Bluebird Mania!

I think it's official....we have bluebird mania! 
We’ve had one successful brood and they fledged. Then, the parents rebuilt a nest and laid five more eggs! We are now waiting for the second brood to hatch.

Meanwhile, some of the fledglings have been spotted at our feeders!  It's very hard to determine if all the babies are coming back or just a few. Here are a few pics of the dahlings!

The second round of eggs have been laid! The last egg was laid on Saturday, May 12th. The incubation period has started and will last 12-14 days. I'm hoping all goes well and we'll have another healthy brood of babies in about two weeks.

Be sure to check back for updates on our

second round of babies!

Five Happy & Healthy Baby Bluebirds!

Two weeks ago, the bluebird eggs hatched and we welcomed five new baby bluebirds to this wonderful world! Sorry it's taken so long for me to post this great news!  Here are some pics to bring you up to date. Don't forget to follow me on Facebook for quicker updates. 

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I'm not ready for these little guys to fledge.  But, I know the day is coming! I'll keep you posted through my heartache.

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Lovin' my Bluebirds!

Hello friends! So much has happened since my last post! The Bluebird nest was completed while we were on vacation. Below is how it looked right before we left for a week. It's a very nice looking nest...if you ask me!

We got back from vacation last Monday.  I was hoping she would wait until we came back to start laying her eggs...and she did!  She laid her first egg last Thursday. On Friday, my husband checked the bird box and he didn't see anything. However, when he positioned his phone farther in the box to snap a pic....there were two eggs! Then, Saturday she laid a third egg and today, the fourth egg!  My husband thinks she'll lay a total of five eggs but, I think she'll lay seven! She's eating well and they are watching the nest closely like good parents. I'll keep you updated!

Now, for a little bit about our vacation. We took a trip to Houston to visit friends and go to the rodeo. It was a lot of fun! We saw Keith Urban & Garth Brooks play at the rodeo!  This was my husbands first time to Houston & he really like it....except for the traffic. We stayed at our friend's home in Galveston. It was beautiful! Time was short so we didn't do much birding. But, my friends took us to a well kept secret place that had Peacocks! There are beautiful! The Peacocks were very friendly and were not modest at all!  The males were showing off their beautiful feather tails, known as a "train".  Below are just a few of the hundred pics that I took of them! I'd like to go back to Galveston and attend one of their awesome birding events!

We had a great time in Texas!

Great time, Great food, & Great friends!

Nest Watching

Day 1 of Nest Building 3/07/18 

This week has been a busy week! The bluebirds started building their nest on Wednesday, March 7! I spotted the female going in the bird box with pieces of straw.  On Thursday, there were pieces hanging out of the nest box! So we knew there was some building going on. When my husband went home for lunch, he checked the box and sent me the first pic of the nest! That night we were able to start the official "Nest Watch" on https://nestwatch.org/  Anytime, you find a nest and commit to watching it - you should send your observations to The Cornell Lab of Orinthology. You can become a "citizen scientist" and your data will helpthem track trends in birds including when they nest, how many eggs laid,  how many hatched, and how many survived.  This is a nationwide tracking status. They study the current conditions of the bird population and how it changes. There is so much interesting information on this site. I highly recommend reading it even if you haven't found a nest yet. You'll be ready for when you do!

Now back to BackerNest1 (that's what I've called it).  On Saturday morning, I was able to spend a few hours observing and the female was super busy! Apparently, "The Hustle is Real"!  She is ready to get this nest built and lay some eggs!  This momma ain't messin' around!

She went back and forth with straw bits and pieces....and then she showed up with a beak full! I was excited to get a few pics of her hardwork!

Lastnight, we had quite a bit of rain so this Sunday morning wasn't quite as productive. Maybe due to the wet nesting materials. But, I did see some building going on.  She should have the nest completed possibly tomorrow and then will start laying her eggs shortly after. Bluebirds lay one egg a day and usually will lay 5-7 eggs.  I will keep you posted. 

Don't forget to check out my Facebook page and Twitter for recent updates.  Thank you for following me & the birds!

Bluebird Happiness!

I got up bright and early to watch for the bluebirds. They didn't let me down! When I looked out the window there was one sitting on the hook underneath the bird house.  I grabbed the camera and snapped a few pics. Tomorrow, I'll open the bird house to check for signs of a nest being built. 

The Great Backyard Bird Count starts tomorrow!

Are you ready? It's time for the "Great Backyard Bird Count" February 16th - 18th! 

I’ve posted a few helpful tips for counting and a video to get you excited about counting! 

Tips for Counting: 

• Count for at least 15 mins. but you can count for as long as you'd like - just be sure to record how long you counted. 
• If you're watching your backyard and you see three Cardinals, then five Cardinals, then two Cardinals, you would report them as five Cardinals, not ten.
• Recording your Count - make a separate count sheet for each day that you count. You need a separate count sheet for each location that you count (even if it's the same day). You can submit multiple count sheets on the same day from the same location if the two counts were at different times. For instance, early morning and late afternoon.
•  After you've finished counting and ready to turn in your results, go to the Great Backyard Bird Count website at BirdCount.org and click "Submit Observations" on the homepage.
• If this is your first time participating, you'll need to create a free GBBC account and follow directions to record your count.
• Below is a link for a complete and printable check list for counting.  

http://gbbc.birdcount.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/2016Updates_English_DownloadableInstructions.pdf

I hope you have great weather for counting! Check back this weekend, I'll be posting my results and pictures! I'm hoping for some bluebirds! Enjoy the weekend & happy birding! 

Welcome February!

Can you believe it...February is here! There are so many things going on this month! 

• Bluebird Houses 
• The Great Backyard Bird Count 
• The Olympics
• Valentines Day (for the love birds!💕)

Today, we hung our Bluebird House! I'm pretty excited about it! This is our first bluebird house. We had bluebirds a few years ago but, last year we didn't see very many. So, I'm going to try to attract them back to our yard by providing them a home!  I've been reading and mealworms seem to be their 'go to' snacks! I'm going to pick some up tomorrow. If you have any tips on attracting bluebirds to your yard, please feel free to post them here. I'll also keep you updated on what I find works best. 

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🐦  The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC)

The GBBC starts next weekend, February 16-19, 2018!  Please participate in this! It's a lot of fun and you can watch for only a few minutes or for as many hours as you'd like!  Scientist and bird enthusiasts can learn a lot by knowing where birds are. Learn more about the GBBC by clicking on the links below. I'll be posting my results next week! I'm blocking off a few hours to watch my yard and possible sight a few new birds!

http://gbbc.birdcount.org/about/

http://gbbc.birdcount.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/2016Updates_English_DownloadableInstructions.pdf

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❤ Happy Valentines Day! 

Don't forget...this Wednesday is Valentines Day! I hope everyone has a sweet Valentines Day! 💕
My niece called me to tell me that she is making a Valentine Box with bluebirds on it! Olivia is in the 4th grade and their school mascot is the bluebird! I couldn't imagine how she was going to pull this off...but she never ceases to amaze me! She sent me a picture and my mind was blown! They even made the pom poms they used for the tree and bluebirds! She is super creative! This is just incredible! 

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2018 Pyeong Change Winter Olympics

Don't forget to tune in to the Winter games! 
I love to watch the Olympics! My favorite is figure skating and snow boarding!