Clarification and time travel was Re: [NatureNS] Tree Swallow box

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Hi All,

     Note that I have not made Tree Swallow nests. My dimensions were 
directly from Parker Oct 29 and slightly rounded to 1.5" wide and less 
than 1.5" high to illustrate that one could start with a round hole and, 
by slight bending of the shield, decrease the hole width at a right 
angle to the bend.

     I intended to cook supper in the oven tonight so warmed the oven in 
advance by bending a scrap of plexiglass to refresh memory.

     Using some scrap 1/8"thick x 2" wide plexiglass I cut off a 2 5/16" 
length. After drilling a   1 3/8" hole (the only size I have), I heated 
the plexiglass at 150 C for 15 minutes on an Al pie plate (if one buys 
pies the inventory of Al plates grows), removed it with a pie server and 
bent it parallel to the long side by supporting the long edges on two 
strips of plywood and pressing down with a 3" diameter wooden mallet. 
Nothing was fastened down, plywood held by fingers.

     Final hole dimensions were 1 3/8" parallel to the bend and 1 1/4" 
across the bend.

     No doubt the larger shields would take longer to cool and perhaps 
longer to become pliable. This small test sample was not pliable after 
about 3 seconds. When hot it bends without resistance.

     The cut/drilled edges were not rounded at all.  The rounded edges 
which I remember were likely rounded by light sanding and polished with 
jeweler's rouge before heating/bending.

Dave, Kentville


On 10/31/2019 2:18 PM, Fritz McEvoy wrote:
> Hi All,
>       I agree that ovoid holes are probably the best solution. Maybe 
> I'll make a few of the ovoid guards and 1-3/8" round hole guards for 
> next season and place them on boxes located where squirrels have 
> nested/roosted in the past as well as where I always get Tree Swallow 
> nests.  We'll see.
>       As for making the holes, spending some time to construct an 
> accurate template and using a router to cut out the holes (1/4' 
> straight bit to cut and 1/8' corner round bit to soften edges) makes 
> the most sense to me - although David's method of stretching hot 
> Plexiglas over a wooden anvil sounds like a fun experiment.
>     There are a number of options as to the actual size and shape of 
> the hole. I think the short side should be 1-3/8" but there appears to 
> be some discussion as to the length and direction of the long side. 
> Parker makes his hole more than 1-1/2"wide and less than 1-1/2' high. 
> David has it at 1-1/2" wide and less than 1-1/2" high. Lance 
> Laviolette makes his 1-3/8' wide and 2-1/4" high. There are also a 
> number of size and shape choices online; so what works best is TBD. 
> All the best.
>            Fritz
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Fritz McEvoy <fritzmcevoy@hotmail.com>
> *Sent:* October 31, 2019 1:34 PM
> *To:* Lance Laviolette <corvuscorax@sympatico.ca>
> *Subject:* Re: [NatureNS] Tree Swallow box report 2019
> Hi All,
>       I agree that ovoid holes are probably the best solution. Maybe 
> I'll make a few of the ovoid guards and 1-3/8" round hole guards for 
> next season and place them on boxes located where squirrels have 
> nested/roosted in the past as well as where I always get Tree Swallow 
> nests. We'll see.
>       As for making the holes, spending some time to construct an 
> accurate template and using a router to cut out the holes (1/4' 
> straight bit to cut and 1/8' corner round bit to soften edges) makes 
> the most sense to me - although David's method of stretching hot 
> Plexiglas over a wooden anvil sounds like a fun experiment.
>     There are a number of options as to the actual size and shape of 
> the hole. I think the short side should be 1-3/8" but there appears to 
> be some discussion as to the length and direction of the long side. 
> Parker makes his hole more than 1-1/2"wide and less than 1-1/2' high. 
> David has it at 1-1/2" wide and less than 1-1/2" high. Lance 
> Laviolette makes his 1-3/8' wide and 2-1/4" high. There are also a 
> number of size and shape choices online; so what works best is TBD. 
> All the best.
>            Fritz
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Lance Laviolette <corvuscorax@sympatico.ca>
> *Sent:* October 30, 2019 9:59 AM
> *To:* 'Fritz McEvoy' <fritzmcevoy@hotmail.com>
> *Subject:* RE: [NatureNS] Tree Swallow box report 2019
> Great to hear about your season as always Fritz.
>
> We've discussed nest hole size before. As you know I use a 1 
> 3/8(horizontal)
> X 2 1/4(vertical) hole. I drill the circular hole and then jigsaw out the
> extra oval. This shape will not make any difference however if Red 
> Squirrels
> are getting into your 1 3/8 hole.
>
> I have seen plans where they are using 1 1/2" diameter holes but as you
> mention below, a hole that small may keep out some Tree Swallows which
> defeats the entire purpose. Unless you can keep the squirrels off of 
> the box
> completely through using a predator guard on the support I think you may
> have to live with the few invasions you are getting.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Lance
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca]
> On Behalf Of Fritz McEvoy
> Sent: Monday, October 28, 2019 8:11 PM
> To: naturens
> Subject: [NatureNS] Tree Swallow box report 2019
>
>
>
> Hi All,
>        I cleaned out my Tree Swallow boxes last week and the results were
> surprising good. Twenty-seven boxes were set up this season and most had
> activity of some kind. The results were:
>   27 boxes were used (1 is listed twice as it contained both a Red 
> Squirrel
> and Tree Swallow next).
>   18 boxes contained Tree Swallow nests with signs of breeding (all had
> droppings, 2 contained egg fragments and 1 had a dead fledge). This 
> was the
> largest number of successful nests I've ever had here.
>    5 boxes had Flying Squirrel roosts/nests and one of those had an active
> Flying Squirrel inside.
>    2 boxes had Red Squirrel roosts (one was on top of a Tree S