Nestbox news: We are still mid-nesting season,
and activity is on the lower end because everybody feeds babies right now. The nestboxes have been the most exciting thing recently, so here is a little update on these. In the Bluebird box, all five eggs have hatched about a week ago, and the babies are looking good. Sadly, though, it seems like the male has gone MIA, I have not seen him in at least a day. I did see a male yesterday but he was sitting on the Chickadee box, and I am not sure if that is a different male or the old one. I also saw one youngster from the first brood but I doubt the female is going to recurit it for help because it never learned how to go underneath the wren guard. The female is working her tush off to feed these babies, and I am just happy that the weather is not scorching or too wet and that she is a good hunter. I have ordered some live mealworms to help her a bit if needed, and hope that all goes well or the male miraculously returns,
TheChickadee nest has been a source of constant joy, it is just so much fun to watch them do their thing. There was a little scare two days ago when suddenly a House Wren did go under the Wren guard and looked into the nest but at around 12-14 days, the babies should be too big already so the Wren can do no harm. They are starting to look and sound like Chickaddees, and the parents are some of the busiest bird parents I have watched. There is a constant stream of food coming in. Seven of the eight seem to have made it and even if there is a runt, it becomes less obvious by the day now. I have removed the Wren guard so the babies can start looking out and get ready for their big day.
Here are some of the most recent videos. I try to upload them to Youtube in a timely manner so I can embed them here, but most of the times it is quicker and easier to post videos on my social media channels.
Video: Baby Blue!
The Bluebird couple has been bringing their babies from brood 1 that they raised in a different spot down to the backyard recently to introduce them to feeders and bath. The female is spending a lot of time in the box but I don’t think she is done laying yet. As of this morning, she has four eggs. This was an early morning scene at the pond, first she comes in, then a baby. You can hear the others faintly in the background. It is kind of neat to have them here without all the worry during their nesting.
Nestbox News: Hmmm
During my break, I continued to monitor my two nestboxes, and in the last week, there has been activity in both. A Bluebird couple has cleaned up the box, and I hope they will choose it. The other box has gotten a lot of interest from a Chickadee couple but they also have not started anything. There is a hole restrictor on that box so that larger birds cannot enter. I hope the Chickadees make a decision soon and before the House Wrens arrive so that I can fit a guard to the box in time. I am ready for this nesting season to finally begin.
After a summery weekend,
we got snow flurries today. The garden is waking up everywhere but things still feel odd because there are no nesting Bluebirds. I have decided to pull the nest today, since there is no sign of any nesting activity. Interestingly enough, a male and a female BB have showed up to feed. There are still some Redbreasted Nuthatches around, and a couple of Chickadees are showing a lot of interest in my other nestbox.
Nestbox news: The spell is broken!
The Bluebirds must have seen my complaints, because yesterday, they finally started nesting season in the yard. It may have been that the grid I placed in there bothered her so much that she was hesitant (she did accept it last season though but maybe the first nest is different). I removed to see what would happen and added some pine needles, dried leaves and bark. Here you can see the male coming in to “clean up”, and then she comes in to start the nest with the first strategically placed twig. By the endof the day, she had built the nest you see in the second video. This feels like the fastest I have seen her build a first nest of the season.
I am so happy they finally started, as you know I was getting a bit nervous. Here’s to a happy and successful nesting season!
Two cuties to go into the weekend.
The Bluebirds are visiting every day but she has still not started to build yet. I recognize her by her furrowed brow. Her man is around a lot more but I hope when we go into April she will finally get to work on her nest. The Titmice were plenty and vocal today, and this one just cracked me up. Here’s to a great weekend!
And another Bluebird photo
but I feel like there can never be too many. Today, the male visited the box a lot, checking to see if things are ok, and the female seems to have checked to see if she likes the atmo in the area. She also came to the feeders and I just loved her little furrowed brow.
Nestbox news: Doing the shuffle
The Bluebirds have been doing a lot of nestbox visits to inspect and clean up recently. This year's couple is named Johnny and June, and here you can see her doing her little shuffle for the first time this season. She has not actively started building yet but given that last year she begun March 1, we may be close to that.
I am again using the 6 inch diameter PVC box that I made last year. The little grid you see on the bottom is just the lid of a suet cage on which I bent the corners to fit. It is in there to elevate the nest from the bottom to help with ventilation and also to help prevent harm from Blowfly larvae (they hide in the bottom of a nest and only come out at night to feast on the babies. The female is usually aerating the nest, and in my thinking, the larvae will fall down and end up on the floor underneath the grid from where they cannot climb up to the babies.)
Also - a happy Women’s Day to all on this March 8th.
The Bluebirds also came over today.
It looks like they still have not decided which box they want to use, but I would love for them to go for their usual spot. This year’s couple is gonna be Johnny and June. The male was around more frequently in the last couple of weeks but the female has started to come around more too. I am expecting her to start nest building soon but I also hope she takes her time because winter temps are not over yet. I love seeing how the female differs from the male in appearance (she’s photo 2 & 3).
