June 1st The first nest of the 2009 season was a COMPLETE success! All five of the hatchlings left the nest and are now (for the most part) on their own. I still see them from time to time with the parents begging for food. This time, the next brood will have a little company inside the box. I have installed the "Hawk Eye Nature Cam" inside of the box, so we can watch every move "Live". Right now, you can see them building their nest. In a week or so, the female will lay another clutch of eggs, and then we can see them hatch...grow.....EAT!....and then leave the box. I will occasionally post a picture to correspond with these posting dates. More often than not, I will post a link that will show you some video of the progress that I record. I hope you enjoy it! Click HERE to see the first video of the female doing a little nest building..... June 5th The parents are still doing "double duty" as they continue building another nest and feeding the little ones. I think they are all beginning to trust me more because they don't show much fear when I show up with the worms or even try to get "a little closer" with my camera for a picture. I can get as close as about 5 feet now before they back away from me. The new babies I think recognize my whistle I do when I bring food to the feeder. They are now almost immediately there after I fill the feeder and do my whistle. That's pretty cool! I have been adding more chopped up raisins in the feeder. They seem to like that a lot and they go quickly! (you can see them eating raisins in my June 5th photo) Click HERE to see another video of the female putting the finishing touches on the 2nd nest. It's just about done! June 7th Here we go again! The first egg in the second nest was laid today! This Bluebird couple is wasting no time at all! I have no idea what time this morning she laid it. I didn't get around to checking the box video untill around 9:00am. By that time, she had already laid the egg and was at the window feeder helping to feed the first brood of babies. (a woman's work is never done!) I know the parents still have their hands full with the first brood. I still see four of the babies following mom and dad around where ever they go. Click HERE to see video of the babies learning to feed from the window feeder this morning. June 11th I've been watching everyday since the first egg was laid and wondered if she would again lay 5 eggs or less. I believe that she is only going to lay 4 this time. I have been checking the box all day and the female has been in it most of the day. I couldn't even count the eggs until she got off of the nest, and there's only 4 in there. So I guess this would be the first full day of incubation. (It's around 6 p.m. as I write this.) Let's do the math...if today is the first day of incubation, we should see this next brood hatch anywhere between the 23rd and 25th day of June. Stay tuned! And then who knows....maybe a THIRD brood? Click HERE to see live video from inside the nest. By the way...this is an infrared camera, so you can peek in there day OR night. June 19th I feel a little guilty because I have not uploaded as many pictures to the web page. But, with this live video you can see exactly what is going on inside the box. The first brood of babies is growing more and more independent. They don't follow Dad around as much anymore. They are also now showing up at the window feeder by themselves more and more often. I saw all four of the babies this morning at one time and they all look VERY healthy. I am hoping to see the eggs hatch sometime in the middle of next week. While capturing some video in the box this morning, I happened to see a large dog walk by the nest. Mom could hear it and she got off of the eggs to take a peek outside. When she figured she was not in any danger, she settled back down into the nest. Click HERE to see the quick video clip. June 22nd What a surprise! The first egg of the second brood hatched at 2:39 this afternoon! It was pretty incredible watching it. Pretty quick too! At 2:39 the egg separated....at 2:55 the Momma Bluebird came into the box and actually helped the baby out of the 2 halves of the shells....and then, she eat the egg! At 3:00pm on the nose, baby had it's first bug to eat! Those little babies are born with their mouths OPEN! They immediately beg for food! It is the Male who is doing all the feeding so far. He comes back to the box, and she has to get off of the eggs...he feeds the little one...and then she gets back on the eggs until he shows up with another meal. I will try to get a video clip for you soon...... June 23rd What a night! After the first egg hatched yesterday I stayed glued to the video to see the rest of them hatch...but no! The others didn't hatch until after 1am in the morning. Actually, as I write this (8:30am) there is still one more egg to hatch. There was some vicious weather that rolled through here last evening between 8 and 9pm! I was watching Mom on the nest as the wind was really rocking that box back and forth. The thunder would scare her too. Every time it would crack she would look nervously around. Bless her heart! She's a good Mom. She stayed with those eggs and protected them well from the elements. I happened to find the exact moment that the first egg started to hatch.... Click HERE to see it. Something that I found interesting was that right after the egg hatched and separated Mom took it in her beak and proceeded to EAT it! Whoa! I didn't know she was going to do that! It's a good source of calcium that she really needs. Click HERE to see her take her calcium medicine! June 23rd update The last egg FINALLY hatched this afternoon at 4:18pm...about 26 hours after the first egg hatched. Quite a group of people were watching the live video all night and all day long to watch it happen...me included. When nothing had happened by 4pm, I decided to go and get my car out of the auto shop before the dealer closed at 5. Well, wouldn't you know it...