Hello
I have a low hanging bird house that was only for decoration and my ignorance told me that nothing would nest in something so low to the ground - it's at the height of about 6 feet.
However I noticed two bluetits flying in and out of the nest a couple of weeks ago. Last week around the 15-17th the nestlings must have hatched as I could hear them and seen the parents flying in and out with caterpillars. Soon after I noticed the neighbourhood cats coming close to the nest and eventually one was sat on top of the nest box. :storm:
I finally have had some success in stopping the cats approaching the nest box.
Unfortunately I have now noticed around 5-7 blowflies at the entrance of the nest. I researched this a bit and it appears this is normal and the flies drop their eggs in the nesting material and eventually they feed on the nestlings while the parents are asleep at night. They avoid doing this during the day as the parents will eat them.
What can I do about this? I guess with the number of flies there will be a lot of eggs. I have time today if you think it's a good idea to clean this nest out but what is the best way to do this and to prevent another infestation ? Do I have to wait while parents are out of the house? Where do I put nestlings while i'm cleaning the box? what nesting material should i use to refill the box?
Please give me some help as it horrors me to think those poor bluetits are getting ate alive at night :'(
I have a low hanging bird house that was only for decoration and my ignorance told me that nothing would nest in something so low to the ground - it's at the height of about 6 feet.
However I noticed two bluetits flying in and out of the nest a couple of weeks ago. Last week around the 15-17th the nestlings must have hatched as I could hear them and seen the parents flying in and out with caterpillars. Soon after I noticed the neighbourhood cats coming close to the nest and eventually one was sat on top of the nest box. :storm:
I finally have had some success in stopping the cats approaching the nest box.
Unfortunately I have now noticed around 5-7 blowflies at the entrance of the nest. I researched this a bit and it appears this is normal and the flies drop their eggs in the nesting material and eventually they feed on the nestlings while the parents are asleep at night. They avoid doing this during the day as the parents will eat them.
What can I do about this? I guess with the number of flies there will be a lot of eggs. I have time today if you think it's a good idea to clean this nest out but what is the best way to do this and to prevent another infestation ? Do I have to wait while parents are out of the house? Where do I put nestlings while i'm cleaning the box? what nesting material should i use to refill the box?
Please give me some help as it horrors me to think those poor bluetits are getting ate alive at night :'(