Saturday, July 14, 2007

Bluebird Update Day 18: Mr. Mom

After day 13, baby bluebirds shouldn't be disturbed because they may be startled into leaving the nest before they are old enough to survive on the outside. (Hint: If your spouse prefers that you cut the grass more often than you think is necessary, then this bit of information can free up at least one Saturday afternoon, possibly two.) I took advantage of that extra time to watch the parents, and noticed that the male is doing most of the feeding.

This has been going on for a few days. I began to wonder if the female had perhaps been killed because all afternoon Friday, the male was back and forth, bringing insects to feed the baby. About 7:00, however, the mother showed up, looked in on the little one, and flew up into a tree. Who knows, maybe she has a career. She was around this morning, which was Saturday...













It is darn near impossible for me to get a decent picture of a bird in flight, except by accident, but here are a few that turned out pretty well.


10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous pictures! It looks like the baby bluebird is doing just fine if there's all that feeding activity going on...

David said...

Thanks, LC. I think it's safe to say that the baby isn't missing any meals.

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Thanks for sharing these lovely pics of the birds in your garden. We don't have bluebirds over here so I enjoyed those the best. It's wonderful to have a lot of feathered friends in the garden, don't you think?

lisa said...

Great pictures! You're lucky to have bluebirds close enough to photograph, I live in the woods, so glimpses while driving by fields are all I get.

David said...

I'm glad y'all enjoy the bluebird pictures. This is my first time hosting a bluebird nest, so everything is exciting to me.

Many years ago when I was in the aviary at the zoo, I thought "how cool would it be to have my own private aviary." And you know what? I do. I always try to find plants that give birds food and/or cover, and I have such a wide variety of birds. Thanks for visiting

Anonymous said...

Fantastic shots! It really is tough to get those flight shots, isn't it? You got some good ones. I can only imagine how many "no bird" shots were in your camera by the end of the day!

I think Josh will be installing bluebird boxes all over our land now that he's read your hint about the mowing.

Your blog is totally inspiring me, by the way. And helping me get over my fear of buying that house!

Annie in Austin said...

I've never seen a bluebird in person, David, but photos like yours and those at Mary's View [also in NC]are helping assuage the Bluebird longings.

Thanks!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

David said...

Thanks, Iris. I hope all is well with the house buying. btw, I was at the Battleground this morning and saw the deer!

Thanks for visiting my blog, Annie. I'm glad you enjoy my bluebirds--and thanks for pointing me to Mary's Place.

Stacey said...

I love the last picture best. At least your not wasting a ton of film to get some great shots, these days.

David said...

Thanks Stacey--good to hear from you. Yes, that's what I love about digital photography.

How's your garden coming along?

Have fun on your trip!