#4 decides it's time to hatch, so I missed it! But thanks to a viewer, she helped out and posted some clips of all the eggs hatching. If you missed the blessed event(s).....you can always click HERE to see it. Enjoy! Happy birthday bluebird babies! June 29th The babies are 7 days old today! (6 for the slow-poke hatcher...) Everything seems to be going very well. It has been extremely hot in middle Tennessee as of late. Heat indexes well over a hundred....with the humidity! It just drains the energy from you. I have wondered how it affects the new hatchlings, but I guess nature has that all figured out. I am so disappointed that the microphone inside of the box will not work with my browser. It DOES work with the software provided with my video capture card....I just can't get it to work online. I have a little sample of what it looks like and sounds like when Mom or Dad come to the box with something to eat. It was recorded this morning. You can see it by clicking HERE..... July the 4th! Everything continues to go well for the second brood of Bluebirds. I can't believe that they will soon be gone and I won't be able to see them in the box anymore. Maybe Mom and Dad will build a THIRD nest and we can watch another family grow up in front of our eyes. Last night was the night for our local fireworks and I couldn't help but think of the babies in the box. All the booms and bangs had to make them wonder just what was going on outside of their little world. Even Mom and Dad who both sleep in a big tree next to the lake were pretty close to the action! For those of you who are regular watchers of the "nest cam", you've seen the variety of food that is brought back to the box for the babies to eat. I think the most popular food item on the menu is insects. What gets me is the SIZE of some of those bugs! HERE is a video clip of the female bringing a HUGE dragonfly to the box for a 4th of July lunch! She even had to take it back out and rearrange the poor bug so it would fit going down the hatch. It took a little bit of work, but the little guy swallowed the whole thing! July 6th I was talking Bluebirds with someone the other day who also has a box in their yard, and we were comparing notes. He asked me if I had ever seen one of the babies from a earlier brood help the parents feed the babies that were currently in the box. He had never seen it before that he could recall, so I made it my mission to capture some video today of that very thing. After setting up my tripod and mounting my camera, it was only a couple of minutes until I got it! In the video,the Mother bluebird is sitting on top of the box with a worm ready to go in, but a juvenile from the first brood shows up at the opening and wants to help with the feeding. So here you go....video proof that the first brood helps raise the second brood...... If you look closely, you can see the little ones in the box through the opening. And, you can even hear the babies in the box "squeak" with delight knowing some food has arrived at their door. You can see it HERE..... July 10th....2 leave this morning! A little before 9 this morning 2 of the babies decided it was time to leave home! I just happened to look up at the box, and just like that, both of them took the leap! And MAN.....those little boogers knew how to fly! Both of them were gaining altitude until they settled into a holly bush in the back yard. I haven't seem them since. But that is not unusual. The first brood disappeared after they left the box and were gone about a week before I saw them again. It was pretty active immediately after they fledged. The first brood babies were all on the box chirping at the other 2 inside. It was almost like the were saying.."come on out you guys! It's a great day to practice your flying!" I am trying my best to be at the right place at the right time with some high definition video for when the next 2 go. (probably in the morning tomorrow) But, it happens so quick I'd be lucky to get it. I have redirected the view of my window feeder cam for now to watch the front of the box. You can see a little better if you go to full screen mode. Sorry I couldn't get it any closer. You can see that HERE. UPDATE July 10th Well....I was wrong! Number 3 took to the skies and left the nest at 7:00p.m.. Again....this little guy could really fly well! My wife and I were watching him stick his head out of the opening of the box, and once more...he was just gone! What impressed me, was the fact that this, being it's very first flight, knew exactly how to fly....went to the top of the highest tree (about 70 ft. high...), and landed on the branch