Another Year of Baby Blues

My resident bluebirds are back for the seventh (?) year of raising babies in my backyard!   This ritual is the epitome of Spring for me.

In March, the pair appears and diligently inspects the nest box.  Their inspection is thorough and occurs periodically for at least two weeks.

Courtship activities are common during this time.  I see a lot of male wing flapping near the female.

Nest building by the female occurs next.

And then, eggs are laid.  The final egg in this nest was laid on April 14th.  Aren't they the most beautiful, perfect eggs?

Immediately after these eggs were laid, we received an unusual late Spring snow storm with temperatures in the 20s.  I've been concerned ever since that the eggs wouldn't be viable due to the extreme cold.

But, this morning when I checked the nest, we have hatching!

The male bluebird is very protective and keeps a close eye on me.  He dives at me with a loud clicking noise whenever I get too close. 

I'm anxious to check the nest again, but don't want to disturb the hatching progress.  Hopefully by tomorrow, there will be five new bluebirds in the world!

Red for V-Day

There are few things as beautiful as a Cardinal in the snow.  Unfortunately, it rarely snows in this area of Tennessee.  So, here are some Cardinal pics without the snow.  Still beautiful!

 

 

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

A New Year

The backyard was quiet until I added seeds to the feeder to start the new year.  What a burst of activity:  six brown sparrows, five black-eyed juncos, four american golfinches, three tufted titmice, two red cardinals, and a big fat robin in a tree!

Let's start with my favorite.  I have never seen so many tufted titmice at one time--and they have never been so accommodating for pictures.  I was in heaven. 

More pictures from the feeder to come soon!

Slacker Disappointment

How is it possible that I have not posted to this blog since July 2012??  I'm blaming this slacking on two things:  1) my husband's return from his deployment; and 2) two cute little dogs that have been keeping me entertained.  With that said, I have a lot of catching up to do!

The hummingbird season was a light one.  This guy was the only regular, and he diligently guarded my feeders. 

He must have been the biggest bully in the hummingbird kingdom because I only saw a few others that dared to invade the backyard.

I did catch this little lady with pollen on her head...

And this handsome gent...

but this was the largest group I saw all summer.

They were gone by early October.  Disappointing.



  

Lakeside

I spent last week in beautiful Lakeside, Ohio on Lake Erie. 

Purple Martins were in abundance.

And there were plenty of babies!!!

Martin dinnertime.

There were plenty of other birds to watch.

And other critters as well!

Day 10 Baby Blues

Three shy babies!  Their eyes are not quite fully open. 



In my front driveway this morning, I stumbled across two tiny dead baby birds.  It appears that the Mockingbird nest in the holly tree next to the driveway was disturbed, and the babies were scattered.  Mama Mockingbird had a worm in her mouth and was looking all around.  Nature is harsh!

Alabama Birds

Birdwatching at my parent's house in Alabama is such a joy!

The Canadian Geese are always present.

Robins and bluebirds too...hanging out on a wire!

Cardinals...

A hummingbird who was so close I could almost reach out and touch it!

Finally, I was really excited to get a photo of a new bird...a brown thrush!

Back at home, the baby bluebirds seem to be doing well!