Blue Monday

There's been a lot happening in the last few weeks. Events and thoughts I want to share but haven't had much time indoors to write a blog post and capture it all.

No matter how busy I've been, the bluebirds have remained a top priority.  Sorry. I know I should have said "stitching" was top priority but...

How can I resist this face?

In the early morning and evening, I've been putting out a plate of mealworms for the bluebirds to feed their growing brood.  I feed them at the same time and whistle when I put out the plate so they know when the gravy train has arrived...



I get a kick out of the male trying to cram in as many as he can...he inevitably drops them...and then has to re-pick up all of them again.

It's quite a production and it brings us great joy to watch them.

Here's the status update on the bluebird babies as of last Wednesday...

I'll take one last pic this Wednesday and then I'll need to leave the nest alone.  I don't want to frighten them into fledging too early.

Many of you thought they had nested on a bucket on the ground.  Here's what the nest box looks like...

I can squeeze the "bucket" and release it from the nails holding it to the roof...this lets me set the nest on the ground so I can monitor the nest and take pictures.   This nest type has been very successful for me and has housed many bluebird families over the years.  I'm hoping that my feeding them a bit will help their brood size.  A typical female lays 3-5 eggs and I normally get 2-3.  We'll see if they choose to nest again in the box after this brood has fledged.

I've been trying to get them to come when I call so that I can change their feeding into a box similar to Carol's of Beads and Birds.  Both Carol and Vicki W of Field Trips in Fiber are bluebird mamas and post regularly about their box activities.

So this post is for you Carol and Vicki W.

If you enjoy watching all the habits and mannerisms of the birds in your backyard, I highly recommend this book by Julie Zickefoose...

The book is broken into individual stories about experiences she's had with different species of birds...she's sheltered them, rehabilitated them, sketched them, fed them and now...written about them.  She's a naturalist, a writer and an artist all rolled into one and I'm enjoying her perspective on many of the friends that delight me in my own backyard.

In one story about a bluebird couple that nested in her yard for many years, she cautions against the overfeeding of bluebirds with mealworms.  Evidently they are full of fat and phosphorous and too much of a good thing can upset their nutritional balance.  She learned the hard way and found that overfeeding caused her birds to forget to molt...they were so busy trying to pack in as many broods as possible.  I was glad to read this before I started my little feeding project.

She has a blog here and another book which I'm going to get out of the library here.

Jack has left for a week-long service trip to Camden, NJ.  That leaves me with a little more time to get caught up on my blogging. 

Hope your Monday is a happy one!