Lesson Learned

[John Pearson]

Well all my birds bugged out 2 weeks ago which is a very good thing with the triple digit temperatures we are having. I usually lower my housing after the last birds have left and clean them out. I raised them back up until about the middle of August before I take them down completely and store them for the off season.

I'm not sure why but the sparrows are trying to move back in. This is a first because usually it is too late in the season even for them. Sparrows are nothing if not persistent. I have my repeating baited trap out to try and catch the first brood young and I have been keeping an eye on the houses to provide a well placed trap or pellet. I have not seen any starlings and only caught 2 in my S&S controller this year. I guess they are getting smarter- maybe I'll take it down for a year or two and then put it back up. The problem is I need a more accurate pellet gun and I don't want to pay $1,000 for one. I was out on Youtube and found a video of a guy that hit 31 sparrows in a row without one miss. There's my answer- the gun and scope he was using right?? Wrong, it was a Russian made $1,500 air rifle!!

The lesson learned is nest replacements. I usually do not replace the nest unless there are mites or other parasites. In the 3 compartments I did not do a nest replacement this year, i found dead young. In the others I did nest replacements all the young had fledged. Most of the dead young had feathers and were well on their way. I could not find any visible signs of injury and there were no mites. I think in the future I will do nest replacements at their 2nd or third week regardless.

Sorry I went a little on-

John