I am happy to have a special announcement: We now have baby Bluebirds!
I think there is 5, but who can count them?! that is a mess of little feet, beaks, and down!
I thought the mother acted a bit more upset when I approached, giving her little alarm clicks in disapproval. I checked the camera as well, but I have not looked to see if there are bluebirds on a couple; there should be a whole lot more videos now that they have 5 mouths to feed!
And speaking of mouths to feed, what kind of bird do you suppose laid this many eggs?
Well, if you guessed Black-Capped Chickadee, then you would be right! this is the nest that I thought was a Tufted Titmouse nest (Boy was I wrong!) And she is one of the nicest little birds around! When I lift the lid of her box, most of the time, she doesnt even fly, she just looks up at me! in fact, her are a couple shots I took with my iPhone yesterday (I had the 100-400L on my DSLR, so I couldnt take a picture with it then)
Isn't she cute?
Click them to enlarge.
If all 7 hatch, I am sure she will be quite busy trying to keep up with feeding the youngsters!
Well, as I write this, I must apologize; I havent gotten this blog updated much! It's been a long week, and its only Tuesday!
Well, Today I finally made it to check the Bluebird camera, and on the way there, I stopped to check the "Tufted Titmouse" nest. I walked up, looked in (Of course, I cannot see really far down in) and didnt see anything. So I undid the latch, and when nothing flew out, I relaxed. "Nothing here!" I thought, as I looked down in at the hair and moss that made up the nest; but as I looked towards the front, I got a surprise! there, staring up at me, was a cute little Black-Capped Chickadee! I replaced the lid (I wish I had taken a picture while I was there with it open), stepped back, and left. I never did see her fly! Either she was not scared of me, or was so scared she didnt move!
I then walked up the hill to the Bluebird nest, expecting the same routine to happpen; I'd walk up, she'd fly out, I'd give her mealworms and get the card. I got to about ten feet... nothing happened! 5 feet, nothing! Finally I got up to where I could see in, and my heart sank as I saw no bird! I couldnt tell if the eggs were there or not, so, fearing the worst, I slid my iPhone in to check. They are still there!
I began to wonder if something happened to the mother, as I hadnt seen her at all, until when I got to my laptop, and looked up. there, on the post, was the mother Bluebird! she was soon joined by the Male, and the two watched me give them mealworms.
We should be very close to hatch day now; in fact, I half expected baby birds tonight! (Is it just me being optomistic, or is there a pip in the bottom middle egg?)
Also, other good news: The Chickadees in the post have two tiny white eggs! I also saw them chase a House Wren away (Perhaps the same wren who nested there last year).. poor wren had no choice but to flee in terror, with an angry Chickadee on her tail!
No videos from today, however, here ar some videos from the past few days: (Note: There is one of the Bluebirds dive-bombing a squirrel, but it wouldnt upload. I will try to get it up.)
Well, today, I went and checked, but nothing on the camera from today. However, I do have two shots I took today to show you:
First, a shot of the eggs.. Is it just me, or do I see an air sac at the top of the egg? We are getting closer to hatch day!
And, in closing, here is a picture I shot of the nest towards sunset:
My apologies for being less-than caught up; I have a lot to do these days with school, etc.
Now we all know that the trail cam has been - Shall we say - LESS than reliable?
Well, I readjusted it, and it looks like we hit paydirt! 4 videos of the bluebirds in one day! 4! there were also a couple other videos of her popping into her nest! however, I didnt upload them.
Have a look!
Well, once again, no video from the trail cam (With the exception of more Turkey Buzzards, and a couple White-Tailed Deer in the early morning)
However, when I went to check the camera, I shot some video with my DSLR.
Somehow, that bird has an almost uncanny ability to detect me when I walk up, and flies out.
But, she is getting braver. She lets me get closer before she hops out, and comes back quicker.
this time, she hopped out and started hunting bugs like normal, and before I could return the SDHC to the trail cam, she was already back! so she hopped out again, and hunted more supper. I went back to my camera, and sat for a bit, to wait for her to come back. She was back soon, and in a few seconds, the male showed up! I videod him for a little, and walked back across the road..
In other exciting news, we found another nest:
Mom and my brother had seen this pair there the other day, but didnt know if they were just checking it out, or starting to build.
Well, yesterday, they were going in and out like crazy, trying to clean it out.
This is about 13 minutes, with the spaces where there are no birds trimmed out.
However, the playback speed remained the same; they are really jumping in and out that fast!
Well, This update is for Friday. I wanted to update it yesterday, but my computer took so long to upload to YouTube that I couldnt. Anyways: a video update from the Tufted Titmouse nest, and the Bluebird nest, and more Buzzard intruders!
I tried to set up the Canon Rebel T1i on video (Which came out with exactly 0 success)
So I am thinking of switching to stills on my EOS 30D, so we can at least get a glimpse into their lives, and see how many times she comes in and out!
well, I hope to have another update today, but it looks like I will have a crazily busy day....
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