Video: Early visit
The BBs were back early today and came visiting all throughout the day too. Here, the male goes in to inspect and the female peeks in. Having a cam in the box made me love them even more, it is so cool to listen to their conversations. As I said earlier this week, I added a suet cage to the floor. This has two reasons, one is that it will lift the nest a little bit, improving ventilation from below, and two it may help in case of a Blowfly larvae infestation. The larvae can fall down underneath the nest and if a nest change is needed, I can pull a nest a lot easier from this top-opening box and replace it. I added the pine needles and some dry wood pieces because they like to take things in and out before they start, and it give the box a bit more patina. It has been used for three broods but I am sure it still has a bit of a “new” feel to it.
And so it begins...
In the last couple of days, the Bluebirds have been back to check out the nestbox. I have taken out the "winter padding" of pine needles the other day and just left a tiny layer along with some dried wood crumbs. This is a larger than normal box (like a Gilbertson but with 6 instead of 4 inches in diameter, which helps the babies to get stronger for the first flight because there is more space for wing practice), so I like to help her a little bit to get it going for the first one. I do think nesting season has still some time to go, we are expecing colder temps again, but it was so lovely to see them do their thing. Last year, she started building on March 1. Nesting season is one of my favorites, and I am very excited for spring.
Video: A blue delight
It was cold this morning, with frost on the roofs and lawns but there was a lovely bit of sunshine for a little while. While I was still in bed, I checked the camera apps on my phone to see if anything exciting had happened during the night or morning, and I saw that the BBs had come over. The video is a little pixelly but it was early, we are still living in this gloomiest of Januaries and there was quite some commotion too. I have not seen the Bluebirds as much as in previous winters, so this was extra nice. I am glad they come to check on “their” box briefly on the regular, this will give them an advantage in the spring.
Happy 4th advent, Hanukkah, holidays and Sunday!
A good day to conclude the introduction of the calendar birds. For December, I initially chose a female Bluebird because I just loved her grumpy expression. However, this year’s December bird is also a female BB. I try to avoid repetition and also had another fabulous photo that would work - the Queen of all Mourning Doves. If you squint, she looks a bit like a Christmas tree too 😆
My calendar promo sale ends tonight, they are available here.
I am excited
for the weekend because we finally have some snow in the forecast. In the summer time, my photo setup yields up to 25k photos a day per camera, and right now activity is so low that I barely get 5k. However, there are nice moments too. Today, some Bluebirds showed up again, and amongst them was the one that looks slightly different than the others because it still has some baby markings. I am still wondering if this is a male or female. The head color makes me think female but the lower part of the wings and the incoming dark chest are kind of unusually dark. For comparison, there is an adult male too. Come good into the weekend and stay warm!
One good part about
being very meticulous and passionate about making sure the Bluebirds can nest safely is that they may return in fall and winter. This has been the case here ever since I started putting out nestboxes, and made Eastern Bluebirds a year-round delight for me. I am aware that I am lucky and spoiled but I can also tell you that nesting season is creating tense times in this household. Anyways, with colder weather they are showing up again, and some still have the baby specks showing through. I like to pick individuals, and one of the girls looks like she has very pronounced “jowls”.
Today, we had the first snow,
and even the very light dusting made me happy. The birds were happily feeding, and the Bluebird family showed up too. I know I have said this before but they are one of my favorites even just because of the faces that they all seem to make. There are few others with such distinguishable expressions. There were more nestbox visits as well.
Video: Siblings
Yesterday, the Bluebird family returned, and this time the youngsters checked out both nestboxes. They seemed particularly interested in the twoholer, coming several times to explore. I thought it was neat to see them using the two holes so effortlessly. And of course it was hilarious to watch the little sibling rivalries going on. They very much reminded me of me and my sisters. They are not nesting right now, they are kind of scouting the area and also practise for spring.
The Bluebirds
are continuing to visit and always also check out the nestboxes. The other day I saw about six around the feeders. And it is so interesting to see the different shades and patterns on them. Gayle has always been a little more pale than the other females that nested here before but it could be that her offspring carries some of that too. The one with the judgy brow is a returner too, and she looks a bit darker. Of course there are still also some with the baby specks. They seem to enjoy the smaller bird bath that I am live streaming on BirdsyTV.
Since I've been so busy with work,
it sometimes takes me a bit to go back out and refill the feeders. And that is when I get lots of photos like these that show nice different angles like the side or back. It is great to see Whitebreasted Nuthatches and Titmice again on a regular basis after they’ve been more feeder shy in the summer. (Titmouse, Nuthatch, Bluebird, Starling)
Video: Tiny feeder for the small crowd
I have seen these for a while now and always wanted one, and finally bit the bullet (I found the feeder on Etsy, with a seller named PKNKTreasures). This feeder is on the small side, and I love that I haven't seen a Dove on it yet. Well, and of course the adorable look! The Bluebirds found it pretty quickly too. Yay! I am livestreaming this cam currently on one of my channels over at birdsy.com. They have a sale going on right now too, you can get their camera for $149 right now.
