I'm Blue (da ba dee da ba daa)

"Yo listen up, here's the story about a little blue bird that lives in a blue world"... or however the song went.

Most people my age are driving their kids to school, going to PTA meetings and parent teacher conferences, ballet recitals or judo matches. Me? I'm monitoring nesting Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) and making sure that they're happy and healthy. I'm still very, very new to this, but with the help and of Mr. A and lots of research (thanks sialis.org), I am happy to report that I have a full nest!

A few weeks ago I woke to a message on my phone: "There has been an early delivery to your house!". I ran outside and saw that Mr. A had dropped off 2 beautiful cavity boxes, along with all of the equipment I would need to set them up (including a 3lb hammer that would put Mjolnir to shame). Earlier, we had been discussing the work he did at the sparrow swap, and how the museum had land where they set these boxes up to give the bluebirds a place to make a home. I had been photographing these birds (as well as so many others) all throughout the pandemic and logging my entries on iNaturalist. They're so photogenic and the males have the most beautiful blue feathers.

He walked me through the basics of how and where I should set up the houses. They feel most comfortable in open areas so they can keep a lookout for potential predators. However, they also want to be close enough to an area that they can fly for cover, if need be. I have a small willow tree in my yard so I set my two boxes approximately 25ft and 50ft respectively from the tree. I used Mjolnir to knock the conduit into the ground and created a hole for the pole to go into.

Thankfully the boxes were already attached to the poles so I didn't have to do much else to setup. I did find plans to make my own BB box so I will definitely try making my own soon and, of course when I do, I'll update here. The next morning when I took the dogs out, there was a male Eastern Bluebird going in and out of the box checking out his potential new apartment! I was so excited! I hadn't expected movement so soon after setting up.

I actually punched the air when I saw him at the entrance! I couldn't get my phone out fast enough. I sat there waiting for him to come out again so I could get a picture. My poor dogs had to wait for me to let them off the porch and were probably cursing me in their minds. It took the pair about a week after my initial sighting to start making their nest in one of the boxes. I checked every day, three times a day. I thought for sure they would want to move in immediately to one of the newly erected condominiums. Finally the move-in trucks arrived and started delivering their furniture. Little by little, more pine straw was added to the nest box until a perfect little nest was just waiting to be filled with eggs.

(Side note: the little planter box that the nest is in slides in and out of the nest box for easy observation and clean up once the fledglings leave the nest. Just another nifty tidbit that Mr. A turned me onto.)

Maybe two days after the nest was finished, I added a baffle to the pole to keep the squirrels, cats and snakes away from the nest box. There are several different kinds of baffles that could be used. Mr. A and I discussed it at length and concluded that, although I am in a relatively rural area, there aren't that many predator animals thanks to my dogs barking at anything that moves. So the small conical baffle is the one that we went with.

Two days after the baffle went up, I went out to check on the box and saw the first egg! You would have thought I'd laid that egg myself I was so proud. She has laid five beautiful blue eggs in as many days, and the excitement has only grown with each one. Now she will begin the process of incubating them. I can't wait to see them when they hatch!

5/21/2021