Bird Watching: Five Little Bluebirds And How They Grew, 1 by 2dCousinDave

2dCousinDave wrote:
This is really a continuation of a thread that grew far too long so I had to start a new one. If you should want to refer back to the previous one, here is a link:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1004959/

I should begin by acknowledging (or depending on how this thread unwinds, apologizing to) Margaret Sydney (or more appropriately, her heirs) for borrowing so heavily on the title of her book.

The five little ones that fledged 2 weeks ago today are all alive and doing well. Their replacement father, who stepped in when their paternal father was killed, is still working hard. The more I watch him the more I can tell he is young and new to this business of raising youngsters.

There are two empty nest boxes in the yard and he and Mama check them out regularly. But so far she has not given any indication that she is going for a fourth nesting. Three is normal in this area and four nestings, while not unheard of, is indeed rare.

With the last post on the previous thread I included a picture of Mama feeding the first fledgling that came down to the feeder. Three days is like years in bird time and now they all follow the parents to the deck and several of the fledglings already know how to enter the cage and feed themselves. But when the mockingbirds or the sparrows show up and things get frantic around the feeder, they still fly back to the tree top and wait for the parents to bring supper to them.

I really don't have a plan on how to present these pictures. Things happen unexpectedly and I may not get them posted in chronological order. But what the heck. I'm an old man and an amateur, so bear with me. I only hope I can avoid posting the same ones twice. :-)

This message was edited Jul 22, 2009 2:46 PM