New siblings for our fledglings :)

18 years ago

As I mentioned in another post, Missy has 4 new hatchlings as of this morning. :)

We noticed that the fledglings have shown a keen interest in what's going on in the box now...

"See Billy, I told you mom was pregnant again!:

"Hmmm... seems so... Dad just took a real tiny bug in there!"

Mr.B has been an outstanding father, and seems somehow wise in this shot:

And here is our precious Missy... she's a bit tired no doubt, but still beautiful, and we're very proud of her:

I'm waiting awhile before trying to take any photos of the new chicks... This morning there were 4 (and one unhatched egg)... maybe we'll have 5 tomorrow.

Kenn :)

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Comments (8)

organicgardener
18 years ago
How cute those little fledglings are! I have two fledglings helping feed the 2nd brood in the box. In fact, that 2nd brood should fledge tomorrow.

Linda C
mullipuff
18 years ago
Kenn - Your pictures just slay me...
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Geese behave much differently than chickens. First, you'll never be able to sneak up on her at night. They can see almost as well as during the day. Second, if by some chance you are able to get close to her, she'll still know that you're there. It will cause all sorts of commotion, scattering both "her" hatched babies and those that you've saved. You'll take the chance that they'll all get lost or chilled. Geese are extremely intelligent, and have social behaviors that are so much more advanced than that of any chicken flock. Probably one of two things happened with this clutch. Either she is an inexperienced mother, and her instincts were satisfied by hatching the first few, even though more were coming, or, two, there were other females who had access to her nest, and they layed after she began setting, so there are actually multiple eggs with varying hatch dates. I have had good luck both ways, introducing newly hatched goslings to a mother even several days after her true brood had hatched, or also introducing young started birds to the group when they were several weeks old. I've even had my flock take in newly hatched babies when there was no female setting. I would introduce them all to the entire flock first thing in the morning when you have a few hours to watch closely that everything is going OK. In most cases it will take only a minute or two before you know if they'll accept or reject them. I've never had well adjusted (non pet) males cause any problems with babies in my flock. The only time that there were issues was when I had too many males, and squabbles between the males who were in the group and those who were kept out have sometimes inadvertently caused problems with young chicks that got caught up in the fighting. Even that has usually worked itself out in a few minutes. All this happens in a pen of almost 3/4 an acre, and I'm sure that plenty of space is a factor in allowing everything to work itself out.
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not to worry, the house is completely safe. if i get water up here, you can be the whole city of st. louis will be floating away. ;) janie, i am so far behind on e-mails, as usual, so thought i'd share this with everybody. it IS so sweet to see! as for mealworms, i am expecting yet another delivery today from sunshine mealworms. when i ordered on monday, she told me they are sending out only 5,000 at a time. apparently, they are still "rationing". who'da thunk?? lol
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It would surprise me if yours are bluebirds and they all fledged without the parents being there. Bluebirds are very much into fledging. Mine are about to go today and the parents obviously know it. They have been to the nestbox every 5 minutes or so and both of them are perched in a tree where they have an unrestricted view. They buzz any bird or squirrel that comes within 25 feet of the nestbox. This is day 17 for two of them and day 16 for the other three. I have seen some peeking so I expect the two older ones are ready to get out of that hot, crowded box. I wonder if some or all of the 16 day olds will go too, or if they will sit it out overnight and go in the morning. I am ready, either way. You're welcome on the pictures. I actually can document every day of the metamorphosis, except for the seven days or so right after they fledge, (and there is no perceivable color change during that time period anyway). And of course it's still approximate from a scientific point of view, since the birds do develop at different rates and my pictures are of juveniles from several different clutches. It's virtually impossible to track a single fledge all the way if it is flying free. Papa usually runs the juveniles off before the next batch fledges but fortunately, on several occasions (usually the last nesting of the year)he hasn't. Dave
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Thanks everyone. I must say I have been taking tons and tons of pictures when the babies come. I think there are three boys and a girl, but I am not sure. I love watching the six of them fly in. They are not staying in our yard for the most part they are back by the field behind our property but they come to eat regularly and I love love love to watch them. Kenn, I just got an order from Southern Insecataries yesterday, I must say even though they are pricey this year they do have really good worms and I love to order one day and have them the next. I am so hoping Sunshine has some available soon though that DHL shipping from Georgia is ridiculous! Oh and I checked that Duncraft site and it told me they offered free shipping on your first order only. Donna
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newblue_2007
18 years ago
I love the peeping eye! Great captions!
Thanks for always sharing your photo's!
bbcathy
18 years ago
Kenn Awesome shots as usual. It's nice to hear some good news for a change.
Cathy
trailerparkbirds
18 years ago
Ken that eye shot is great, well I'm learning new things this year, I figured the fledglings would be chased away by the momma and papa before they even laid eggs again, well I've learned different. My pair of bluebirds are working on their second brood now, the five eggs should be hatching any day now.

I don't know if I'll be able to get any eye shoots though, I can take pictures into the box, but I'll probably have to get up unto the roof to get any eye shoots like that as the nest is pretty deep into the box, and the box is too far up into the air. My gut feeling is that my floors are deeper then most on this forum, will be researching it when I go to build any more, all I know for now is they've been building nests and having babies in them for the last couple of years so I don't want to be going and changing to much in design.
Keith
chris_nh
18 years ago
I'm brand-new to this forum, but all I can say about those pictures is, 'Wow!' They are magazine-quality. Great job! I love my little Canon point-and-shoot 8MP, but it's clear that a better camera with a zoom lens is the ticket.
kenn3d
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks Chris, and welcome to the forum.

Actually, these photos were taken with with a Canon P&S 6MP S3-IS using a Sony 1.7x teleconverter. But we often shoot without the TC, and it's a great little camera with built-in zoom to just over 400mm.

And since this thread got bumped up, I'd like to post an update on our BB family. :)

Missy and Mr.B continue to feed the hatchlings who are 7 days old now:

The fledglings from the first brood still come by for worms and nuggets, but a little less often each day. And it seems their Papa is encouraging them to move on. Here are a few recent shots of them:

We hear the nestlings peeping "FeedME FeedME!" each time the parents bring a bug to the box. But I've still not tried to photograph them so we're not sure if it's 4 or 5 babies in there.

Kenn :)
blumz
18 years ago
Without a doubt, these are the best bluebird photos I've ever seen. Forget "magazine" quality -- these are GALLERY quality! I do hope I get to see my fledglings close enough to photograph. They are so cute at that age. They left the nest Friday, and I've seen them 'around' with the parents, but not close, and I don't see any of that vibrant blue color yet.

New siblings for our fledglings :)

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organicgardener

mullipuff

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New siblings for our fledglings :)

Comments (8)

organicgardener

mullipuff

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