Video: House Wren building nest
We put a hole restrictor on the Flicker box a while ago so that only small birds like a Wren or Chickadee could get in. It looks like a Wren found it accomodating.
We will see if this turns into an actual nest or just a mock nest.
Last but not least,
after three Bluebird babies hatched yesterday, the fourth seems to have made it out this morning as well.
I have been slacking a bit
with Lagertha nestbox updates, but she has been busy 🙂 She has laid three more eggs after the first one, so now the clutch has four eggs. Tomorrow, we will see how big the clutch is going to be. I never had a BB lay more than five eggs. Meanwhile, Ragnar and the three babies (I haven't seen more than three) are around, playing in the pool and figuring out the food options around here.
New Bluebird clutch!
Lagertha has been busy building her nest for a while now, and today, she laid the first egg of her second clutch. She will now lay one egg per day until her clutch is complete, and then she will start incubating them. Ragnar and the babies from the first clutch are around, and they might help her later to feed the new babies. I am busy with work today, so no new photos or videos before tomorrow, but you can check out this Bored Panda article or the livestream if you crave some. Have a beautiful Monday!
And Lagertha is building again too.
Now that the first set of Bluebird babies has fledged, she is ready to give it another go, and has started to fill the box with nesting material again.
Today was fledge day!
All five Bluebird babies left their cradle on this hot and humid May day. And I only saw one of them do it, and missed to take a photo because I was excitedly talking to my husband haha. What happens is quite interesting. The babies start calling the parents, and the parents reply. It goes back and forth, back and forth for a while, and with each response, the babies become more excited and get out of the hole more. In between it can happen that the parents make a warning call and everything goes back to zero. The babies take naps in between, too. The first one went quickly, the other four took their good time. The parents went back to check on them but did not feed or take diapers anymoire. I cleaned the box and hung it back up so that Lagertha can build another nest. Here is one photo of a baby peeking out, and another one of the nest. It was quite moist and dirty, and I am glad I took it out so Lagertha can have a fresh start with no blowfly larvae or dirt.
Fledge day is always special, and today it felt like watching a long birth. The courage these babies must muster to take the literal leap must be quite enormous. I am so happy they all made it and cannot wait to see them again.
The Bluebird babies
are at what I call the “strawberry stage” right now. they are basically done, and wear their gray kiddo PJs with the white dots, which on the nestbox cam makes them look like strawberries. They have been very agile for the last two days, exercising their wings and also peeking out of the nestbox with their little froggie faces. They hatched on May 7, which means they are very close to fledging. It has been rather hot and humid today, and I feel like tomorrow might be fledge day, even though Wednesday would be day 20 and more normal. They just look so incredibly lively already. The parents will then lead them away a bit to teach them the basics of BB life, and bring them back to the yard to show them the feeders after a couple of weeks. In the meantime, Lagertha might start another nest. I cannot wait to see them outside!
Video: House Wren checking out nestbox
This morning, a House Wren inspected the Flicker box. It is a huge box that is filled with wood shavings, but the Wren has nested in something similar before, so I would not be surprised if it happened again. Let’s hope it doesn’t just build a mock nest in there.
Video: It's hatch day!
The Bluebird babies are hatching this morning. A cold front is supposed to come but they are on schedule. So far, only one made it out, and he was wearing a cute helmet.
Nestbox camera: The House Wren is back
For several years now, a House Wren has raised broods in a nestbox that we made with the intention to get woodpeckers to nest in there. It is quite a mansion for such a tiny bird, but they seem to like it. I am excited to see how things progress.
Eggciting times!
Lagertha laid a fourth egg yesterday and then a fifth this morning. She also spent last night on the nest and is in there right now. I think she might be done laying and will begin incubation now. After all, this was pretty good timing because it seems like the weather might be warming up now. For those who are curious about the timeline, here is a link to a great overview with photos. But I will keep you in the loop too :)
BB nestbox update
I forgot to post yesterday, but Lagertha is a steady layer, which makes me happy. She laid a new egg yesterday, and the third one this morning. We still have light night frost, and I hope the eggs will be ok. Oh, and happy Earth Day :)
Here we go :)
On this sunny Monday morning, Lagertha, the Bluebird lady, went into the nestbox and stayed there a bit longer than usual. I was hoping the day would finally have come, and I was right. Shortly before 9 in the morning, she laid a beautiful blue egg, starting a new clutch that will hopefully be successful. If things go normal, she will lay an egg per day from today until she is done with the clutch. During that time, she will only occasionally check on the eggs and not sit on them permanently. Once her clutch is completed (usually between 3 and 5 eggs), she will start incubating, meaning that she will sit on the eggs, warming them with her brood patch, a skin fold on her belly (you can see some sort of a “crevice” on many birds right now - that is where it is) and turning and moving them to incubate them evenly. She only starts incubating when her clutch is complete so that all chicks will hatch on the same day. Most of the times, that works perfectly, some times there are some that lag a bit behind.