Bluebird thread

Congratulations Dave!

That is great, Dave. Do the parents remove the shells?

Usually the female eats the shells, Margaret. I watch them do it on the nest cam. I have a picture of a female removing a shell back in 2005, but I've not seen it done since.

This message was edited Jun 24, 2011 11:15 PM

Thanks Dave. Good, rich source of calcium.

Well, Dave. I'm assuming you probably have 4 baby blues by now. The last two times Mama has laid, there has been an unfertilized egg. She is also laying smaller clutches this year. I think she is an old bird.

She does have another egg. She laid one, skipped a day, laid another and skipped today.

The juvies from the first two broods don't come around much now, but one from the second brood visited yesterday. He followed Daddy around begging and got a couple of worms for his efforts.

Those eggs looks so pretty. And the little fella begging with success, precious!

Only three of the eggs have hatched, Red. I'll give her another day and remove and candle the fourth egg.

I have two pair of the mockingbirds that are driving me crazy. All four parents come when I go out with meal worms and they have become quite brazen. They fly up to within five feet of me and swoop down and actually bang into the juvenile bluebirds, hoping to dislodge a few meal worms. When they get a worm they rarely eat it; instead they fly off to the wooded area, so they must be feeding nestlings.

I am excited to report 4 eggs being incubated. The 4th was laid Saturday or yesterday. The box is on a pole with a baffle, so hopefully nothing will get these babies. I seem to have forgotten...is incubation 14 days till hatching?

BB / Sheri

Hi Sheri: Nice to hear from you. It is usually 13 days. I think the official answer is 12 - 14 days, and then about 18 days to fledging.

Thank you Dave. My house got broken into and cleaned of over $30,000 in jewelry plus my Cannon dig SLR with a 2.8 ?70-200 zoom. Just when I was revving up with excitement about spring / summer shooting......Bah Humbug!!

BirdieBlue / Sheri

Ouch!! I am very sorry to hear that. Hope you were insured.

That theft is a bummer. I have no mercy for thieves. We had a credit card counterfeited and used out of state last week and that has been a hassle. We have all of our monthly recurring bills on that card and pay in full each month. So I've had to get a new card and change the numbers. Hackers are no longer just thrill-seeking geeks, it's evolved to teams who are in it to make big money.

On a more pleasant note, Mama has laid a third egg in this third clutch.

And the bluebirds got a new birdbath today. I'm sure they will share it with most of the back yard visitors. It's amazing how Daddy differentiates friends from foes. He pays no mind to the finches, cardinals and native sparrows. Let a HOSP, Cow Bird or grackle land in the yard and he's on it.

Beautiful birdbath Red. So glad to see the future clutch is well on the way. Last week in our state, authority captured a team of hightech geeks that were staking out at local ATM machines to steal customer's banking info. Scary these days.

My birds from the second nesting are getting to be pretty good fliers and Papa is starting to act like he is about to chase them away. They tend to get right into the bowl, as you see here, and Papa doesn't wait long before he flies in, bumping them out of the way.

My three in the nest box are a week old and growing like weeds. I now have two pair of robins, along with the two pair of mockingbirds, trying to get meal worms to take back to their nestlings.

Oh that is adorable Dave!

What's a beautiful view! I wanna hug them. lol

He looks like a choir conductor!!

Bright sun today so the pictures are pretty sharp. Here are a few. Papa is doing most of the feeding of the three in the nest box.

When his tail feathers are spread this way, you know he sees something that has him upset. I never did find out what it was.

Another view, from the side.

One more view. Notice that he has already begun his molt. I hate this time of year because the birds look so shaggy.

Finally, one of the juveniles. They are finding it harder and harder to get time at the meal worm feeder.

Dave, your little ones are just adorable.

Your pics are so beautiful. My 5 eggs are doing well. Momma sits dutifully incubating them. I can't imagine how hot it must be in there with so many of our days being in the upper 80's & 90's. Wish I could fix them a mini fan!!

Well I now have 5 fuzzy headed BB hatchlings 3-4 days old. Got mealworms and they are feeding the bebies of course. I think it is 14 days to fledge from the day of the laast hatchling. So I think that will make it 7/14 (Dave please corect me if wrong)

Sheri

Congrats on your babies, sheri. Fledging will probably be more like 17-18 days. My three eggs of the third brood should hatch around 11 July. We have had triple digit temps every day, so they shouldn't be late.

LOL...I must get a picture tomorrow while they still look like little punk rockers with that funny haircut. ^_^ So that should make fledgling about 7/28 I pray that they and their parents stay safe and grow well . I am so excited and putting out meal-worms morning and night, If I see the daddy hanging around they get a mid day or afternoon feeding also Unfortunately some other birds have spotted the dish. I just hope no sparrows come.

Wing waves to y'all,

BirdieBlue / Sheri

Very happy for you Birdie. Hope things continue to go well. My third nestors are due to fledge tomorrow or Tuesday. Either way I expect I'll miss it. We have medical appointments in Northern Virginia both days. I watch them on the nest cam and they seem to be OK. It has been hot here too. Mid nineties every day and 103 day before yesterday. I can only imagine how hot it must be inside the nest box.

My meal worm feeding has gotten totally out of hand. I have two pair of mockingbirds and two pair of robins, all nesting within 50 feet of the bluebird nest box. One mockingbird nest is in a crepe myrtle less than 20 feet from the bluebirds' nest. All eight of the bigger birds come flying if I go out on the deck, or if they see the bluebirds feeding. I usually have to throw a handful of mealies down on the patio below to divert their attention, and then quickly put worms in the feeder for the bluebirds. The backyard is a flying circus with aerial fights and dive-bombing, and me, the ring master in the middle with my garden hose, squirting any robin or mockingbird that comes too near the bluebirds.

Despite all this I am still taking lots of pictures of the bluebirds. I tend to demonize the mockers so much I forget that they too have a family to feed.

Here is one of the three survivors from the second nesting. Just 40 days old. I wonder how long Papa will let them stay around once the third nest babies fledge tomorrow.

All three. Taken same time as preceding shot.

And one as he takes off. This one taken two days ago.

Papa, taken a few minutes ago. Starting to look a little scroungy, but still a beautiful bird.

Well, I feel like I am hijacking Red's thread, but since I said I expected my birds would fledge today, let me add that they did. In fact, one jumped the gun and left last night (Sunday) at 8:13--just before dark. I had a medical appointment this morning in Northern Virginia and had to leave by 9:15. I set up my cameras, just in case the remaining two had not fledged by the time I got back. About 5 minutes before I left I was looking through one of the cameras and shooting pictures of one of the birds peeking when he suddenly wiggled out, looked left and right and was on his way!

This message was edited Jul 12, 2011 7:31 AM

I managed three shots of him before he flew out of the camera's view.

The third fledgling exited before I got back but I saw all three of them in the trees behind the house.

Dave, how special that you captured its first flight. Beautiful.

Thank you Margaret. It is indeed a rare shot. Many bluebird hosts manage long trails, with literally hundreds of nest boxes, but have rarely seen a bluebird fledge, much less get a picture of it. We backyard hosts watch them closer so we have a much better chance but still, they leave when they are ready and usually without warning. With our busy lives, we sometimes miss it.

Great thread with lots of great pics!!