Rain, rain go away...PERIOD! Day 14-15, May 3-4, 2009

Thelma and Louie haven't been working too hard at the wing flapping but they continue to preen not only the wing feathers but their new spotted body feathers too. They don't look like bluebirds, do they? The only clue is the blue on their wings.

Both of these days it rained for almost half of each day! The sound of the rain on the roof of the nest box seemed to, at times, lull the chicks to sleep. It did the same for me, too ::smile::

In every brood I've watched, this is the time when the chicks start to look at their siblings differently. I say that because in all the time they've spent together in the nest, they never really 'touch' each other in a purposeful way. In today's video you'll see one chick pick at the other one. Sometimes it's to take some food bits from the beak of the other, sometimes I can't see the reason. But it's definitely a 'big bird' behavior that you see at bird feeders, for example.

I mention in the video that the nest box hole is on the right side of the video. Also, we need to keep in mind that even when the chicks sit on the top of the nest (out of the nest cup), they have a distance to go before they get to the hole. Here's a photo I took of another brood where the nest position is about the same:

From Somewhere Over the Rainbow, bluebirds fly...

Yes, the globs of white stuff on the walls are fecal sacs. As the chicks roam around the top of the nest more, their bathroom habits aren't so good. They don't always stick to the 'eat then poop right away' rule. Mama will come in and take the sacs off the wall when she can.

Anyway, back to the photo...below the hole you see a metal grid. This helps the nestlings climb up to the hole when it's time.

You can watch the video on the blog at
Somewhere Over the Rainbow

or on YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV6vGrjTV8A

or here. If you 'double click' the viewing window, you will get the larger viewing screen.

Real Birds of Atlanta, Day 14, May 3, 2009

They are definitely birds now (and oh so beautiful). In the first photo, I think one of the chicks has its wing over the other so it's hard to tell but there is one bird whose wing feathers are bright cobalt blue (that'd be the male Louie) and the other's wing feathers are tipped in white (that'd be Thelma). You can see those differences in the second photo.

While I'm typing this, I see that the chicks are 'playing dead.' It's because there's a Brown Headed Nuthatch who keeps walking all over the box and almost gets a chance to look in when Daddy Blue comes to the rescue. Of course, Thelma or Louie are bigger than the teeny nuthatch, they just don't know know it!

You can 'double click' to see larger views.