Big uptick in bluebird activity Saturday. Lots of food incoming. Two diapers outgoing close together in time. I believe this train is finally getting ready to leave the station. Prediction: Thursday 4/28 Hope at least some heads pop out the opening before then. Otherwise, I'm not likely to ever see them.
New bird showed up! Male Blue Grosbeak Not at the feeder. In the back yard. Went back to check if the female rose-breasted could be miss-identified, and is this ones mate. But no, the female BLUE does NOT have a speckled breast. .. PICTURE I'm getting confused.
A new little tan bird showed up today. Must be a female something. From my vantage point it had no stripes, no spots, and no wing bars. Just plain tan. There is no bird like that. I must have missed something. As close to a female house sparrow as anything else because of the plain breast. Whatever it is, the bluebirds don't like it one bit. It landed near the bottom of the bucket over the post for the new birdhouse, and they both came after it. This is > 60 feet away from the bluebird house. I suspect they know something I don't. Just found out house sparrows have 2-4 clutches per year. So the new bird house has come down. I think the hole is too small but not taking any chances. It will go back up in January. Will keep an eye out around the bucket.
We had a few days of horrible wind from the SxSW. And today my mourning doves were sitting on the driveway. First, they are not too bright and they don't construct the best nests. Eggs and babies are always falling down.
I've learned to make use of the doves. They are the clean up crew. They clean up seeds or pieces of suet that drop on the floor. We now get along just fine. When I first moved into this house two doves had a nest in a dogwood tree right outside my bedroom window upstairs. I watched them every day hoping to see them fledge. One morning the nest was empty. I ran outside and found an abandoned cat eating one of them, and the other one was lying dead on the ground. I was so mad at that cat I chased her for days every time I saw her. Then I found out she had a litter of 4 kittens in the basement. She was in terrible shape. But those kittens were not skinny. She was just being a good mama. She became my indoor cat for the next 15 years. She never missed being an outdoor cat.
I never knew poplar trees had flowers. The one in the back yard is covered with them this year! The tree must be at least 60' tall. The blossoms are very large, but only in the top 2/3. If not for binoculars I'd never have noticed them. internet photo I transplanted this tree in town from the country. It doesn't seem that long ago. Just a little thing, but it hit the ground running and never slowed down. It was never a very special tree, turns yellow in the fall way too early. But all the sudden it's beautiful ... IF. you have binoculars. The camera doesn't have a good enough zoom. Of course then I had to go Google poplar tree. It's really a tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) which belongs to the magnolia family. But it's called a yellow poplar in the US, and it IS the kind they use for lumber. Real poplar trees are not. It doesn't bloom until it's at least 15-20 years old. Apparently these blossoms are dripping with nectar and are good for the bees, but doesn't make good table honey. This morning the squirrels were all trying to get out on the very tips of the branches to get to the blossoms.
If those little bluebirds don't get out of that birdhouse by Sunday, I'm going to bring them all in the house and teach them how to fly myself. This week has been too stressful. The weather... Monday That birdhouse is too much out in the sun for summer. I assumed they'd be out by now. The temp jumped up to 85 with clear sky. By 3 pm the sun was beating down on the west side of the house. I was afraid it was getting too hot in there. But would anything I could do stress them even more? By evening it was business as usual for M&D (Mom and Dad). Food going in; diapers coming out. I forgot I still had some Old Crow. Tuesday and Wednesday cloudy, high mid 70s, low 47. Fine Thursday High 79, bright sun. Took a piece of styrofoam, and slapped it against the west side of the birdhouse with glue. It's as if they didn't even notice. Could have done that Monday. What's more amazing is it's staying put. In the meantime....one day Two mockingbirds showed up. Where have they been? I wished they'd go away. Chasing each other mid flight back and forth across the yard all morning. Two bluejays making a nest in the bushes next door. Brown thrasher nest possibly in my hedge. These 3 birds are big, aggressive, and territorial, and none of them come to the feeder. They just moved in to join the party. A pair of juvenile squirrels showed up, playing all morning. Kept trying to jump up on the flashing around the birdhouse pole, without success. The catbird even showed up. Haven't seen it in months. Another day... There was a fight over the birdbath and M&D were trying to chase all the birds away. It was like a circus. So I took all the bird food away. Only for M&D, and only while I'm there. The squirrels all went away. Things quieted down except for the mockingbirds. The best thing all week was one imitating a rubber ducky (nuthatch), in half tempo. I don't know any other bird calls than that and a whip-or-will. It did one of those too. Friday M&D went after a bluejay that landed above the birdhouse, chased it to the ground. The mockingbird took after a bluejay that was just minding it's own business. Internet says mockingbirds are more likely to go after predators (even hawks), than baby birds. So it's still a sin to kill a mockingbird. If they will eat at the feeder they will get a special place.
After 2 months of staring at a black hole, I finally saw the head of a little bird pop out today. Progress. It may be an only child.
Update: Just now, bluejay dive-bombing the bluebirds on the deck. There is no food out there. Robins joined in to help chase the bluejay away. I just know one of those bluejays is going to get at least one of these little birds.
Ha! Ha! When the female bluebird takes a bath she really gets into it. Her feathers get all wet, and separate, and turn a dark gray color. First time I saw her like that I thought some strange gray bird was invading the birdhouse. I have some left over stick-on things you put on a shower floor so it's not slippery. I need to put some in the bottom of that glass dish. They're shaped like butterflies.