More Bluebird photos

Seems most of these are of males.

Maybe it's because I have more males than females.

One more, then I'll look for one of the females.

As promised.

Here she is again.

One more.

One more, then I'll switch to today.

Here's Papa today, hanging on to what little snow is left on the post.

Here he is this morning. I think he's mad about the 15 degree temperature.

Last one for tonight..

Fantastic photos, Dave. I felt a little confused myself out there in the blistering cold.

Same here. Great shots Dave!

Funny to see those sleek birds all puffed up in the winter cold.

Beautiful photos! We don't get bluebirds here. I've been told that they don't like wooded areas...and we are surrounded by woods! I guess I'll just have to enjoy your photos.

I feel sorry for the birds in the cold but they sure are beautiful Dave...thanks for the update. Have yours started nest building?

No, not yet, Rose, and I am really glad they aren't. One of the hardest things I have done was to remove a nest after she sat on it for 20-some days. (As you know they should hatch on the 13th day). That happened 2 years ago after we had an early Spring, followed by an unexpected week-long freeze. Five eggs never hatched.

Weather is starting to warm up here. 50 degrees today and they expect high 70's Saturday and Sunday. A lot of the snow is gone already.

I'm not complaining but I do have a bunch of house sparrows to deal with.

Dave

I'd been trying to get pics of the bluebirds sitting on this post with the new growth of this tree in the foreground because I loved the colors but my camera couldn't seem to focus on both, so the birds came out blurry but this one isn't quite as blurry as the others. I have a few that are checking out nesting boxes again now that the temps are getting warmer

It really is a nice setting, CBL. I personally wouldn't worry about getting everything in focus. With a point and shoot camera you are limited as to how much you can control things like the depth of field. So much will depend on available light, how far you are from the subject and how much zoom you use.

I look at it this way: If you are shooting a picture of the bird, make sure it is in focus. Everything else will then complement the subject. The slightly blurred leaves will serve to draw your eye to the part of the picture that is in focus. If the leaves are too overpowering, crop it a bit to where they create a nice frame around your principal subject.

Of course, this photography stuff is totally subjective. I personally try to eliminate most of the surrounding distractions. As a result, my pictures tend to look like something from a bird book. But that's just me and I am OK with that. If the bird I am shooting is in the cherry tree with a cherry in its mouth, I may back off and let you see more of the tree; maybe even some cherries still hanging on the tree. But the final presentation will be created by editing: sharpening, lightening, cropping etc. Rarely if ever am I satisfied with an image as it comes out of the camera.

Dave

Well, after a significant layoff (from posting, not photographing), I will revive this thread and bring you up to date on my pair.

Earlier in this thread, on Feb 21, in fact, Mrs Ed asked if I was going to put up the Gilbertson PVC box I have had for many years but have never used. I told her no because I wanted to see how the blues would respond to the slotted opening I had installed in my regular box, and also because I had just installed the nest cam in the slotted box.

A few days later, when I was certain the blues would nest in the slotted box, I decided to put up the Gilbertson too, in hopes that the chickadees or the titmice would nest in it. The only place available was just outside the kitchen window. Much too close to the house for bluebirds, but I hoped the dees wouldn't mind.

As soon as I put the PVC model up (and I mean within 5 minutes), Papa went to check it out. And he fell in love with it! He would go inside for a few seconds, then come out, perch on the roof, then go back inside. He kept this up for 10 to 15 minutes at a time, all day long. Mama was still perching on the wooden box. He would go get her and bring her to the PVC model. After about a week of this, she built her nest in the PVC house, although to this day they still will not allow anyone else near the wooden box, either.

I had installed the nest cam in the wooden box and had even buried the cable leading back to the basement where I had it hooked up to a TV. I wanted to move the nest cam to the Gilbertson PVC but it is so small inside I feared the birds would hit the camera when they entered the box. Some one suggested I cut a hole in the roof, which I did, and aimed the camera down through the hole. I covered the camera and the hole with a 3 inch PVC cap and caulked around it to hopefully keep the rain out. It looks pretty sloppy but it seems to be OK. There are five eggs and she has been incubating since this past Sunday. Through the nest cam the inside of the nest box looks very small. It should be pretty crowded when the five of the nestlings start jumping around flapping their wings.

This first shot is of Mama in the nest box. I appologize for the lack of quality but it is a dark day.

Here is a better shot.

Here is a shot while Mama was taking a break. She was perched on the shepherd's hook when Papa decided to land there. As usual, she vacated.

Here in the next shot, he prepares to land.

Been raining here for 2 days. Here are a couple taken before it started.

Mama

Glad that you have revived the BB thread!

Guess what! The SUN just came out! Unfortunately, most of their favorite perches are in the shade.

Here Papa moves to the sun

And Mama, wing-waving, no less.

Anothe shot of Mama in the shade

Beautiful shots Dave!

Is she done nest building?

She completed the nest several weeks ago.
There are five eggs in the nest and she has been incubating since this past Sunday.

Dave

Have you been able to get a picture of the eggs (with the nest cam)?

No Marna. I haven't even tried. The picture quality is poor and there is not enough light in there to even give the eggs color. I am not big on videos and besides, I don't have time right now to figure out how to hook up the VCR. It is worth it just to be able to check things out without going out there, disturbing her and taking the box down.

No matter what, I plan to take it down after this nesting. Hopefully they will just move to the slotted box for their second.

Now that I have that box, I know that it's not easy to take check out the nest… Good to have that camera in there to monitor, as you said.

Mine had a chickadee hole reducer. No chickadees have checked it out to my knowledge. Some house sparrows have been interested, but they can't get in the hole. ha ha!!

And they say HOSP don't like it because the inside isn't big enough or deep enough for them. I watch it very closely and I haven't seen any HOSP around it yet. But wait til the summer. My neighbor is raising a flock of them and they will be looking for anything to nest in.

Here is Mama from a couple of days ago.

Another shot... same sitting

Papa bathing in the sundial.

And then preening

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