John Pearson
07-05-2011, 11:42 AM
Hi Gang,
My year is over. I had my last compartment fledge Saturday, July 2nd and it was really special because I called my daughter out to see it and she was amazed. Maybe she’ll be a landlord in the future because of her experience. The parents came down and almost pull the little one off the porch. It finally got up the courage and went for it. They drop at first and keep pumping their wings for dear life (literally) and the parents are right beside them all the way. You never think they are going to gain altitude but somehow they do and they made a pass over the colony before they were gone. Some people report that their young come back at night for the first few days after they fledge but that doesn't seem to happen to me. The day after was like a ghost town in my colony except for the occasional fly over from time to time during the day.
I had a good year- not a great year and for how hot it got I only had 3 jumpers which I was able to put back in the nests. I had one gourd where the female laid 3 eggs and never came back again and one gourd with 3 young, all dead with 4 unhatched eggs. The young were pretty well developed and had feathers and looked about 10 days away from fledging. I had a lot of hawks this year and a pair of Mississippi Shrikes so I’m thinking they may have gotten the adults and the young starved. Would one adult continue to feed the young if he/she loses their partner? If that is the case it would seem like really bad luck that the predators got both adults. Any way focusing on the positive, I had 55 eggs with 44 fledged; not my best but definitely respectable- ha.
How was your year?
John
My year is over. I had my last compartment fledge Saturday, July 2nd and it was really special because I called my daughter out to see it and she was amazed. Maybe she’ll be a landlord in the future because of her experience. The parents came down and almost pull the little one off the porch. It finally got up the courage and went for it. They drop at first and keep pumping their wings for dear life (literally) and the parents are right beside them all the way. You never think they are going to gain altitude but somehow they do and they made a pass over the colony before they were gone. Some people report that their young come back at night for the first few days after they fledge but that doesn't seem to happen to me. The day after was like a ghost town in my colony except for the occasional fly over from time to time during the day.
I had a good year- not a great year and for how hot it got I only had 3 jumpers which I was able to put back in the nests. I had one gourd where the female laid 3 eggs and never came back again and one gourd with 3 young, all dead with 4 unhatched eggs. The young were pretty well developed and had feathers and looked about 10 days away from fledging. I had a lot of hawks this year and a pair of Mississippi Shrikes so I’m thinking they may have gotten the adults and the young starved. Would one adult continue to feed the young if he/she loses their partner? If that is the case it would seem like really bad luck that the predators got both adults. Any way focusing on the positive, I had 55 eggs with 44 fledged; not my best but definitely respectable- ha.
How was your year?
John