Bluebird thread Number 5

Aww,so adorable! They'll all hatch today?

oh boy!!!!

Dave, I'm dying to know if DW is interested or rolling her eyes at you today!!!

There are two days when she shows real interest: hatch day and fledge day. Otherwise, it's pretty much,' when are you going to get over this?'

She's probably more relieved since she knew I was dreading the prospect of having to remove the nest.

Here is a closeup with one of my Canon cameras and a macro lens.

This message was edited Apr 6, 2008 4:34 PM

And here is an even closer shot that shows how sparce their foliage is.

Love all the detail!

What a RELIEF!!!!!!! Now I can get on with my life. Nerve-wracking.

Congratulations Dave!! What a good "dad".

:D

Thank you very much. That is so cute!

We now have three, I did take a picture but it is not great. I focused on the one fartherest from me and the nearer ones are badly out of focus. But at least you can see three mouths open. The one on the left is obviously the newest since his feathers/fuzz is still wet. The others have dried. I had one egg hatch a day later in the last brood so maybe that will happen again. When it came time to fledge, one (possibly the same one) didn't go until the day after all the others.

Ha... love how the two older are all fuzzy.

Amazing. AMAZING! The detail in your pictures is AMAZING! I've seen many baby blues but never like THIS. Wow!

The Bluebird Monitor book (the one by Keith Kridler, et al) has a story about nestlings fledging on different days....in that case, as I recall, the mom had started brooding before all eggs were laid.

How's your weather there, Grandpapa Dave? Enough insects??

Mrs. Ed, great card!!!

'Morning everyone. Lou, the weather here is, well, just a bit nasty. If it were a bit colder I would call it raw. Good day to be inside.

It is drizzling rain and 40 degrees. Also a good day for Mama and the babies to be inside the box. Not many insects out yet so its good the birds have the mealworms.

As of a few minutes ago, we still have one unhatched egg. I will watch it for a day or two and then remove it. If it hatches today it will probably be all right. If it were to hatch two or more days after the others it probably wouldn't survive in the nest. It's amazing how fast they mature. Just 17 or 18 days after the hatch they fly away, so you can see what even a two day advantage would mean. The more aggressive ones do get more of the food, so a bird that is a couple days behind is at a real disadvantage.

It's funny but the first day you see them peeking out of the hole, is the day they will fledge. I have a lot of pictures taken as they made their first "leap of faith", and it is remarkable how quickly some of them will go, and how hesitant some can be. They must feel a bit like young paratrooper trainees, making their first real jump. I have learned that when they are perched in the opening, and you can see their tiny feet, they are committed and will usually fly in a matter of seconds. I had one change its mind, however, started to leap, and then at the last second, held on by one foot and eventually climbed back inside the box. Quite funny to see and I managed to photograph the entire episode. It might make another drama queen type poster, Mrs Ed.

Dave

Here's Papa on a shepherd's hook, wet but still on the lookout.

Dave, I'm game!! I'm still pondering what to do with the Navel shot…That cracks me up.… coffee cups perhaps??? "I can't find my head until I've had my coffee?" Dunno. All ideas accepted!

Well I sure hope # 4 makes it. Now we have to wait for Rose's babies.

Poor Papa out in the cold!!

Oh my gosh. I take time away to do some "real" work like wash windows, and plant some grass seed, and I almost miss the boat. Mrs._Ed, you have the greatest sense of humor. I'm sitting here laughing, and crying with relief. I guess I'm a bonafide bird nerd now.

OH NO OP! Not another birdnerd! Welcome!

Dave, I'd love to see the baby-that-changed-its-mind series when you get a minute (I love the titmouse drama queen series)....

Mrs. Ed - How about "I don't know which end is up until I've had my coffee."

Dave, do you buy the mealworms? If so, where?

We just saw a pair of bluebirds in our yard today. I am so excited.

Brenda

HaHAH. Good one OP.

Dave, any word on #4?

Dave's 4th & Rose's 6. Where is Rose anyway? Is she updating on a different thread? A lot of nail biting going on here. Sorry in advance to the nail salon folks; no point in going (truth be told I never get my nails done except sometimes in winter. Too dirty & trashed in spring, summer & fall!).

Yah, this is Dave's thread… she's probably going to have her own Farmyard bluebird thread.

Dave, this is amazing. Thank you! Your pictures inspired me to finally decide on an approach to predator prevention (not sure how effective it is!) and get that bluebird house up.

Also, a few years ago when I first started birding, I had a little pamphlet that said that females need calcium from eggs. I now follow the directions and bake up some eggshells every Spring, and the birds seem to studiously avoid them. I've moved from spreading them on the ground where the groundfeeders are to mixing them with the feeder seed. Should I give it up?

I see I have a few questions to answer. First, still waiting for number four. I've all but given up.

Mrs Ed, your coffee cup ideas sound good to me. And both yours and OP's ideas are very good. The titmice are nesting again too so I may have some more intersting shots of them soon.

Muddy, check back a little later tonight. I will look for the file I hid those shots in.

Yes, Brenda, I do buy my mealworms. For the past 18 months or so I have gotten them from Sunshine in Oregon. I have been very satisfied but they just raised their prices so I may look for some place closer . There are several places in Ohio and I think one or two down your way. I think Bet Zimmerman has a list of web sites and/or phone numbers on her Sialis site. http://www.sialis.org/bluebirdstore.htm#mealworms
I don't expect to find them any cheaper, but maybe I can save on the shipping if they are closer to me.

And finally, Coo, I am sorry but I know very little about feeding eggshells. I only know when I look inside the box, another one has hatched and there are no eggshels in the nest and I watch very closely when she exits the box. Only once have I seen her carry part of a shell out of the nestbox, and that was several years ago.

OK, let me add a picture totally unrelated to all these comments but one you may find interesting if you like to see the detail of the feathers. This was a BB that fledged last year. Instead of flying to the tree as they usually do, he flew to the deck where I was standing. Directly toward me, in fact, and landed at my feet. The parents were going crazy. He then flew over to the window and clung to the screen for a few minutes, so this picture was taken when he was about 3 minutes out of the nestbox.

Dave

Here's just a little closer view. Hard to believe he can grow that many feathers in 17 days!

This message was edited Apr 6, 2008 10:06 PM

He is very sweet! I'll bet the parents were going crazy with him being right near you.

Wonderful shot!

Yah, I can't understand why the parents would be so upset! "oh NO! Not the dreaded man who brings us mealworms!!"

;)

Directionally challenged or pilot error? Ham? Or perhaps he knows you're the favorite uncle with treats. Maybe that baby bb was smarter than his parents.

Could be any of the above, or none... Here is a rather long sequence I mentioned earlier. I cropped these a bit tight so you could see more of the bird and less of the box.

As I mentioned earlier, when you see the tiny feet, it usually means they are ready. But not always.

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5 I can't understand why or how he was able to hang on as he did in these next three shots, I'll never know

This message was edited Apr 7, 2008 9:47 AM

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11 Papa comes flying in to try to stop him, but too late. He did fledge a few hours later, just before dark, as I recall.

Dave

This message was edited Apr 6, 2008 11:34 PM

Awesome pics Dave! The little one that changed his mind is a hoot!

That is funny; look at that little butt w/ the tiny tail feathers!

Great baby shots - love their little hair-do's! And I like the one where their heads are together too - so sweet.

That little fledgling is too funny. Amazing he got back in.

Thanks goldfinch This is what your namesake looks like today.