perfectly where Mom and Dad where waiting for him! Wow! Incredible! TIME OUT! The last one just NOW flew the coup! As I was writing this entry, I looked up and one of the first brood siblings was on top of the box "talking" to the last bird in there. It wasn't one minute later and he jumped out of the opening! Again...number 4 took the same route as number 3 and went right to the top of the tree! And Mom and Dad were waiting for this one as well. WHEW! Four successful fledglings today. I need a cold one. I will clean the box out tomorrow and see if they are interested in building a THIRD nest. Stay tuned!....and thanks for all of your emails and interest in this. I am literally hearing from people all over the world. July 13th Three days after they all left the nest and I finally caught sight of the new babies. They are not very far from the box they hatched in actually. (see the photo I posted, July 13) Mom and Dad and the first brood babies are flying all over the place and staying busy finding food and bringing it back to the top of the tree where the new fledges are. They are pretty vocal too! I saw one of the babies fly from one tree to the next one and he looked as confident as a Navy carrier pilot! I noticed the father and 2 of the first brood babies hanging around the box this morning for awhile. It of course, it is all cleaned out now and looked like a new house without furniture probably. I will continue to keep my eyes open for any closer photos of the new babies. And...if Mom and Dad decide to build a third nest, I will provide live video again. July 18th Last night was a beautiful and somewhat cool evening here in middle Tennessee. As the sun was going down, I spent about 45 minutes in the backyard watching our entire bluebird family. At one time, I counted 7 of them together. I'm sure the others were there somewhere. It was almost like they were playing...and they probably were! The new brood babies are already accomplished fliers. They seemed to enjoy flying back and forth from the roof of my house to the big tree by the lake. Every now and then they would drop to the ground to pounce on a bug they spotted from high above. I received an email from someone who wanted to know how I could tell the new babies apart from the first brood of babies. Good question! Right now I can tell them apart by the length of their tail feathers. The new babies tail feathers are not as long as the first brood of kids. It won't be long until they grow out longer and I won't be able to tell as easily though. This morning the babies all showed up at the window feeder with Mom and Dad to see where to get a free lunch. It's fun to watch them when it's dinner time! You can watch a short clip of video that I took if you click HERE.... July 19th There was a little excitement at the window feeder this morning around 8:45! Shortly after posting a picture of one of the new babies, I was at the computer answering some emails, when all of a sudden I saw a bird with a huge wingspan hit the window in front of me (and it's only a couple of feet in front of me) and then drop to the ground. It took me a second to figure out what was going on! All of the activity at the window feeder had attracted the attention of a hawk. A "Sharp Shinned Hawk". He decided he wanted a bluebird for breakfast, and he tried to swoop down and grab one. I don't think the hawk succeeded. I quickly ran outside to the scene of the attempted "bird napping"and watched the hawk fly off to a tree without anything in it's talons. I guess that is nature and it's totally natural for it to happen. The hawk has to find something to eat too. It's really no different than the bluebirds on the hunt for Junebugs and dragonflies. It's just that I have feelings for these little Bluebirds after watching them hatch and grow up in front of me. They sort of feel like family. It would have been a sad Sunday for me if I had seen one of those little bluebirds in the talons of that hawk. Now....how do you "hawk proof" a window feeder? Hmmmm... You can briefly see and HEAR the hawk hitting my window if you click HERE..... July 21st Just an update on the WHOLE family...... Last night I saw a cute sight. It seems that in the evening, an hour or so before the sun goes down, the family just enjoys being all together....first and second brood with Mom and Dad. Just "talking"or squeaking as they do! I've noticed that they seem to all just relax and sit together in a couple of dead tree limbs hanging out over the lake in our backyard. I was mad at myself for not having my camera handy when I counted NINE of them together on the limbs! And they sat there for about a half an hour before all taking off to another tree down the shoreline. So...if you are doing the math here...there were 5 eggs that successfully hatched in the first nest...and 4 eggs that all hatched in the 2nd nest. Add Mom and Dad to the equation and that makes 11 birds in this one family. I suspect that we lost one of the first brood babies to the elements or a predator because I never did see all 5 together after they hatched. Sad, but not unusual... That still means that one bird was missing from the get together last night. (or I just couldn't see him in the tree up there...) Whatever....he was probably around somewhere. I will go out again