Life is Better in Blue

After many years of trying, we finally attracted a pair of Eastern Bluebirds to one of our nest boxes, and I have spent the spring and summer awakening to their soft gentle songs.

 

So far, they have successfully raised two broods of little ones in the nest box we put up in the field right behind our mailbox!   Every morning I am home, I go check out their activity on my morning walks.  Below is a photo of one of the young of the first brood.   The juvenile bluebirds have brown/grey streaking on their breasts.

At this point the second brood of little ones has fledged and they are flying around far and wide.   Though my goal this summer has been to get a photo of the parents actually feeding the young outside of the box, I have not achieved that yet!  Regardless, I have witnessed all the different delicious foods the parents are catching and taking inside the box to feed their babies, and have seen the first set of little ones hunting for their own food.   So that’s pretty good.   See if you can figure out what’s on the menu in the photos below.

Raising young is busy work!

But totally worth it- look at these babies!

In the next little while I will be keeping my eye out for the second batch of babies- they just fledged yesterday.  Wish me luck!

14 Comments:

  1. Congratulations on your new tenants! Your fabulous photos tell such a compelling story of raising young and the constant demand of food for their young.

    Truth be told, I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing Bluebirds other than through other’s wonderful photos… such as your’s.

  2. your photos are heartwarming, thank you very much for sharing them.

  3. Impressive shots …..love the ‘in-flight!
    m.

  4. This is wonderful! Even though I was brought up in rural Ontario I had not seen a bluebird ’til this summer. I was thrilled so you must be extremely thrilled to see then raise a family! Good luck to the second brood!

  5. Lee Ann Jaerschky

    You are amazing ,Leslie. And I love your blog. I do hope you manage to catch Mama and Papa feeding their babes. ..Life is definately better in blue!

  6. Such sweet little ones, Leslie thanks for sharing your amazing photos.

  7. Great photos Leslie! I love your work, such patience!

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