Congrats Anita
Cathy

Im watching mine getting ready to fledge. Today is day 18 and they are NOT in a hurry. Not much wing flapping and nobodys even ventured outside the nest cup to see whats out there. The camera sure has saved me a lot of time. I would have wasted all day yesterday thinking they "may" fledge but being able to see the activity (or lack of) in the box let me go get groceries and out to dinner KNOWING they would still be here when I got back. I kinda feel like I am cheating! LOL Im guessing they are going to wait until tomorrow or very late this afternoon. Tommorows good!The longer the better.

I am not as glued to the tv as I was last year. I check a couple of times a day. This morning the babies are gaping nicely. One of them is a day younger than the others and it really shows - he is still nekked looking but he picks his head up for food so that is great. I have swallows with eggs but I can't see a darn thing with all the swooping and feathers in the nest. I never monitor them much anyway! Wrens still singing but no eggs in the nest they built. I kept removing the top layer of sticks and they seem to have given up building. I can hope, can't I?

OK I had not put up the sparrow spooker and yesterday I look out and there is a sparrow on top of the box, looking puzzled indeed, a box with no hole, very confusing. I booked out of the house with one shoe on and one shoe off, spooker in hand and got that thing up pronto. Bluebirds don't care one bit. I put up my worm feeder today. It took them about three minutes to find it. Papa brought a whole mouthful of worms to the Mama in the nestbox and I watched her feed the little piggies. They are starting to look like baby birds and not just a pile of innards. My daughter thinks newborn baby birds are just GROSS.

Hello Everyone,
I thinking of placing a minicam in one of my boxes next year. What type of equipment do you use? Are some better than others? Anyone have a portable version for out in the field? Sorry for all the ???'s I am new to this.
Thanks,
ButterflyHunter

Hey everybody, last year I was nuts posting about every little move these chicks made, just like a first time mommy This year i'm a little calmer. Just checking in to say that my nestcam is showing everything looks good so far. It's day 16 and they are stretching and preening a bit but still quiet most of the time. I think at least one is a male. One was hatched about a day later than the others from what I could see. I'm anxious to see how the fledging goes given that he was hatched later, though I can't really tell now from looking which one is the youngest. Keep your fingers crossed for me for a safe fledging of these young ones in the next couple of days

The babies fledged today. They actually seemed quite content in the nestbox and not really fidgety like the babies in this box last year. I suppose it's possible that I didn't see them moving about as much because I didn't watch as much but they seemed quiet every time I looked. Today is day 19 for 3 of them and day 18 for the late one. Anyway, mom and dad spent the morning teasing them and I watched for several hours. As it turns out they left the box when I wasn't looking. One left early this morning and the rest went in the afternoon. This is the first time I saw them fledge in stages; the two fledges I witnessed in years past were one right after the other in the early morning. I guess every nesting is different, and I'm glad they all made it through this stage safe, especially with the sparrows and that darned wren nearby. It just won't stop raining either and I hope that they will be safe through the night. Anyway so ends round one for me. I don't know if they will have another brood. This is the first one for them in my yard, and I haven't seen any fledglings with them. Maybe they will do one more. Meanwhile, please keep fingers crossed that they will be well in this foul weather that just won't quit.

Ok the babies fledged yesterday, and the parents are back at the nestbox today already. I cleaned it out this morning when I saw them there. I think they are making up for lost time.