Mac60 welcome to the "I saw them fledge"club! I was lucky enough to see my first Blues fledge, I didnt know a thing about them. There was this box at a house I moved into....LOL 4 years later I have 5 boxes! Congrats! If nobody has shared this,go to www.sialis.org to learn LOTS about your Blues and other wonderful nest box birds!

Congratulations Mac60. I have seen most of my 11 broods fledge over the past 4 years and have been fortunate to get pictures of many of them. It is still a thrill every time and I plan my week around the 17th and 18th day. Next time make sure you have extra batteries and an extra picture card. As thrilling as it is to see them go, it's an even bigger thrill to catch a picture of it.

You may have seen the pictures of my most recent departure, but in case you missed them, here is a link.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: My last Fledge Day

Congrats...it is indeed so exciting to see them enter their new world...I was lucky enough to see my first brood fledge...it began late one afternoon and babies 1, 2, & 3 made it within minutes of each other, though 4 and 5 kept trying, they decided not to join their siblings at that point...I panicked and came straight to the forum, thinking Mom and Dad had totally forgotten about the last two.LOL...I learned quickly this was perfectly normal...babies 4 and 5 left early the next morning and even though I missed the last two, it was such a thrill to be there when the first three left!

Donna

How cool, glad you got to see them go. Hopefully the #5 makes it ok. I have been hosting Blues for three summers now and my first summer I was able to watch them fledge. Last summer I missed it as it was evening when the sole survivor fledged and then this year I missed it too. I was all set this year, had days 17,18 and 19 free with just me able to watch the nestbox and what did those little Blues do??? Fledged on day 16 when I was gone for a bit!! I have seen all four of them out and about in the yard though, not up to the feeder yet though. Oh and July 4th was day 17 for me too, only they fledged on July 3rd! Little buggers.

Donna

Thanks for the congrats! I do feel that I witnessed something very special. Lisa, I too, moved into my blues world. The previous owner left a few nestboxes. It's been a real crash course in bluebirding since Feb.
Dave,
lesson learned about the batteries. I would have never thought that I would need over 150 pics of the front of the nestbox! :) You would get a good laugh if you could see some of the pics. Some are pretty pitiful! Your pictures though, are just amazing. Thank you for sharing!
Donna, I think my #5 should have stuck around for another day? He/she was definitely smaller than the others.
Donna, sorry you missed it this year. You'd think that our blues would want to cooperate a bit more with the scheduling! LOL! Glad you have seen yours about. I have been worried about "five".

Congrats on adding more blue to the sky! Hopefully, you will see many more fledgings. Sometimes they fly out so quickly, you blink and miss it. Other times, the parents tease them for hours, call them, and hover in front of them with food to coax them out.
The funniest one I ever saw (wish I had a picture of this) one fledgling changed his mind in mid-fledge; one wing and one foot out, and one wing and foot still in the box. He must have stayed there a good 20 minutes trying to figure out what to do next. He eventually made it just fine, heaven knows how.
Sometimes they are super flyers, popping out and turning in mid air to head right up to the tallest trees. Landing is another matter. I've seen one grab a bunch of leaves and hang upside down for a while, holding on for dear life until he gathered the nerve to fly up higher. They can climb very well, too. It always amazes me how the parents will guide them from one place to the next, and then gather them all up for the night, all snuggled together in a row.
I used to think they always fledged first thing in the morning, but I've seen them fledge all times of the day, just before a major thunderstorm, even once at dusk.
The most important thing though, is NOT to scare them when fledging time is close. The last thing you want is for them to fledge out of fear before they are really ready. Always keep good notes on your calendar so you know when the age of the nestlings, and do not open the nestbox after day 13 (remember unlucky 13).
BlueBars

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.sialis.org/premature.htm

Bluebars, your comment made me remember something that happened a year ago when my third clutch was fledging. Papa had this one coaxed almost out when he decided he wanted to go back in. At one point he was litterly hanging on by a single toenail!

He did fledge about a half hour later.

Dave

DAVE --- wonderful pics as usual!!
Gosh I hope I get to see mine Fledge!

Mac60 - I am right there with you, I am a nervous wreck, mine will be 17 days tomorrow and I am just sitting on pins and needles!
I have the camera's out (yes TWO) AND the video camera too.
SO maybe I can share some pics tomorrow, or the next day
I FINALLY got them to use a cage feeder today, here are a few pics I took, not great quality, but here they are anyway
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OMG that is HYSTERICAL, Dave! What a great series!
You really ought to have some of these published. Wouldn't it be fun to write a childen's book around some of your photos? Think about it. It would be so educational, and adults would love it too.
BlueBars