After having the plexi on for a half hour at about 1:00 pm, only one bluebird was able to get through the hole... all these blues (9) are from broods that were hatched here this summer, I presume, so they are all around 6-7 months old. They don't seem to be able to fit through the 1.5" plexi hole. Maybe they are too fat? LOL. I could make the holes a little larger for them to fit through... what do you think? Its like they can't get their wings to fit. I don't want them to injure themselves trying to get food. I am sure its just that they are not used to going through a hole like this... to get food. The one who made it went in through a side hole (where the tape is) and then out through the end - solid. What to do?

Ive done the xmas bird count for years in SW Oh, here are three plants ive witnessed bb's eating berries in winter: 1) honeysuckle; invasive, don't recommend. 2) sumac (Rhus typhinia; they grow fast and sucker, maybe other varieties would be more controllable) 3) red cedar (juniperus virginiana) Common tree but alot to offer wildlife. You need several as there are male and female trees. My brother has about 4 or 5 bluebirds coming to eat dried mealworms; im not having the same luck, but the dried mealworms are becoming more available in stores.

Mimi, the snake trap is fine as long as you monitor it. If a snake becomes trapped, you must be nearby to release it or it can become entangled and die. Instead, I recommend that you baffle your nestboxes--I use the stovepipe baffle on all 35+ nestboxes that I monitor and I have never lost an egg, nestling or adult bird to a climbing predator. The stovepipe I use is 6" in diameter and 24" long . . . others use 8" diameter stovepipe. It is important to install the baffles so that they wobble as this keeps climbing predators such as raccoons from being able to shimmy up to the nestbox. I also recommend using the hardware cloth (as shown on the link below) as this entices snakes to climb inside the baffle towards daylight. Since they cannot get through the hardware cloth, they become frustrated and leave. I know for certain that there are snakes at all my nestbox locations, including the ones here at the house, and I also know that these baffles work and are doing their job! Kathy Here is a link that might be useful: Predator Baffles

Well I have 2 sites I monitor and I may have lost 1 pair to HOSP who took over their box. That male HOSP was dispatched, but Mrs. Blue appeared to be ready to build a nest. Hopefully the 2 come back but I digress; another Male HOSP was spotted checking out the box this evening! The far northeast must be tough to live in Ray! I live in Ohio, and I can barely stand our weather and much shorter nesting seasons as compared to those in the south. Bluebirds have some of the strongest numbers still in the Buckeye State. Nestwatch always has Ohio as reporting the most nesting attempts by Eastern Bluebirds compared to other species. Wishing you a successful nesting season, Mr. bluebird veteran! ~Tim NE Ohio