Rita;Thank you, I just love them lilies.I have had people stop in the middle of the street when I was outside and yell at me, asking what are them Red flowers.One even parked in my yard and got out to come get a closer look at them and ask what they were.They do attract attention as they are so bright,and so pretty.yes, the Daylily certainly gets a A for effort.I was so disappointed that it didnt open up all the way, but, it has more buds, so maybe next time it will open good. CINDY, Thabnk you. the days got warmer, was 83 today, and the nights are suppose to warm up, too. NANCY:MAYBE your lilies will bloom soon, too..I never knew anything like these existed until I seen the pictures that Rita posted of hers.So many gorgeous lilies, that I never knew existed.I guess the orientals bloom around July and August ? I was disappointed in the daylily when it didnt open up right, but, it still has more buds on it, so maybe one of them will open wide.at least,I can see its going to be a beauty when it blooms right. I found a bunch of scapes on the daylilies today, that just appeared over night. Jean

Bluebirds have many vocalizations. They sing, warble, "danger" call, even chirp for various reasons. During courtship they might both sing. I've heard the adults make baby sounds when they come for mealworms. I've heard the male sing very softly and quietly nearby for hours while the female is incubating eggs. I've heard a female call for her mate all day long at the top of the highest tree, after he went missing during a terrible hailstorm. As fledglings grow older, their calls change, and when fledging time is near, the parents call to them to encourage them as they tease them with food, and maybe even tell them where to fly to. It amazes me when I see a fledgling pop out on their very first flight, and make an immediate U-turn in mid-air up to the woods--how did they know to do that? I recently purchased a little recorder, and hope to be able to share some of these sounds someday, maybe to go along with some of the stunning photos many of you post here. If only that UPS truck would quiet its brakes! That screeeeech is piercing my ears! BlueBars

Thanks everyone, We are so delighted to see so many fledglings up close everyday now. Here are just few more taken in recent days. This little one sits atop the nestbox (which contains 5 more eggs in Missy's 3rd nest), and calls to Mom who's perched on the spooker: This one is on the deck rail waiting for a spot to open up at the mealworm bowl: And for those of you who liked the "mad bluebird" shot, here's another wet fledgling up close: We're about 5 days away from the hatching of clutch #3, but we're still seeing all 8 of the fledges from the first two nests. oh joy, Kenn :)

Hi Dave and all, This was the first time for us to see more than one at a time also... the 5th frame (center bottom) actually shows 4 at once. It was getting kinda crowded in there. And I'm now very happy to report that all 5 eggs had hatched afterall... and all 5 chicks have fledged successfully as of @2pm today! :) So here are some more pictures of them... The first one to leave, (@4pm yesterday) hesitated, then stumbled on his way out and hung upside down from the hole for a few seconds, flapping in panic. We were caught totally off-guard and missed getting a shot of that frantic moment... This frame was just before that happened: But he quickly recovered, and safely flew to the Magic Tree: ...where he was immediately joined by both proud parents. The rest of the crew (4 of them) spent another night in the box, and Missy and Mr.B began feeding them non-stop starting around 5:30am this morning. Until 10:43 when our second contestant (another boy) made his debut: He flew over the house and into a tree in the front yard... I couldn't see where he landed and didn't want to miss the others fledging so I didn't chase after him. Interestingly, the fledglings from the first nesting were hanging around quite alot during this whole time... On the deck: ... on the gaslight: ... and on the nest box too. They've shown quite an interest in their new siblings all along, and parents have been fairly tolerant about it. The 3rd bird out was a girl, and she made an elegantly graceful first flight straight to the top of the RedBud tree: Where she landed on a very thin willowy branch and struggled to maintain her perch swaying in the breeze: The 4th and 5th birds fledged about 10 minutes apart, around 2pm this afternoon and I didn't get very good photos of either... not sure the sex on these two: Needless to say I'll be hoping to get a LOT more shots of all these new darlings. And we are overjoyed to have another successful fledging of FIVE! Kenn :)