tonight WITH my camera and try to get a picture for you to see. August 3rd We got back from the beach a couple of days ago, and after being gone for a week I was anxious to see the family. I finally saw them yesterday afternoon. Everyone looks healthy and I could tell that they had grown some. The babies are now feeding themselves for the most part although they still enjoy an occasional bug from Mom or Dad. I watched them all in the yard next door chasing insects around. This morning I noticed that the male bluebird was going in and out of the box. At one time all 4 of the babies were on top of the box while Dad was inside. I'm not sure if that means they are interested in building another nest or what. It might be getting a little late in the season. I turned the camera inside the box on and I noticed a couple of blades of dry grass in it. I'll keep checking it off and on this week. If more material shows up inside, I'll put the camera back online for you to enjoy. As I write this, all 4 of the kids are at the window feeder with Dad in the tree watching. I bet they wondered where the worms went while I was on vacation! August 6th I was at the computer yesterday afternoon when I looked up and saw most of the kids... from the first and second brood... all congregating at the window feeder looking for something to eat. I was sorry that the feeder was not full at the time...just a few raisins left and a few seeds. (the squirrel who regularly comes by and cleans out the box evidently doesn't like raisins..:-) It was cool to see the family all together and still hanging out with each other. At one time there were 5 of the babies on or IN the window feeder at the same time. You can watch the video clip by clicking HERE..... Again, I am beginning to believe that we are only going to have 2 nests this season. I have been doing some reading and a little research about the bluebird nesting habits and I learned a couple of things. I think that this was the first nest for this nesting couple. First year nesting couples are usually "late starters" in the season. (as this couple was) Others that I talked to already had birds hatched in their boxes before this couple even started building the nest! Also, first year nesting couples usually will only build 1 or 2 nests. But next year, they could build as many as 3 or 4 nests. That's what I am beginning to think about this bluebird family anyway.....of course I could be completely wrong too! Whatever. These 2 bluebirds have brought NINE new bluebirds into this world! They have provided countless hours of enjoyment for me, and all those around the world that watched them grow up on the internet! I think that is pretty cool. August 15th It's been 8 days since I have posted something here with news of the Bluebirds and their activity. The problem is, there is nothing newsworthy to post. I have not even seen the birds for 5 days now! I even walked down the lake shore a little ways yesterday to see if I could see them in someone else's trees, but nothing. Gone! Caput! I don't know where they are. I have even asked the regulars who frequent the "feeder cam" if they have seen them during the day, but no one has. I don't believe there is anything wrong. I just think that this is nature taking it's course. The little ones are fully capable of taking care of themselves now and they are probably branching out to different areas where the feeding is good. I am sure they will come around soon enough. Just a heads up for you all.....If you want to put out a nest box for the Bluebirds for next years nesting season, start thinking about it now. The best time to put your box up is in the fall. That gives the birds plenty of time to get used to it in that location and some pairs nest earlier than others. If you live in the south, you might see some nest building as early as the month of March! (UPDATE) Later in the day, the family did return to the window feeder for dinner....HERE is the evidence..... (thanks Teresa!) (August 23rd) Just a quick update on the family. Last night I saw at least 9 members of the family "lounging" around on their favorite tree branches behind our house. There may have been another one in there but they kept changing positions on the branch! They wouldn't sit still for me to count them! It's good to see them still hanging out as a family and "hunting" together. As previously mentioned, I don't see them nearly as much as I used to anymore. They are growing up and doing their own thing all over this area! And that's good! That's what they are supposed to do. Also, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to tell them apart. The first brood babies now have their full adult plumage so they look just like Mom and Dad. The second brood babies still have some speckles on their breast feathers. The best I can figure, there are 3 male birds and 1 female bird from the first brood. (again, I have never seen the 5th baby after they left the nest) So...all in all...things are good as a bluebird in "Spike's Backyard"! Life goes on........ (August 27th) Another quick update......again, I saw 9 family members last night in their favorite tree. They all showed up together about a half hour before sunset. After about 15 minutes they flew off and up the shoreline to another set of large trees. I am still leaving them a few worms if they want to stop by and say "hi". (September 10th) Yet another quick update.....I finally saw the family last night after a long absence (from my eyesight anyway). I counted at least 5 of the family members flying back and forth between the trees in the backyard. I can no longer tell them apart. They all have their adult plumage. Our kids have all grown up! At one point last night, they flew to the box to sit on top of it, and then one by one took a peek inside of the box. I'll bet they were thinking to themselves..."I can't believe we all came out of that little box!" (September 11th) Last night I waited with my camera and the big telephoto lens to see if the bluebird family might stop by to say hi.....they did! Here is their favorite spot to sit and preen and squeak. You can see 6 of them together in this photo. (sorry...the light was pretty bad, so this picture is not really great quality)  (click on the image to enlarge it) (September 17th) Around dinner time tonight, I just happened to look outside towards the Bluebird box and this is what I saw.......  This has been occurring a lot lately around sunset. Lately,I have been noticing 1 or 2 of the birds flying down from the tree tops to the box, and sort of "peeking" inside. But tonight was different. A bunch of the birds came down to look around! I took this picture where 5 of them are visible and 1 is inside of the box. I guess they are just curious creatures! Also, as you can see, they look to be well fed, healthy, and almost completely in their adult plumage. I'm starting to feel it cooling off in the evenings now. Here comes Fall. I wonder how the little ones will fare this Winter.... I will always leave them some worms at the feeder if they decide they want to stay around. I hope they do. October 6th I still see the family pretty much every evening in the trees. Last night a Red Tail hawk flew in to the tree a few branches below them, and the whole family sort of ganged up on him and drove him off to another tree top somewhere. That was cool to watch! It was like..."you ain't sittin in my tree big boy!" The only other thing that I can offer in the way of news is that I only have seen 6 of them together recently. I don't really know what that means....maybe they are all still there, but I just can't tell. The babies are beautiful! Their adult plumage is perfect. No more spots or "patchy" areas are visible. It really gets dark here early now. The sun sets before 6:30pm and the early morning lows have been in the 40's a couple of times. I keep having to fill my hummingbird feeders though! I thought that they would be gone by now. They are getting fat for the trip south. All they do is eat....then sit....then eat...then sit..... It will all be over for the season one of these days soon. October 14th Yesterday I took down my hummingbird feeders after not seeing them at all the day before. It's getter cooler during the days now and the little hummers are on their way south for the winter season! The Bluebirds are still around. It's impossible to tell how many of the family are still together. They still drop by the window feeder every now and then to grab a meal worm or two. There has been a couple of Mockingbirds that seem to like my yard all of a sudden, and they go round and round with the bluebirds. It appears to be a battle for the territory. Although the Bluebirds outnumber them they can't win the skirmishes. The Mockingbirds are very aggressive and run other birds off. I don't know much about the behavior of the Mockingbird. I'll have to do some "Googling" to see why they act this way so late in the season. The squirrels are busy picking up the Black Walnuts that litter the yard next to me. A sure sign of the approaching cooler weather. October 21st It's been real "frosty" here in middle Tennessee the last few days! Although the daylight hours are very nice with temps in the 60's, it has dipped below the freezing mark overnight a couple of times this week. I got up about a half an hour before sunrise this morning and grabbed a cup of coffee and looked outside. Through the fog that was coming off of the lake I saw a nice surprise! SEVEN of the bluebirds were sitting around the stand alone feeder! (I have been leaving some meal worms in that feeder lately) That tells me that most of them are still in the area and have not gone south...at least yet. I watched them for awhile, and even took some pictures before that mean 'ole Mockingbird came by to run everybody off! They actually seem to enjoy the "cat and mouse" game with the Mockingbird. October 30th A stormy day today! It's very dark and windy but quite warm. Temps will be well into the 70's today. After my morning coffee I noticed that one of the Bluebirds was actually going in and out of the box again. (I don't know why they do that...) So...I grabbed my camera to get a shot and of course, I scared him off. A minute or so later he flew down very close to me and perched on the feeder pole as to say..."Go ahead! Take my picture!" So, I did!  