Baby Birds!

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!

Update for Tuesday, April 17, 2012

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.)

April 16, 2012:

And from Friday 13:

4-12-12

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:

4-11-12

Well, pretty boring day at the bluebird nest today; We did get a deer sniffing the box in the evening:

4 Bluebird Videos in one Day! (4-10-12)

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!

I also checked the tufted titmouse nest:

Bluebird video from April 08, 2012

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!

Friday, April 06, 2012

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....

see ya soon!

-Darin

Wednesday-Thursday, 2012

Hello; Sorry for no update yesterday; I did, however, have my little brother record a video of me checking the camera: you can see it here:

Anyways, incubation has officially begun! She was in the nest tonight (I did not look in, as it was dark, and I didn't want to scare her; however, standing about 8 feet away with a red light, I could see about an 1/8th of an inch of the top of her head!
So I am surmising that the total will remain at 5, and that incubation started yesterday or the day before!

Now, About the video: most of the videos you have seen so far have been shot with a finicky trail cam used for deer, and not designed for birds. It has to be tweaked just right for the camera to trigger, and apparently for the past two days, it hasn't triggered on a Bluebird. I know they have been there, as I have seen them, however, the camera will not pick them up.

I moved it just a couple inches tonight, but if that doesn't work, plan B: I am considering putting my Canon Rebel T1i out on video for a day or two with a more sensitive trigger.
I will probably put my 100-400L lens on, and extend the spikes all the way out on my tripod to keep it steady so it doesn't get blown over.

Or, I may put mealworms out again, and video trigger that...
I am not sure how, but somehow I need to get video for you all!

I wanted so bad to set up a live fee for you, but that would involve running somewhere around 1,300 feet of USB wire through the culvert under the road and... Yeah, probably not the best idea!

Maybe I will set up a live webcam on a Robin or a House Wren (if the wrens use the same post as last year) for you all to watch!

Well, thanks for reading; sorry I did not have a better update!
Until next time,
-Darin

P.S. I have not checked the tufted titmouse nest again; I am giving it time to settle before I look (maybe tomorrow, we'll see!

Oh, and, you can't tell what my hobby is from my shirt in the video, can you? :)

On yet another note, We found a Killdeer nest today, although not very closeby my house :(
here is a quick shot from my iPhone of the back of my camera:

9th and 10th videos: Monday, April 02, 2012

Well, today we got two videos of the bluebirds; I think there is more on the camera, but I will upload those tomorrow, time permitting! All the mealworms, except for one head, were gone; maybe that means they have accepted it in agreement to be photographed?

An update: video to follow!

Monday, April 2, 2012-

Today I rode my bike over to the nest after lunch (I am a homeschooled 15 year old, so I can do some of that),
And before going to the Bluebirds,  I went to the other nestbox to see if anything more was done to that nest.

As I rode up, I saw a bird fly towards it, but it looked like it went past the nest; In fact, from the distance I was at, it looked almost like a Cabbage White butterfly.

I rode up to the nest, and looked in thought the hole. A bit of expectant joy went through me as I saw that more had been done; I could no longer see light around the bottom panel!

A bit apprehensively, I began to undo the bolt that keeps the lid's latch closed. As my two hands touched the bolt, I may as well have hit a button marked "Unleash F-16 Fighters!"
instantly, as if I had touched a release to launch it out of the hole, a grayish bird rocketed out of the hole, and slid under my left arm, all in the space of milliseconds!
My heart did about three backflips, and I whirled in time to see the bird winging across the pond in front of her nest; I did not get a good look at it, but since the nest is constructed of moss (Instead of a Bluebirds' grass nest), and the birds' size, I am guessing Tufted Titmouse. My only hope now is that I did not scare her so bad that she will not return!

I then got back on my bike, and rode up the hill to my bluebirds' nest. Mother bluebird, not liking what she saw, perched in a tree and watched as I checked the nest, saw there were still 5 eggs, then got the videos off the trail cam.
I talked to her the whole time; even though she cannot understand the words, I hope she understood my tone as I tried to soothe her.
Then, just to show her that I would never harm her, or those 5 precious blue orbs in her nest, I rode back to the house and grabbed some dried mealworms.
She flew to a tree to watch as I walked to the next post behind her home in the fence line, and I made sure she could see the more-than-generous portion as I laid it upon two fence posts.
I am hoping she will associate me with good things, such as meal worms, and protection.
Again, I don't know how much she understands, but she seems quite intelligent.
Well, that is my update as of 2:05 PM on this beautiful Monday afternoon; I got 2 videos from the trail camera; I will post them soon!
-Darin

8th video: Sunday, April 01, 2012

Well, we skipped a day in video on Saturday, but the camera had another trigger Sunday! At first, it appears nothing is there, then at 00:15, the female pokes her head out of the hole.

7th Video: Friday, March 30, 2012

We were fortunate enough to get two videos on Friday, and here is the second!

6th Video: Friday, March 30, 2012

Our 6th video from the trail cam last Friday:

5th video: Thursday, March 29, 2012

4th video: Thursday, March 29, 2012

3rd video: Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Well, the trail cam wasnt triggering (For a week) so I moved it around, and started getting videos again!

2nd Video: Thursday, March 22, 2012

Here is the second video we got!

Our first video: Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Here is what I think is our first video of the pair at their nest!

Introduction

Hello, and thanks for visiting this blog! In this blog, I am going to chronicle the adventures of a Bluebird pair as they nest, using videos, text updates, and still photos.

I will try to upload at least one video each day, so subscribe, and check back often!

As of right now, there are 5 eggs, and I will be posting those videos of nest building shortly.

You can find out more about the birds at the "About Our Pair" tab on the right hand side of this page!

Thanks for looking!