OH crap! Let me see who I can shake loose. Try e mailing Bet shes quick to respond.

Well one bit of good news anyway, the one that left and I didn't know where it was.....I just saw it flapping across the grass. Cannot fly at all. It is now back in the box with the other three. At least they are all in one place now but I am still worried to death about them. Why on earth would they want to leave when they cannot fly. I am just praying they get fed ok with that reducer on. Why now do we have to have the warm weather like we should of had in July but didn't. Not much airflow in that box now with the reducer on but I don't have any way to make it smaller as it was made for a normal nestbox.

Donna

OH MY! Hopefully they are just a day or two away from fledging normally. Sounds like you have it under control. The one time they can be better off NOT stuck in the box with a reducer is if the nest is infested with ants, blowfly, mites etc. Under those circumstances, they would be in more peril left IN the box. If you are fairly certain the nest is clean, I would do what you are doing right now. When you can watch continuously and things seem calm, you can take the reducer off and let the parents get in to clean up and feed and see how it goes. Perhpas they will calm down and stay put when their bellies are full and the sacs removed. When you can't watch, or if they are trying to get out, slap the reducer back on for another day or so. Many of my nestings fledge on day 17 or 18, so you don't have long to go. Hope that helps - Malinda

Donna, did you thoroughly check the inside of the box to make sure there is nothing in there that would cause them to fledge early? Ants, wasp nest, etc?

I did have to add a one inch reducer to a box to keep one baby (he hatched almost 3 days later than his siblings) in and although he "peeped" his brains out (I needed ear plugs to keep from hearing him) he did get fed. Not constantly but often enough.

I would have done exactly what you've done, putting those you could back and adding a reducer. There is little hope that they'd have any chance as non-fliers out of that box. Ground babies are not a good thing. If they could just hold off till at least day 16 that would be a great thing.

Keep up posted and GOOD LUCK!

Thanks! On day 13 on the last nestcheck I noticed blowfly larva so I did lift the nest and brush out the bottom. I got out ALOT of larva so I am hoping the nest is pretty clean of them right now. There are no wasps or ants that I can see nor mites unless I am not seeing them. I wonder if I scared them when I did that and that is why the one tried to leave the next day and then another today?? The earliest I have ever had any leave was day 16 and they flew well, usually it is day 19.

Oh and I called my dh (he's a carpenter) and he is making me a 1 inch reducer out of a bit smaller piece of wood so there will be a space above for airflow on the Gilwood box. That way if they need to stay in longer than overnight it won't be so bad.

Donna

I couldn't sleep last night worrying about the babies. I was so scared they would all be dead this morning. It looked as though the mom was feeding them yesterday but I really wasn't sure if they were getting much or not. This morning I got up early and got ready, took the dogs for our daily morning walk and then came back and took the guard off. I prayed so much yesterday and my heart was beating so hard as I opened the box and looked in. Thank God I saw four pairs of eyes looking back at me. So I have been watching for over an hour now, no peeking at all that I could see. Took Mom half an hour to go in and feed them but now she is feeding them and removing poop sacs but it still seems like they want them out for some reason. I have no clue why, she will get the food and sit for the longest time either in a tree near the box or on top of the sparrow spooker before going in and I can hear her chattering. Dad still hasn't done any feeding yet, for some reason he couldn't figure out the hole guard yesterday. So I am going to watch as much as I can today. If one goes out and cannot fly I may just try putting it in a tree and watching it, that way at least I know they will get fed. If I have to I can always put the guard back on for overnight. I am praying they all make it ok.

Thanks everyone for your help.

Donna

Ok, another update......

Well we had peeking starting about an hour and a half after I took the reducer off. First one left probably 15 min later. Flew out and up into the tree! I was doing the happy dance until the second one took off shortly after the first. Flew out but not up and landed on the ground way beyond the tree. It can fly just cannot get lift. I put it in the tree and have been watching it. Third one left and went out and up bypassed the nice big tree and went into some thick brushy trees but in the tree not the ground! Fourth one started to peek but not with its head out, more just looking from the back of the hole. I "think" it is still in there unless I missed it, no one is on the ground though so that it good. Hopefully Mom and Dad can somehow get them rounded up and get that one a little stronger to get lift off. Of course now it has decided to get windy out too, dang it.

Donna

Donna, it sounds like they're gonna make it! Amazing, what a difference a single day can make in getting them ready to leave that box. Another day inside would have been nice but as you know, they're on their own schedule, not ours! When I had my little non-flier I stayed in the back yard ALL DAY after I took the reducer off. He didn't get lift-off till around 4:00 p.m. It was a huge relief.....I was ready to throw him a going away party!

I LOVE IT WHEN NESTING SEASON IS......O-V-E-R!!!!!!!!! By late July I am on my last nerve!

Donna, we're all breathing a sigh of relief, too! So glad they made it and hope they continue to be OK. I'm in awe of your hard work and attention to these little ones. Though this is just my 2nd season to host the blues, I've learned that along with the pure joy of watching nestbuilding to fledging, there sure are alot of worries.

Like Janie, I bet you are so glad nesting season is over!

Congrats!

Donna

Thanks you guys. Ok, I know three are in the trees. The parents always take them out of the yard for some reason and they slowly did that with these four today...well except the one it still cannot fly very well. I debated and debated on what to do. Put him back in overnight and spend another hellish night worrying about "me" killing him by doing that or putting him in a tree again and hoping for the best. I feel like a heel but I put him in a tree. My daughter is having a birthday party tomorrow (sleepover) starting right after lunch. I have so much to do yet and I just will not have time to watch them tomorrow or the rest of this afternoon. I am praying he will make it. I will certainly feel like "I" failed him if he doesn't make it but there is only so much a person can do sometimes. At least one of the others is a flyer today when he wasn't yesterday. I have been putting out unlimited worms today so they have plenty to feed them. This morning mom fed the first one out a huge green grasshoppery type but. Hard to believe what they can fit in their mouths!! Here is a pic I took of the little guy. I had to take a pic of him before I put him in the tree for the last time, he is on the edge of woodsy area now, the direction the parents were taking him.

Donna

Great job you did Donna. That little baby boy blue is just adorable. I love the tiny little tail.

It's so hard to decide where our "help" has to end and Nature has to take over. I faced the same dilemma with my "little boy blue". I decided that though he may have had a handicap he was able to fly short distances and deserved to be a free bird. You gave these guys a much better chance than they would have had, now its up to Mom and Dad.

Fingers crossed! You did the best you could do...... it's up to nature, now.