Pages

Friday, April 3, 2009

Nesting Blues

WSBC0016bjpg2

Over the last couple weeks I've enjoyed watching Eastern Bluebirds take up residence in one of my nest boxes. Once committed, they work frantically entering and exiting the nest, carrying bits and pieces of grass and pine straw to it. This particular nest box is attached to my grape vine trellis located in the back yard.

In this photo the female (the one hanging on the front of the house) is carrying some nesting material in her beak and is about to pack it in the nest box. The female bluebird does about 95% of the nest building. The male will occasionally bring nesting material to the nest in the beginning but it doesn't last long. I've also noticed that whatever little contribution he does make tends to be redone by the female (sound familiar?).

This particular nest is getting close to completion. Hopefully there will be eggs in a few days!

Camera Critters





36 comments:

Chandramouli S said...

Ha ha ha! Even the birds have similar qualities [chuckle]!
I hope little feathery balls peek out of that hole soon.

Bruce said...

Oh thank you for posting these pretty pictures of birds...I LOVE birds:)

Martha said...

Beautiful. Living in Florida (at least where I live) we don't see so many types of birds....lots and lots of egrets, herons, cranes, etc, but mostly Mockingbirds and cowbirds and an occasional blue jay in my yard!

i beati said...

i long to see them again Sandy

Anonymous said...

Wonderful shot! While I've seen an occasional bluebird in Oklahoma, they aren't numerous. Wish we had more.

Dirkjogt said...

It's great to watch this. Nice that you also can take photos of them working!

EG CameraGirl said...

How cool that a bluebird wants to live there! I'm a bit green with envy.

Kelly said...

Wow! How lucky you are to have bluebirds building a nest in your yard!! It will be fun to watch them fledge!

Kate said...

Great photo and explanation. Lucky you to have bluebirds around!

Carla said...

What a beautiful photo!
How wonderful to have these to watch-an you say 'redone by the female' like that's a 'bad' thing:)

Oskar said...

Those birds looke tasty, er I mean, lovely.

Unknown said...

Great photos!!

Love the colours on the birds.

Dianne said...

How wonderful to be able to watch all of this close up!

Snap said...

Beautiful! Guess we all are particular about our *decorating* .. feathered or two legged!

Norm said...

love that beautiful colors of birds. Visit my flamingos here, also my colorful parrots here. thanks and happy one year anniversary to you.

Villas Girl said...

This must be so much fun to watch. I hope you have little ones to post pictures of.

DeniseinVA said...

I loved this photo of the nesting birds. Great shot! Cute commentary about the similarity between our species :)

Janie said...

Great nest buidling photo. Funny that the male likes to re-do everything. Maybe that's a universal male characteristic?

April said...

Typical married couple :) Beautiful photo of the "love" birds (Bluebirds)!

jenn said...

I think my CC picture is of the same kind of bird.

Mom Knows Everything said...

We still have snow here so no pretty birds like you. What a nice picture! Have a great weekend!

Adrienne Zwart said...

Bluebirds are so fun to watch. Does your bluebird house have removeable side panel so that you can view the nest?

Anonymous said...

Great photo! I have yet to see a Robin here. I'm sure they're there but the timing is way off.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Alan: What a neat shot of them building a nest.

Dawn Fine said...

Now that is one beautiful photo which I think should be framed...or made into cards.

Linda said...

How lovely to watch. We have bluebird houses but no bluebirds reside in them. A wren took one over last year.

Jane Hards Photography said...

So envious of this little visitor. Lovely birds, fabluous photography.

Carolina said...

Great shots!

Jan said...

What a perfect shot you've captured with your camera! Was that the BirdCam--or your own??

I just got my BirdCam in the mail this past week! We are going to get it up today, hopefully!

Do you have a separate camera for inside the boxes? I haven't read the fine detail in your blog, so if you've posted all of that info. I haven't read it...

I have 2 bluebird boxes but so far they have never nested in them...my yard probably is too 'woodsy' for them.

Misty DawnS said...

How AWESOME! Hubs said he was going to build me some Bluebird houses on top of some of our fence posts, so I could get photos of them. It hasn't happened yet, but I'm certainly looking forward to it after seeing this awesome photo!

Mary said...

Let us know how many eggs you find...

mick said...

Beautiful - birds and photo!

Vickie said...

Nice image. Fun birds to watch!

Larry Jordan said...

Hey Alan, congrats on the bluebirds nesting in your yard! You have a real treat in store because the bluebirds will usually raise more than one brood per season! Make sure you clean out the nest after the first brood fledges so the parents can build another nest.

You have the perfect capture there with the male standing atop the house and the female doing all of the work.

I think it is hilarious to watch the male bring in a little tiny blade of grass occasionally as the female is working away. Yes, the comparison to we humans is uncanny, no?

If any of your readers want bluebird house plans, I have them on my website here.

Thanks for sharing!

ANUAR ZAIN said...

Oh! Such beauties just in your backyard! I really enjoyed just watching the photo. How nice to see it in real life! I love birdwatching too. My birds are at http://kelicaprimba.blogspot.com, but I have not much knowledge on birds. I just love to watch them and take photos too.

Lee said...

I need to set up some nest boxes in my yard. I've been busy just trying to get rid of that "new yard" feel. With the additohn of some fruit trees and daffodills this year and two sycamore last year it is getting better. But the birds are still a little skittish at not having much cover when approaching the feeders.