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
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