A new bluebird thread

Well, back to bluebirds. Still waiting for the eggs to hatch. Here she is on a break.

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Love it when the pileated woodpecker moves to the sunny side of the tree.

Love it even more when I can get a bluebird in the same frame with him.

Even closer.

I think the bluebird had an idea he would chase him away, but when he saw how big the Pileated was, he apparently thought better of it.

This message was edited May 11, 2011 12:42 AM

A couple more and I'll call it a night.

Well, maybe I will, and maybe I won't.

Try again

Oh you have a Pileated Woodpecker! Very cool!
Great shots of the Bluebirds and love the 2 collages.

Love all your bird pictures. the bb & wp in the same picture is marvolous.

Dave

I have 3 new hatchlings as of an hour ago. There is still one unhatched egg in the box.

You're next.

David

Good News! Thanks for the update.

Nothing here as yet. But since you were a day ahead of me, maybe I need to wait another day before I start to worry.

Dave

Here's one from this morning.

Beautiful photo.

That is a great shot, Dave.

Thanks Red

Next shot

That's a beautiful couple there Dave.

Love that last shot Dave!

I loved that last shot too Dave, but the others are beautiful too. How exciting to see the pileated and the added bb was fantastic. Loved the collage-hope that will be on your wall!

Thanks but probably not, duc. I was just messing around, trying to understand how to work with layers (that collage has 17 layers) and I did get better at it as I went along. The hardest thing for me was getting the sizes of the various birds approximately right. What I think I want to do next is make an all bluebird collage, with a nice picture of the male and female in the middle and about 10 or 15 smaller pics around the outside, showing the whole cycle of their life, from eggs to fledging, and some of the various looks as the juveniles molt, to in flight shots, wing-waving, nest building and so forth.

Incidentally, four of the five eggs from our second brood hatched early this afternoon. The other one should hatch tomorrow. (She laid a fifth egg the day after she began incubating the first four). I watched her on the nest cam and knew at least one had hatched when I saw her eating an egg shell. When she left to take a break I dashed out and took a couple of pictures. At that time only three had hatched but as you can see from the pipping marks in this picture, number four was about ready. I looked again about an hour later and only saw one unhatched egg.

Here is the male with a tiny spider for one of the nestlings. He won't take meal worms to them until they are several days old, and then he will chop them up first.

Here he exits the nest box.

Nice shots Dave! How are the Bluebird chicks?

All five are alive and apparently doing well, thanks for asking. I check on them via the nestcam.
I am providing meal worms for them but also have a pair of nesting mockingbirds with an "if I can't have them, no one will" attitude. One or both of the mockers will sit on top of the meal worm feeder cage for 10 or 15 minutes at a time and will only leave if I go out and chase them. But then they come right back, before I get back inside the house. Kinda difficult for me to sit out there when it has been raining the past two days...

Here they are together. I couldn't get both in the same frame when they were on the feeder with the camera I was using.

And when I chase them more often than not one of them will fly down and sit on top of the bluebird house and give me that "nah nah nah nah, nah nah" look.

This is not the best shot, but you can see the second mocker on the fence behind the nest box, albeit out of focus.

Well, here is the male bluebird, just a little damp. Despite the weather, he still hunts for small insects and as you can see, the grass is very wet.

Here he is exiting the nest box, looking a little dryer.

The female during one of her breaks. She spends most of her time inside the nest box but at least she keeps dry.

Beautiful shots Dave! I love Mockingbirds but can understand how they might be a problem with the meal worms.

I'm starting to have the same problem with the mockingbirds that are building a nest in our yard. I've moved the feeder out of their sight, but know it's only a matter of time til they find it again. What kind of caged feeder do you use, dave? And where did you get it?

I have a question. It seems my male bluebird has been missing for about a week. I thought at first the the pair was missing but when I went to check the nest momma was in the nest sitting on 4 eggs. I still have not seen the male. Will the momma bluebird be able to take care of the babies on her own?

Yes, it is possible but it will be somewhat difficult right after they hatch. The chicks are unable to regulate their body temperature for the first five or six days so she will have to keep them warm, even in the day time.

The main problem during this brooding period is that she cannot leave the nest box for extended periods to search for food. Under normal circumstances the male does most of the hunting for food during this period. You can help by offering her meal worms. If you do, try to find medium or mini size, since she would have to chop up whatever she feeds them for the first several days. In addition, she will not have a mate to stand guard outside the nest box. She and the chicks are very vulnerable to house sparrows and predators during this time.

Hopefully he will show up or she will attract a new mate. I had a male killed by a house sparrow several years ago when the female was six days into incubation and a new male showed up the same day. He immediately assumed all the former male's duties and helped raise the babies like they were his own.

I was able to find smaller mealworms by sorting them. I will give it a try. I have been finding live mealworms while gardening have been putting them in the feeder I did see the momma take a couple.
I do not have to many hostle sparrows close by so I hope they will ok.
Thank you for the helpful info. I will keep you posted.

Papa today with the 600mm. About as close as I could auto focus.

Temperatures were in the mid-nineties, and both parents were gasping for air as they worked to feed the nestlings.

This is Papa in the mid afternoon heat, at 1200mm (600 with the 2x TC), uncropped.

Early in the morning. Enjoying a break.