It's one of the male babies. Look how perfect he is! Also, note the yellow color in the background of sugar maple tree that is just beautiful now! Sorry for the low light in this picture but it was very dark outside! November 6th I continue to see the family of Bluebirds flying through the tree tops and along the lake shore. They will occasionally stop for a worm or raisin before flying off again. As I have mentioned several times before in this blog, they seem to prefer sitting in the top of this particular tree (below) to take a breather or just survey the world from that vantage point.  These 2 sibling males still seem to be fascinated by the nesting box below them Countless trips are made back and forth from the tree to the box. Maybe they are naturally wondering about a place to build their first nest with their yet to be determined mate. Anyway, after one of the males went inside of the box, I snuck up on it with my trusty Canon EOS T1i camera and caught this photo of him looking at me!  Boo! November 13 The November weather has just been incredible! Temps are still in the upper 60's to mid 70's! Not cold enough to make any bluebirds think about leaving for warmer weather anyway. I just happened to be in the backyard today (with my camera) and saw one of the male babies just taking in all the sun on top of the box. He was kind enough to pose for this picture for me.  November 16  This guy was just sitting in the tree and "squeaking" away this morning around breakfast time. November 21  It is a beautiful Saturday morning! I glanced out the window and saw FIVE members of the bluebird family playing in and around the nest box! Of course I had to get a picture...but by the time I could change the lens and open the back door I could only capture 2 at most in the picture. 'Doh! Well, anyway....I thought I'd share it with you. December 4  A bright but chilly December morning today! The birds (all types of birds) seem to really be "gobbling" up the food today! No exception for this guy. He stopped by to grab a few meal worms before flying over...............  ........here, to catch some rays in the morning sun. I saw 4 of the Bluebirds again this morning playing in the trees and fighting with the Mockingbird. The Mockingbird has claimed what used to be THEIR territory as his now. We'll see what the spring brings. (click on the images to enlarge them) |  This picture was taken the morning of June 1st. The male seems to be doing most of the feeding while the female stays busy building the new nest.  Photo taken on June 5th. Look at the SIZE of those new babies! They love the chopped up raisins with their meal worms!  After posting my June 11th blog, I looked out my office window and through the fence and saw the Momma Bluebird poking her head out of the box. This is the view of the box that I have from my basement office. You can also see the wire that goes up and inside the box to provide the live camera view.  Many people have written me to ask about the camera in the Bluebirds nesting box. This kind of shows you how it is configured. You can see the camera inside the top part of the box. The wire running out of the box is 100ft long and runs into my office and plugs into the back of the computer. It supplies the power to the camera. It also has a microphone in the camera, but for some reason my browser will not recognize it to turn it on. Boo!  This is a hot box!  Five minutes after the first egg hatched, the Mother picked up the shell and devoured it. Mmmmm......Yummy!  Photo taken June 23rd. This is the male Bluebird with one of his trips to the box bringing bugs or worms to the new babies, and even to Mom when she is in the box.  Photo taken June 28th As the babies eat more and grow inside the box, they also leave a lot of doo doo in there. As I mentioned with the first brood, almost every time the parents enter the box with food, they will leave with a "poop sac". The male (shown here) will always fly out over the lake and drops it there.  This is a shot of my window feeder right outside of my office. I fill this feeder with suet nuggets, dried chopped fruit, meal worms and seeds for the other birds. This is the male Bluebird "loading up" with a mouthful to take back to the little ones in the box.  It just never ends! The male and female continually feed the young ones in the box. Sometimes, as seen in the above photo, it is just like an assembly line. Mom arrives with a "lively" worm while Dad takes off to find something else just as yummy.  I spotted the new babies in the very top of the tree shown above. They stay there while food is shuttled up to them by Mom and Dad and their siblings from the first brood.  (photo taken July 17th) Look who showed up at the feeder this morning! This is my first real good look at one of the new kids. This guy was the only one who came out of the tree so I could get a good picture of him. I still can't tell for sure how many were with the parents this morning, but it was more than two. This little one looks real healthy!  It's been 9 days since this guy left the box! He's growing up and looking strong!  (photos taken week of July 19) I get so many e-mails wanting me to post pictures of the new babies. Here are some pictures that I took this week. I like the one where the bluebird baby is watching the finch eat. He couldn't figure out how to get into that finch feeder! Remember to click on the image to enlarge it and see it better.  (photo taken August 4th) Father and son...or daughter...I can't tell. (click on the images to enlarge them) |