More Bluebird photos

One more of Papa

I love these last shots of Mama; she is so pretty and Papa is such a handsome fellow!

I just wish I had that many bluebirds. I had a couple of pair that wintered around the house, but I haven't seen any of them in a couple of weeks.

This message was edited Apr 4, 2009 5:16 AM

These photos are just breathtaking Dave. Every one of them is a keeper. The one of papa leaving is just gorgeous.

Maybe I missed you mentioning this, but how close are you standing to the birds on an average?

It seemed that my bluebirds had left for a time because of a stray cat hanging around but I saw a female coming out of one of my nest boxes so my hopes are once again bolstered that i will have some baby blues before long. Here's a pic of Daddy BB in the tip top of a tree.

just put up my 1st bluebird house,had a pair cking out the other houses a week or two ago,so iam hoping they will find this one soon!

ducbucln, In the shot you liked with Papa leaving with mealworms I was about 15 feet away. In most of my shots I am closer than 10 feet, so close I have to step back to get all of the bird in the frame. Lets you get some amazing detail, but at that distance, its very hard to catch them in flight. In a split second they are out of the frame. Or at least, part of them is. You get a lot of stuff like this one, which is a throw away.

But if I keep trying I sometimes get a good one. They give very little warning as to when they are about to fly, or in which directon they are likely to go. I took 67 shots of him perched before I got this one.

But some of the ones of him perched are OK too. The sun was bright today and the camera really picked up his colors.

Notice how in some shots, like this next one, his throat is bulged out a little. He is talking. If they open their mouths at all, they just barely do.

Here he is looking at me. Wondering what I did with the meal worm feeder.

I was working all day on the patio below where they normally eat, so I moved the feeder to the other side of the deck.

Finally he sees it. This is the shot just before the good in-flight shot I posted a few minutes ago.

Oh, we don't want to forget Mama. Notice her belly feathers are somewhat mussed up from sitting on the eggs.

Here is a shot cropped closer.

In this shot you may be able to see the reflection of our house in her eye.

Here is a closer view.

The titmice were checking out the bluebird house today.

And even though the blues are nesting in the PVC box and this one is empty, Papa is keeping his options open.

Another visitor to the meal worm feeder

Always on the alert.

Another visitor.

Here Mama shares the shepherd's hook with a female cowbird.

Here she chased the cowbird away. Not a good angle on the cowbird.

Makes you wonder how the birds instinctively know which ones are their enemies.

What a treat-----all these fabulous blue bird pictures! Thank you so much for sharing. I now have a blue bird nest with 4 eggs in it----and hoping for more.
I have had trouble over the years with critters getting into my box. Finally I learned to put a metal baffle on the post to keep out raccoons-----but snakes some times managed to get in. Soooooo, I have a great remedy for them-------since I am plagued with deer I bought deer netting at Lowe's ($15 for 100 feet). It is very light weight and almost invisible. When it was in a pile on the ground I noticed that snakes kept getting caught in it----------so,if you twist a piece of this at the base of the pole, you will never have a snake in your box. How you dispose of the snake is left up to you ( I normally use a hoe and then dispose of that piece of netting.

Shirleyd

Excellent pics Dave! Mama is so beautiful! Love all the other little birds that visit. Hope the Titmice take up residence in the other box!

shirleyd,lucky you ,eggs already,i just put up a bluebird box,but its snowy today ,they were cking out other houses during some nice weather we were having a week or two ago,my friend also hoes snakes,lol

This message was edited Apr 6, 2009 7:44 AM

I already have two pairs of Eastern Bluebirds beginning to be " territorial' around two separate boxes. I am a member of a BB Trail and we collectively monitor some 300 boxes. Several of our group are reporting the same territorial behavior on their trail segments.

BTW, out trail is located in central Alabama, where Wednesday's low will be a balmy 19 degrees.

Thanks shamusdoughlas for waking this thread up. Today, temp. was back up 60F in central Al. A pleasant day to watch those beautiful BB. 300 boxes, whoa! Hope you have pics. to share?

Well, I've been out of touch for way too many years! Absolutely enjoyed your bb photos Cousin Dave. I look forward to seeing current ones. It's April 5th here in Buffalo, NY and 37 degrees - I usually have my boxes up by now with tree swallows and blue birds viewing them. But, as you can see we're getting snow today. I haven't even heard blue birds yet. Although I know some do stay through the winter. This was a particularly cold season and I'm sure hard on the bird population.

I saw Blue birds and Tree Swallows. Hope the 2 won't compete for the same nest box in the garden. OPbirder hope spring will be there for you soon.