have been fighting to see who will win the territory of the magnolia tree. The two males are chasing each other. The females sit on branches and chirp. There is usually one next built in the magnolia tree and then another in some shrubs.

The flocks of dove are showing back up. Some of them are really big.

February 5 and 6, 2008

We have unseasonably high temperatures for February for the past few days. I believe the songbirds are thinking that Spring is here. On February 5, I heard at least three different cardinals singing. We also saw a Bluebird sitting on the garden fence.

On February 6 I saw a Bluebird checking out the nest box that is in the cowpen. Before long it will be time to check the next boxes and see if they are going to be used this Spring.

February 4, 2008 CowBird

One of the uses of our land is to teach our grandchildren how to be good stewards of the earth. To successfully manage for wildlife sometimes means that some of the population of species must be controlled.

On February 4, 2008 the opportunity arose to teach the kids and their Uncle Junior about cowbirds. Cowbirds are not good birds to have around. They lay their eggs in the nest of the songbirds then the female cowbird flies off to go her merry way with no responsibilty for her offspring. The songbird, on the other hand, is stuck with a fledgling that is not hers and most times is much bigger than her own. The bigger bird demands the most food and often it grows and the natural offspring of the songbird dies. That is why cowbirds are not encouraged on our place.

Monday afternoon, one appeared in the chicken yard. It is okay to dispose of these birds, so out came the bb and pellet guns. Fortunate for the bird, the guns were not sighted in so when they were shot, the pellet didn't hit the target. After the third pellet whizzed by the cowbird, she got the message and flew off.

I have to say the next hour or so was spent getting the guns sighted in so that the next time a cowbird appears, it won't be able to fly off!

January 2008

A plain, generic name "January 2008" -- actually just the name of the current month. Nothing exciting. Maybe I should state the purpose of this space on the internet. I am just trying to find an easier way to keep up with everything we do on the "family farm." I am determined to be more organized this year. Instead of writing notes on scraps of paper and then sorting through and organizing them at the end of the year so I can do my annual Wildlife Management Report, I am going to attempt to keep my notes one place -- this Blog. I even am going to attempt to "train" my family to post their activites to the blog.

So for January, the following has been accomplished:

1/27/08 Junior mowed the hayfield. It should now be in good shape for the wildflowers.

01/28/08 Dustin, Dylan, Amanda, and I inspected the Bluebird nest boxes to make sure they were cleaned out and ready for the upcoming nesting season

01/29/08 We moved boxes 3 and 4. They were located by the pond and nothing used them last year except wasps. We moved them down the pasture fence line.