The two bluebird parents have been busy every waking hour feeding their young…

The nestlings are now 16 days old. I have stopped monitoring the box to avoid frightening them into fledging before they are ready. But I was finally able to get some photos of the parents at work.

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Male Bluebird

It takes just a few minutes of observation from a respectful distance on the garden bench to be rewarded by the sight of the bluebirds at work.

Often, they arrive from the hayfield in front of our house. They perch on the top of the house and observe the area before heading to a branch above the nest box.

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Female bluebird entering the house with a bug

Before entering the next box, the birds perch on a branch above the box and monitor the area for threats. Once they are satisfied that it is safe to enter, they move in, quickly feed their young and exit to find more food for their small charges.

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Female bluebird exiting the house–without the bug.

The birds only stay in the house for a matter of a few seconds before exiting.

The four nestlings in this box should be fledging in another two or three days. Wish me luck on getting photos of the new arrivals!

Robin
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  1. Bumblebee Blog » Blog Archive » For Rent: Purple Martin Houses Says:

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Right Now at Bumblebee

February 8th, 2012

Today was Sophie and Sarah’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

They went to the vet to have their teeth cleaned. Sophie came out a few teeth lighter. Both are very tired, hungry, needy and out of sorts.

February is National Pet Dental Health Month, so our vet offers a 15% discount on the cleaning. That’s a big savings. It’s expensive to have a pet’s teeth cleaned because they must be anesthetized. No animal will willingly sit in the dental chair with his/her mouth open!

It must be done though. It’s not just a matter of bad breath—although my little dogs’ breath was plenty bad. Dental problems can lead to more serious health issues.

Well, at least theĀ terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day is nearly over. Poor dogs.

Robin

February 6th, 2012

Another Monday.

Harry and I spent the better part of the weekend painting the master bedroom. We traded off between rolling and detail work and we both made our fair share of messes. For a while Sophie perched on top of a chaise to supervise our work. Sarah was distraught. She does not like change.

Today we get back to normal. I will have to do something about my manicure. Speckled fingernails in Benjamin Moore Light Pewter is not really a good look.

Here’s wishing you a happy, calm and productive week.

Robin

February 3rd, 2012

If you’re in the neighborhood and just happen to have your paintbrush and paint clothes with you, stop on by. Harry and I are taking the day off from work to start painting the master bedroom. We figure it’ll take until Sunday. Harry does most of the rolling—no small chore with high ceilings—and I do all the tedious detail work. You, of course, can pitch in wherever you like.

We’re painting it a dove grey. So if you see some grey in my hair in the next few days, it’s paint. Got it? The grey is paint.

Robin

February 2nd, 2012

Happy Groundhog Day! What are you doing to celebrate?

We’ll have a special dinner of NOT groundhog. Dinner will be a special pasta (TBD) and some yummy homemade yeast rolls. Then we’ll pull out the photo album of past Groundhog Days and reminisce. We will toast Puxatawny Phil by opening the first bottle of my homemade apfelwein, which I hope is sparkly by now. If it’s any good, you’ll hear more about it.

Cheers!

Robin

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