You can't see it from here, but inside the bluebird house is at least one baby bluebird (judging by the cheeping, I would say two, at least, but only one can stick out their pretty new beak at a time). The last couple of days they've been increasingly visible and curious - fledging should happen very very soon. That bird on the Snake Baffler is, I think, a juvenile Mountain Bluebird from earlier in the summer: when I opened up the box when we arrived, there were two nests - one on top of the other - there already, so it looks as though it's been a successful year.
But it takes an army - an army necessary to fend off sparrows. So in addition to the parents, and a few juveniles, there's a battalion of house finches, who will stand guard - the home barracks, as it were, is a tree by our front door, but they take it in turns to perch on top of the wooden house and, touch wood, have been effective so far. This morning what (judging by Alice's description) was probably a ladder-backed woodpecker stuck its head in out of curiosity, but quickly flew off. I will be so relieved when this year's nesting is - I hope - successfully brought to its conclusion - waiting for Deliveries of Bugs and Ants etc is bad for the nerves.
No comments:
Post a Comment