7/26 The second set of bird babies has died
I have two birdhouses. One is in the garden. It usually has house wrens nesting there, often with two broods during the summer. The other one is a hanging bird house that hangs behind my second story window. That also gets a brood of house wrens a year on average.
This year, house sparrows moved in before the house wrens to the one in the garden. House wrens would come by and hassle them but the house sparrows persevered. Then, at one point activity stopped. A few days after that, I checked and found 3 dead babies. Ants had swarmed them so maybe that was what did them in. I hadn't cleaned the nest from last winter being curious to see if anyone would use the nest since then and some had at least checked it out in the winter.
For the hanging birdhouse, the 3 babies died Monday, 7/23. The previous day was wet and I heard them chirping away. No activity was noticed since Monday. Today, 7/26, I looked inside and found them, then cleaned it out. 3 bodies. I did see some flies from Monday on and that along with no activity made me suspicious.
The Sunday before we had heavy rain and it rained through Monday, being heavy at 5 am.
I also played some music louder than usual, although in years past, music and tv and the lights up until I go to bed around 11 never bothered any previous tenants.
So, I don't know what they died. Their parents abandoned them. That's all I'd guess. Why? I don't know.
