Bye Bye Bluebird!

I took this picture of daddy bluebird three days ago. Yesterday, I decided to take a look at the babies. I got a ladder out of the garage, carefully climbed up to the birdhouse and opened the door. The nest was empty. The babies must have fledged sometime in the last couple of days. I've read that bluebirds can lay more than one clutch of eggs in a season. I'm hoping our bluebird couple will do just that.

Five years ago today, my niece Kelly was married on the beach in Destin, Florida. Happy Anniversary Kelly and Kerry! Love you both!

Mr. Bluebird

We have a bluebird couple building a nest in one of our birdhouses. It's the same birdhouse that our tree swallows have been nesting in for the past two years. The swallows and bluebirds have been fighting over who is going to occupy the birdhouse. For now, the bluebirds are winning. Terry went out at lunch today and bought another birdhouse. Hopefully the tree swallows will make their home in the new box and everyone can live happily ever after. Stay tuned!

Male bluebird. Gorgeous colors!

Bye Bye Birdie!

Yesterday morning, our Tree Swallows left to migrate. Terry happened
to see the entire family happily flying around the birdhouse and arbor.
Here's how he described it to me in an email he sent me yesterday morning.

"Those were definitely the babies flying around my head when I went
out there. Kinda freaked me out – I was standing in front of the box
looking up and there wasn’t any sign of the babies. I couldn’t hear
them or see them. Then out of the blue 4-5 tree swallows swooped
down near the entrance of the box but didn’t try to feed the one left.
That’s when he started jabbering. They didn’t do it again but the
momma bird did come back and feed him a couple of times. It was
like they were all trying to get him to fly out and I guess it worked
sometime between when I left and when you got up"! Pretty cool I
got to witness it.










We will miss them, but are pretty sure they'll return to nest in our
box next spring for the 4th year in a row :0)

Hungry Babies!

Our ever hungry baby Tree Swallows.

Daddy Tree Swallow. I thought there were only two babies in the nest,
but it turns out there are three :0) More pics to come.

I cleaned out the birdhouse that our Tree Swallows had nested
in this year. This is what their nest looked like. Not much to it.
Tree Swallows use lots of feathers in their nest to keep their
babies warm.


It's funny how the nest takes the shape of the birdhouse :0)

A Peck on the Beak :0)

A sweet welcome home.

Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
LORD Almighty, my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.

Psalm 84:3-4

Honey, I'm Home!

Mrs. Tree Swallow returning to the nest. You could tell at this
point that the pair had eggs in their nest. After the eggs are laid,
the male guards the nest while the female goes out to feed.
When she returns, he leaves. This photo was taken on June 3rd.

Tree Swallow eggs are small, averaging about 1.8 gm at laying,
but female swallows are also small birds, averaging only 20 gm.


Female going inside the birdhouse after daddy left. These little
birds were so much fun to watch!

Check out the link for interesting info on Tree Swallow egg
incubation http://www.treeswallowprojects.com/cincubat.html

Male Tree Swallow. This picture was taken on June 1st.

I managed to get the birdhouse out of our Tulip Poplar tree that
fell during last weeks big storms. Unfortunately, as you can see,
the nest contained four little Bluebird eggs. Sad :0(

Male Tree Swallow coming in for a landing on our garden arbor.
I don't know if there are any eggs in the birdhouse yet, but the
female swallow has been staying inside the birdhouse in the past
few days. I would love to have one of those little webcams in the
box so I could see what's going on.

Check out this link on Tree Swallow nests and young. It will bring
a smile to your face :0)

Mama Tree Swallow checking things out :0) I wonder how
hot it gets inside those bird houses?

Tree Swallows

Our nesting pair of Tree Swallows. If you look closely you can see
mama swallow in the birdhouse :0) Too cute! I love these little birds!

Wren Nest

It's fun watching these little birds cram those big sticks inside
that little birdhouse :0)

Sounds of Cicadas & Female Tree Swallow

Our sweet, little, female Tree Swallow peeking out of the

birdhouse at me. They are so friendly and approachable.

You can hear the sounds of the Cicadas in the background.

They've gotten really vocal now that the weather has

warmed up. Enjoy!

Chickadee Eggs

Nature can be fascinating, but cruel as well. I found this little
Chickadee egg cracked on the patio below the bird box where they
have been nesting. I also noticed some nesting material had been
pulled out of the bird box.


It looks like this egg has been pecked open. House Sparrows
and Wrens are notorious for attacking Chickadee nests and
attacking their young and eggs. It's sad, but I guess that's what
they mean by "survival of the fittest."

Male Bluebird


Mr and Mrs Bluebird ran our Tree Swallows out of their home in
the Tulip Poplar. We ended up buying another birdhouse which
the Tree Swallows quickly found and are busy building their nest.
We put the new birdhouse up on the garden arbor. Hopefully all is
well in bird land :0)

Male Tree Swallow checking out the new digs. To the right you
can see the female Tree Swallow flying. This is the second year
they have come to nest in our bird box.