Little Boxes

For decades I've enjoyed watching Tree Swallows nesting in the bird boxes on my property. But this year I've also been lucky enough to watch two families of Eastern Bluebirds successfully raise their brood. This reward has inspired me to upscale these avian summer cottages. I'm renovating, painting and numbering them. So far, I've completed seven with about a dozen more to follow.

 

Just finished listing to an audio book from our library which I enjoyed very much and highly recommend. Published in 2019, it's called 'The Nature Of Life And Death: Everybody Leaves A Trace' by Professor Patricia Wiltshire, forensic ecologist, botanist and palynologist.

Oh, and I had a nice windfall this past week. My neighbour across the road was given two free internet services in exchange for allowing their silo to be used as a relay tower. The neighbour offered me one of their free services as a thank you for the use of my hay fields. Of course, I gratefully accepted! My new signal is much stronger and the download speed jumped from an iffy 5 Mbps to a steady 10.5 Mbps. Yay-y-y! The only inconvenience is that I now have to change my e-mail address. My old service was in use for 13 years. In that time I accumulated a lot of contacts and business accounts that need to be notified. I suppose the task could be filed under 'short term pain for long term gain'.

 

Bluebird Update

The babies have flown! 

Friday morning I watched as the single bluebird mother's brood successfully fledged. All four of them! Within minutes of each other, they took the leap from their nest box and flew amazingly well to the nearest leafy tree. My photos of the novice flyers are blurry because they were so fast. Of course I cheered from my kitchen window as each youngster graduated into the big wide world. Full credit to that hard-working and capable little mother. She cleverly found plenty of food to raise four healthy youngsters. Oh, and for bonus points, she kept that nest scrupulously clean!

The devoted mom makes a final food deliver to the box.

"Come on kids! It's now time to leave home!"

A youngster works up courage for it's first flight.

Then drops down and is airborne.

Seconds later, a nestling decides to follow it's sibling.

And flies capably into a nearby tree.

And then another and another! All four babies have safely fledged!

As it turns out, it's been a very good year for bluebirds on my patch. I have more than a dozen nesting boxes strewn along a monitored trail. Most years these boxes are used exclusively by Tree Swallows. But this year, I've got two boxes that were successfully used by Eastern Bluebirds. The other box is located a couple of fields away and has the benefit of both parents. Most afternoons I see the male using one of my bird baths. His colouring is amazing!

Another female Eastern Bluebird attends a box further afield.

This handsome male drops in for a bath most afternoons.

Peaches are in season. Yum! Mine are socially distancing.