Today a flock of six Western Bluebirds visited our back fields as they seem to do each fall. I just wish they would come back in the spring to nest. Only one year did one pair nest here.
I was so excited about seeing and hearing bluebirds (I love their soft murmuring voices), that I ordered five more bluebird boxes to put up along another fence line in hopes that will make enough for everyone. The bluebirds have to compete with swallows and house sparrows for nest boxes. The swallows seem to mostly prefer the gourds. I just took down and cleaned twenty-four nest gourds and have them stored in the heated tack room for winter. The house sparrows prefer our five wooden bluebird houses and fight over them with the less-gourd-oriented swallows, so I'm hoping five more boxes, in a different location, will entice bluebirds to stick around next spring. Like this pair...
The bluebirds seem not at all camera shy, and I took many photos. Here are a few. Okay, more than a few. Bluebirds are very photogenic and, on this day at least, cooperative.
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| Okay, so maybe I did annoy this one. |
Theses are such fun photos. Would you mind if I reblogged and posted on my facebook page? I am a lurker on the Yamhill birders list. Would love to have some of you come over and help with a list for our place sometime. Summer is a cacophony of sounds!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome to send folks to my blog address. I enjoyed reading your blog and glad to know you are a nearby birder and nature enthusiast. With all those oaks on your place, you might get Lewis' Woodpeckers sometime and be the envy of all. Be sure to list your sightings on the Yamhill birders list. Lots of folks would like to know about another bird-friendly spot in Yamhill County.
DeleteSo cute. Good luck with nesting in the spring.
ReplyDeleteLinda/Tigard