Tag Archives: birds

There’s bad news and good news.

In my last post, I wrote about how I planned to replace the bird house the bluebirds were nesting in as soon as the babies left home. I didn’t have a chance. I went outside Tuesday and glanced at the bird house like I always do and… it was gone. The only thing attached to the hook it hung from was the roof. The rest of the house was on the seat of the swing. I checked inside; the nest was intact, and I didn’t see any baby bluebird corpses. However, when I checked the ground, there was a shattered egg.😢 I was heartbroken. Nature can be harsh, so I’m well aware that things happen to nests in the wild, but this one should have been safe.

The bird house was wooden and I was keeping an eye on it because the bottom was warped, causing a gap between the base and the rest of the house. There was no indication that there was a problem with the roof, so I was shocked at the complete failure of the structure. I immediately ordered the two houses I mentioned in my last post. The replacements arrived Thursday and Kenn put them up on Friday. (According to nestwatch.org, bluebird houses should be 300 feet apart.) Since the broken birdhouse was in a popular location, we placed one of the new ones there. However, the new one is firmly attached to a post, not hanging.

Saturday, the day after the new houses were put up, I got a couple of texts from Kenn.

A couple of hours later, I looked out the window and saw this.

House Hunters, bluebird style!

Based on the activity we’ve seen, this couple is busily creating a new nest. I look forward to watching the development of the new family. Their new home is well built and made of recycled plastic, so it should hold up for several years. It’s also easy to clean out, unlike the one that failed.

Kenn also built a house for the Carolina wrens and mounted it on the carport post near the location of one of the earlier nests. Once again, according to nestwatch.org, we are in the height of Carolina wren nesting season, so it will be interesting to see if it will get used.

Here’s hoping for happier bird watching in the days and weeks ahead!

Back to the Birds

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the birds nesting in our yard. All of the babies left the nests shortly after my post, and I thought baby season was over. I was wrong! Before I could even clean out/replace the birdhouse used by the bluebirds, a new pair (or maybe the same pair) started setting up house. The wren nest in the carport didn’t get reused, but wrens set up another nest in the corner of the fence around our side yard.

The pile of leaves behind the corner post is the wren’s nest.

As soon as the new batch of babies fly the nest, I am going to replace the current house favored by the bluebirds because not only is it literally falling apart, it is also difficult to clean out. Kenn said that we can build new houses and, while we can, I plan to buy new houses. This one and this one are my choices; they will be easy to clean and the opening is reinforced to protect from squirrel damage.

I also need to thank Suzassippi for introducing me to suet pellets. I didn’t know such a thing existed until she mentioned them in her blog. At our last house, I always put out blocks of suet dough for the birds, but the raccoons put an end to that when we moved to The Cabin. No matter where I located the suet feeder, the raccoons would find it and polish off the whole block of suet overnight. As much as I love caring for the critters, I’m not willing to put out a new block of suet every day. Suet pellets to the rescue! I’m now mixing the pellets into the songbird blend that I use in my regular bird feeder, and I bought a separate feeder for the pellets. It took the birds a while to find the new feeder, but now that they have, I have to refill it regularly. Even better, the squirrels/raccoons have not hauled off the pellet feeder or removed the top and dumped the contents. Of course, I have now probably jinxed things and will find an empty feeder on the ground tomorrow.😂

Lastly, the barn swallows (maybe?) that build a nest on or near our downspout every year do seem to be incubating eggs this year! The nest is in a difficult place to monitor, but I finally managed to a fairly decent picture of one of the parents in the nest. Here’s hoping we’ll see babies soon!

So, do you feed wildlife – birds or otherwise?

This is for the birds

It has been a busy spring! We’ve seen more nesting birds than we usually do. One of the things I love about The Cabin is that we have bluebirds here. Bluebirds like open spaces, and this is the first home we’ve had with enough space to attract them. We’ve got several bluebird houses and a pair selected a different house to nest in. We got to listen to the babies when they hatched and see mom and dad flying in and out as they cared for them. We even got a few glimpses at the babies before they flew away.

Peeking at the world.

I’ve always liked wrens; their little flipped up tails give them a sassy vibe, and I’m all about sassy. This year, wrens have built a nest in the rafters of our carport. While we haven’t located the nest, the top of a nearby fence post has become a favorite place for mom and dad to perch. I’m thoroughly enjoying the impromptu serenades throughout the day.

Watching the world go by.
Singing.

Some birds of unknown species build a nest on one of our downspouts every year. Kenn says they’re barn swallows, but I disagree. Barn swallows don’t build typical nests and this nest is nothing if not typical. Whatever type they are, I’m not sure if they’ve ever successfully raised babies. It’s quite possible that they have; they location of the nest makes it difficult to see so we don’t see the parents flying in and out like we might if it were in a different location.

We’ve also seen brown thrashers hanging around the shrubs near the deck so I suspect there is another nest we haven’t seen. I’m going to be replacing most of our birdhouses over the next few months with varieties that are a little easier to clean out. Hopefully, we be able to see even more families next year!

Several years ago, Kenn surprised me with the gift of having the yard at our previous house certified as a wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. He had to jump through several hoops including providing a diagram of our yard including the plants, food, and water sources available for wildlife. I proudly displayed the certification sign in our yard. All of this years bird watching reminded me that I need to get our current yard certified. After all, we have four acres of land, with somewhere between two to three of those acres being wooded. So, I went online and found out that the process has gotten a lot easier; I just answered a few questions, paid my fee, and boom! Done. Now, I just have to wait for my new sign to come in.

Are you a bird watcher?