Monday with the Bluebirds
The chicks look like they’ve doubled in size. Both parents keep busy providing food. With the warmer weather, I’ve been on the deck more. Mom has always more or less ignored us on the deck. She’ll come in, land on the perch I planed about 20′ from the box, make a quick check then head directly into the box.
Dad does a Mission Impossible thing on his way in. He’ll land on the perch or the deck roof. After a look around, he’s likely to dive into the azalea bushes in front of the deck, then onto the deck railing or roof, then onto the nesting box roof before ducking in. We’ve never been able to catch such a crafty fellow.
We’re watching eastern bluebirds in a nesting box with a camera installed inside to let us watch without disturbing them. The camera switches to black & white in low light. And, the exposure control stinks, that’s why it washes out or goes black as a bird comes or goes.
Thanks for these daily views of the bluebird box. The little ones sure have grown in just a few days. Looking back to the day they hatched and just a few days later they are moving around looking good. My bird boxes have been taken over by the house sparrows who build a nest in just a few days with eggs in the nest.
The first two years we had the boxes out we had bluebirds and tree swallows. One year the bluebird had three broods and they all fledged. A few years later I found the bluebird young had been tossed out from the nest by the sparrows. Another year a cowbird took over the nest and the bluebird young were left to die when it fledged.
Interactions in nature are rarely pretty. Tough to watch when the chicks you’re cheering for are killed. But, we’re just observing. A few years back, I helped a neighbor set up a kestrel box. It was claimed very quickly. Soon afterwards, the kestrel came over to our place and got two of our swallow chicks 🙁