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.

Chick-a-dee-dee-dee. May 12, 2009

It's been strange not rushing to do videos and blog entries every day. Don't worry, I've been trying to use my time constructively.

I have to admit that I'm disappointed that the bluebirds have not started another brood. They are taking mealworms up into the trees so I am sure the fledglings are OK. I try to follow the parents as they fly from the feeder but they never go straight to the kids (don't want to let predators know where the fledglings are). The other thing that is unusual is that in past broods, it's been just Daddy who takes care of the fledgling but Mama seems to be doing just as much feeding as he does.

By the way, the title of this post is how I learned to recognize one of the calls of the chickadees.

Considering that it's day 14 for the 4 chickadee nestlings, I thought it would be a good idea to take the wren guard off!! They often fledge at day 17 so I figured they needed to be able to look out and see the 'unknown.'

It was interesting to see the parents' reactions to the wren guard being gone. One of the parents especially was very wary and slowly approached the hole. After a few hours, they are OK.

I'll be setting up my camcorder pointed to the chickadee box so perhaps I'll get to see them fledge .

The photos below are in reverse order...

May 12, 2009 - Day 14 They now look like chickadees!

May 7th, Day 9--looking more like chickadees

Just a few days old, May 3, 2009