“Hello? Fulker Farms? This is the guy in Virginia who buys all those meal worms from you and I’m going to need more. I have three families of cardinals nesting in my yard!”
That was more or less my conversation this afternoon with the Fluker lady who ships my worms. The cardinals’ baby food should be arriving in a couple days.
Our first cardinal family had built a nest in a honeysuckle-like plant along our back fence. We sit near there often and noticed Mrs. Cardinal going to and fro. Upon further review, we saw her nest. Upon even further review, eggs started showing. Cardinal nests generally have three or four eggs – bluish white with mottled brown markings. The hen sits on the nest for about thirteen days and in another 9 or 10 days, the little ones fly the coup.
A second cardinal family has chosen a thick rose bush at the back of our house, and “Red” and his wife are once again nesting in an azalea bush. Red and I are best buds. We’ve known each other for a couple years, but Mrs. Cardinal along the fence does not like me nosing around her nest. They’ll change their minds, though, when the free meal worms are passed around.
As I mentioned, I buy all my meal worms from Fluker Farms out of Port Allen, Louisiana. If you call before 11 AM, they ship that day and the worms are always well packaged, fresh and kept cool. I have been getting my shipments either the next day or two days after I order. So they’re quick on the draw.
You can contact Fluker at (toll free) 800-735-9537 or order on their website – Flukerfarms.com. I always like to call in my order because I can never remember my password.
The thought of dozens of beautiful cardinals flitting around my yard makes it well worth the cost of a few live meal worms. I hope to be able to develop long and lasting relationships with three redbird families this coming spring.