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Morning and evening pictures

17 years ago

As they have done for the past five years, my blues are reestablishing their claim to the nest box. They come early each morning and perch on the box, defending it against all comers. They stay as long as the competition is there. They will keep doing this all winter.

Dave

Late this afternoon I placed the meal worms on a stand in the yard where my camera and I could take advantage of the late afternoon sun. For a few seconds Papa allowed Mama and the three juveniles from their last clutch to eat while he ate. But then he chased them away.

The first three pics are from this morning; the next three were from this afternoon.

And finally, a close up of each of the three juveniles.

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Comments (7)

griffin_MD
17 years ago
Gorgeous captures, Dave, and you have such pretty babies!!! The blues here at the house are behaving similarly. I don't feed them mealworms over the summer months since we have so durn many insects here, but it's about time for me to place my fall order. I also feed the blues on the school trail so that they are front and center for my bluebird club--we have 18 students in our club this year!
Kathy
mac60
17 years ago
Dave,
Your pictures are AMAZING. Thank you so much for sharing.
The blues here have been doing the same. (after a previous disappearing act.....I saw NO blues for about a week). It has been so much fun watching them.
Thanks again for sharing your blues! They are beautiful!
mac
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kenn3d
17 years ago
Hi Dave,

Great photos as always. I love to see how you can stop them in flight. :)

So, did yours go off for awhile and come back?
Ours are doing the same "defending the box" routine daily now too. But they didn't disappear at all (so far) this year. We continue to see them everyday, and always get a nice crowd at mealie feedings (2or3 times/day), tho we've yet to get any shots of the whole family together.

Anyway, I'd like to think ours have decided to stay the Winter with us again this year.

Thanks for showing us your beautiful birds,

Kenn
dzyg
17 years ago
Great shots Dave, I always look forward to your pics. You are lucky to have your Blues year round. I am sure mine will be leaving soon. I have been feeding them waxworms a couple times a day yet and they come regularly and if I call and they are in range they are here asap. I think the bugs are getting more scarce around here. We have had two hard frosts already but I haven't seen them eating berries yet so who knows. They still wont touch my Bluebird nuggets even when the worm dish is empty. I am looking forward to your Blues in winter photos so please share when the snow starts to fly.

Donna
dave_in_va
Original Author
17 years ago
Hi Donna
One of my goals for this winter is to get a lot of good snow shots. If you are interested, I will be happy to share some of them.

And Kenn, no, mine did not leave either. In fact, they never have. I don't think there has been a single day since 2004 that they haven't been out there.

They did go through a period right after the last clutch fledged where they seemed to ignore the nest box. But now they are back to their usual morning routine: perching on the box and repeatedly going in and out. The female occasionally flies in with a small amount of grass and the male goes in and after a while flies out with a single blade of grass in his mouth. I'm not sure if it's a communication between the two of them or if it's some way to saying to any other birds that this house is taken.

Here are some shots from about an hour ago. They were taken with the 400mm from about 100 feet, so with the cloudy conditions we have today, they are rather soft. At one point there were two females at the box. One was undoubtedly the juvenile, but since she has finished her moult, I can't tell which was which.

The first shot is of the adult female chasing a female house finch that was snooping around the box.
kenn3d
17 years ago
Lovely shots Dave, soft or not.

I've seen that single blade of grass ritual here also. I thot this was Mr.B removing some bit of grass deposited in the box by a HOSP. But maybe you're right about it. Very interesting behaviour in any case.

We also see the house finches following our Blues around constantly. Several will sit on the edge of the birdbath as the blues bathe. It's funny... like the finches were hand-maidens or something tending to their masters. I think all the HOFI want to be Bluebirds when they grow up. LOL :)

Kenn
dave_in_va
Original Author
17 years ago
Yes Kenn, many people call them Bluebird wannabees. They often arrive at the feeder a few seconds before the blues. Gives me an extra second to get the camera ready.

Dave

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