I Love My Bluebirds!
May 12, 2008 — winterwoman
When I first started working at Audubon, I took a workshop on attracting and caring for Eastern Bluebirds. We put lots of boxes out all over the place. I don’t monitor them as often as I could and I don’t submit the data, because I just don’t have time in the Spring. But I do check on them!
I’m very excited that two boxes out in the big field that we sometimes call “Big Field” and other times “The Bluebird Meadow” have bluebirds this spring.
On April 24th, I found 4 cold eggs:
Bluebirds lay one egg each day until they have 4-6 eggs. The eggs will be cold until mama decides she has “enough” and starts to incubate them.
I don’t know how many eggs she eventually layed. She refused to get off the nest yesterday when I went to check, and while I have sometimes removed a mama bird to count eggs, I just didn’t want to disturb her… It was, after all, Mother’s Day.
Some of the other boxes on the field had Tree Swallow nests - one with a couple of cold eggs. At the far end of the field, I checked the last box and found another Bluebird pair and 4 more eggs! Here’s the daddy, courtesy of that 70-300 lens Terry loaned me:
May 12, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Good luck to your bluebird monitoring efforts and the bluebird families too. It’s truly amazing how their numbers have increased with just a little bit of assistance from caring humans. The numbers here in Minnesota have increased quite nicely and it’s nice to drive around in the country and see bluebirds regularly.
May 12, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Bluebirds are such amazing birds! Congrats to the center!
May 13, 2008 at 12:08 am
It’s good to see them doing so well! I love seeing them!
May 13, 2008 at 7:12 am
Fantastic post and they are such a beautiful bird. I used to see them in Scotland but not here in Australia where I live now. It must be very satisfying to track the birds from the initial stages puting up the boxes. Regards, Lesley
May 13, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Winter Woman,
This is a striking post! I’ve still never seen a real live bluebird, but these shots bring me close. My favorite is the photo of the eggs.
May 13, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Another year of Tree swallows–but they’re growing on me. So fearless and friendly–like an old neighbor.
May 13, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Wishing I lived in the country so I can put up blue bird houses.
They are amazing
May 13, 2008 at 11:43 pm
It sounds like you’ll have new hatchlings soon. I am looking forward to the “announcement.” ;o)
May 14, 2008 at 8:43 am
Good luck with your bluebirds - they’re pretty cool birds to have around.
May 30, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Cool photos. Evidently y’all don’t have a black snake predation problem since I see no guard on the bluebird house post. Around here, an unguarded bluebird house would almost certainly end up providing a meal for a black snake.