A joy in the Garden's meadows are Eastern bluebirds, who make use of the nestboxes and meadow-supported caterpillars to raise multiple broods each year.
The first breeding session is underway; this box is one of the most desirable, with a large expanse of meadow below.
I've been seeing a male bluebird perched on the top in recent weeks. I'll have to check if he's found a mate yet, and set up a nursery nest.
It's almost dark, and a mockingbird is still singing. Their song cycle is lovely, and now a familiar voice almost year-round.
It's an expectant time, songs and calls encouraged by longer days marking territories and prompting notice by potential mates. I saw a bluebird pair at the Garden yesterday morning investigating one of our nest boxes. It's not one of the most desirable, so I don't think they'll set up residence. But, it was fun to watch them ducking into the box in turn, seemingly trying to decide if THIS box might be suitable.
I just saw a mother bluebird and two fledglings at our feeders (not eating anything, but stopping by on top of the shepherd's hooks) -- and now two of the fledglings are taking a bath-- and one just went back to the top of the hook. Way cool.
I figured the chances of my getting out there with the camera were nil, of course, so I kept watching them splash around, and hang out. The young ones were very spotty and attractive, with bluish tail feathers, and still looked like they wanted a handout from Mom. One poked around in the mulch, and hopefully found something.
I've only seen a bluebird in our yard once before, last spring, so these are presumably dropping by from somewhere nearby. There are some open grassy areas nearby with bluebird boxes.
(An addendum: I just read that bluebird parents and fledglings usually move somewhere away from the nest box that has abundant food -- this group appears to be hanging out in the dogwood trees behind the feeders)
A blurry shot through the study window had me trying to sneak out on the porch; my reward was a robin poking around -- I'm seeing them again now --and, oh, Mama bluebird is back on top of the shepherd's hook, and now there's a phoebe -- it's been a parade today.
But a young male or female hummingbird was leery of me on the porch, but came in to visit when I stayed very still.
It was rainy (finally and thankfully, overnight and this morning), but late this afternoon, the sky cleared up, and I went for a long walk in the Garden.
In the meadows, there was a male bluebird perched on a small tree, and then I caught a glimpse of one that had what looked like a skink in its beak. He was trying to break it into small pieces by thumping it on a sign. Not an effective procedure, but I imagine that he'd picked up a 'roadkill' on our entrance road.
Late this afternoon in the Garden, I saw a large group of cedar waxwings swoop around and settle in a flowering hickory. Taking a few shots (without a good zoom lens), here's a view of a couple of cedar waxwings and a bluebird.
There was also a mockingbird in the group, but they were largely cedar waxwings.
I had a lot of fun monitoring our bluebird boxes at the Garden last season, something I hadn't done before. A series of replacement boxes and several new ones gave us about 12 total boxes. Most of them are in the meadow area, but others are in other open and edge areas. I snagged a mechanic's mirror at a local autoparts store to help me see into the top of the nests, and started my weekly rounds, checking on the sequence of bluebird broods, and the nests of other birds such as chickadees and tufted titmice.
I checked all of the boxes last month to make sure they were empty and clean, and ready for this year's season. We always see lots of bluebirds in the meadows, so we know we have a flourishing population. And, I'm always glad to see the male or female perched on top of the box, checking out the scene, perhaps.
Coming back from lunch today, I was delighted to see a pair of bluebirds investigating a box that hadn't been used last year, except for a paper wasp building her nest. It would be an excellent box to keep a close eye on, since I walk by it frequently!
The photo is one of a bluebird parent and fledgling that I took in the Garden a couple of seasons ago.
Leaving the house yesterday, I saw a downy woodpecker on the suet feeder, not an unusual sight for winter, but I'm starting to see and hear birds that remind me that spring is on the way. The cheery call of a Carolina wren greeted me this morning, and later, I surprised a female bluebird near the big oak tree in front.
She's the first bluebird I've seen in our garden, although we have many breeding pairs in the botanical garden's meadows. I think we'll try moving the bluebird house on the old Pawlonia to a more attractive spot!
Poking around in the leaf litter in the perennial beds, shoots of spring bulbs are well up, and fresh rosette growth is starting to appear. Hooray!
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