Bluebird thread Number 5

Dave,

Beautiful pics! Love the little baby and fledgling shots! So cute and adorable!

So exciting! Has the fourth egg hatched?

Marilyn

Mrs. Ed,

Wonderful card!

Marilyn

No, sorry to say, the fourth egg did not hatch. I removed it this afternoon. Here are the others and the egg, just before I removed it.

What a pretty goldfinch with the blossoms! Ours are just starting to show some yellow now. Won't be long....

Wow! The-baby-that-changed-his-mind is hilarious! Amazing, too, to think that your tiny little nestlings will be the size of TBTCHM in 3 weeks!!

Here is the egg that didn't hatch. Notice that it is not as blue as it was when it was first laid. Also notice the circle at one end of the egg that is slightly lighter than the rest of the egg.

I'm not sure what it all means. Maybe someone else out there does.

This message was edited Apr 7, 2008 9:53 PM

This message was edited Apr 7, 2008 9:56 PM

Great pictures Dave. There's a reason for everything, but it's still a little sad the egg didn't hatch. The babies look great! You are doing an important service for bbs everywhere by sharing with us.

Mrs. Ed and Rose could come up with some outstanding captions for TBTCHM!

Beautiful weather in OP, with one nesting box up. #2 to be put up this a.m. No bbs in sight yet.

Hi Dave, How are the little ones doing?

They are doing well, thank you. Now four days old. Here is a picture taken about an hour ago.

And here are Mama and Papa, perched on the new shepherd's hook I bought them.

What a cute picture - his & her perches!

See the eye is just starting to open in the right-hand chick

Resin

A morning visitor

Here you see Papa has been hunting for tiny insects to feed the babies. When all else fails, they will pick out a smaller meal worm (I have a mixture of medium and large at this time) and they will break the worm down before taking it to the nestbox. In a few days the babies will be able to eat mealworms and the parents will load up and take mouthfulls to the nest. I am thinking of temporarily removing the roof of the box in a few days and mounting a camera directly above, to try to get some shots of them feeding the little ones.

Oh, that will be a real treat dave. good luck with that.

Dave, Do you handle the babies and look for blowfly larvae like they show on the nabluebird.org site? That really intimidates me, as this is the first time for us. The first time we looked for eggs, we sang and made a little noise as we approached the nest box. Since there was no activity, I opened the front and almost got a face full of Mama bird. I closed the door and she stayed inside. Next day we waited for her to leave the box and we think there were four eggs. Purple Martins continue to fly over, land on, and look inside the unused box 2. Papa and Mama BB still protect box 2, hunt from it, hang from the door and look inside, until the martins get bored and go away, then they return to their normal activities.

No, I do not handle the babies. I did just once to return one to the nest after it had been removed by the new female. This is my tenth nesting and I've not seen any evidence of bowfly.

I guess we all have had the surprise of having Mama fly out when we were sure she was gone. I make lots of noise approaching and even peck on the side of the box and still, I have had her surprise me. I always stand to the side of the box when I open it.

This message was edited Apr 9, 2008 11:20 AM

OK Here's one more at the shepherd's hook

And Mama bringing a snack

Another angle

Here's Papa

Another shot of Papa in flight

Awesome pics Dave!

One more

And one of him sitting still, for a change

Beautiful!

You are my hero, Dave! I'm sharing some of your pics with my bb lovers at work to stimulate their interest, and so we can all be supportive of each other when our bbs arrive. Thanks.

Just love those action shots. Sure gives you a different view of them!

Thanks for all the nice comments. Here's one of the female.

Holy Cow! That's some DETAIL!

Okay, I heart her now. All is forgiven.

Here's one from a day or so ago. Papa demonstrates one of the ways he gets the rain out of his eyes (when there is a branch handy).

And here's the way he does it when there is no branch to wipe against.

Here is a shot I posted on another thread but thought you might like to see it too.

Wonderful pics Dave! Love the great detail!!!

The shaking one is awesome w/ the water drops flying off!

Might want to consider starting a new thread soon; getting a little long to load. :-)

The shape of his wings and tail feathers lining up against the shepards hook are amazing. You really capture the "aliveness" in the birds.

Those babies are GROWING! Very exciting. We have SNOW here today, and haven't seen my bbs for about a week now, so am living vicariously through you! Keep those photos coming!! MuddyLou

We got you covered, Lou. But I'm about to retire this thread. Look for more on #6.

Dave