Troutbirder II

Troutbirder II
Click on Mark Twain to jump to Troutbirders book review blog

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

A Bluebird Day




It's a term skiers use a lot. It means after snow storms and nasty weather in general the skies have cleared and perfect skiing conditions exist. Well after a cold wet spring the weather has been generally pleasant the last few weeks.... till late Monday afternoon. Then a storm front brought rain and heavy winds which knocked down trees all over town. Having just returned from Colorado late Sunday night I found the gardens buried in weeds. The rain and wind pretty much eliminated the prospect of weed removal till the skies finally cleared late afternoon on Tuesday. It was a "bluebird afternoon."



As the sun slowly settled in the West the yard took on a warm golden glow. Weeds began to fly as they pulled easily after the rains. The spinach and lettuce crops were at a peak. Surely the rain and cool spring had helped a lot. It was then that the singing of a male cardinal, high above the yard in a mighty oak tree, refocused my attention. The vibrant red in the mellow light seemed to radiate his joy. Another cardinal responded in the distance and I searched for this singer as well. It was then that I saw the bluebirds perched on the house that I had fixed along the property line next to the cornfield early last spring.



I think I was bored when I bought it. Being dragged along on the "hundred mile" garage sale in the small towns by the Mississippi is not my idea of how to spend a fruitful Saturday. It was mid-afternoon before I saw the table of newly minted birdhouses. I had always believed that putting up bluebird houses next to an atrazine drenched ethanol (I mean corn) field was a waste of time. Still it was such a neat and well constructed house and... well... I can be an impulse shopper. I bought it for the bargain basement price of $15.
Now I know seeing a bluebird is not that big of a deal anymore. Earlier in the spring I had counted more than fifty as I parked on a gravel road next to the Goethite Wildlife Mangagement area. But having
a pair nesting on my property was something else . The male sat perched on the top
The he entered the house and the female appeared. Over the next ten minutes
I saw the take turns apparently bringing insects to their little brood. Of course, I
didn't have anything but my garden hoe in hand. Today I'll try to get some pictures.
A "bluebird day" full of bluebirds. What a day!




9 comments:

  1. Congratulations. I've never even seen a bluebird in my area. I have several nest boxes but mostly get chickadees (which is good too).

    Have you visited the sialis.org site? It makes creating world peace seem simple when compared to hosting a nest of blue birds.

    Enjoy your house guests.
    Marnie

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awwww... bluebird beebies! Nothing sweeter! My pair are on their third nest of the season here. Can't wait to see your photos. :c)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am glad you got your bluebirds, I knew when I saw the title your wait had paid off. Your bluebirds are not picky, all the books say their houses have to have a flat bottom. I think the bluebirds forgot to read that. Walmart has some great houses this year. If you attach the back to a post (and not on top of the post) you can open and view while the babies are still there. A GSMNP naturalist told me this past spring it is NOT harmful to the birds to check on them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You must be in the right place to say that seeing bluebirds is not uncommon. :-) Congratulations on being able to enjoy the abundance!
    (We do see them in Iowa, but not where I reside - in the woods.)

    And, I must say, you made the best of a (bad?) situation in purchasing a bird house at a million-mile long garage sale! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. ps We have a friend whose baby bluebirds were attacked and killed by wrens (those birds I look forward to each Spring!). :-(

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh this is marvelous...you have hours of entertainment.....

    We had a bluebird afternoonhere too....

    ReplyDelete
  7. I had bluebirds for the first time last year, and haven't seen any yet this summer.

    Piffff! Are you knocking garage sales?! Tisk, tisk....

    Yasso says "Arf!" to Baron! Which translates to: You don't know how lucky you are that your humans gave you a normal name.

    ~ Sophie

    ReplyDelete
  8. That's wonderful! I have no luck with bluebirds here.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Bluebirds are one that I always think "wow" when I see them, even though they aren't that uncommon up here. (Same with indigo buntings, eagles, yellow bellied sapsuckers...heh, I'm an easy sell :) Congrats on your new "homies"!

    ReplyDelete