Splish Splash She's Taking a Bath

Blue Birds just love this little birdbath !!! You think they realize how fashionably color coordinated it is??? Probably not...but it sure makes fun photos !!

Blue Bird Roosting Time !!!

Family roosting time...wonder how they decide who gets the top bunk????

Hummingbirds 2011

Just can't seem to stop taking hummingbird photos !! :)

Juvenile Hummingbird

This juvenile hummingbird is very protective of my window feeders. He sits in a weeping cherry tree nearby and attacks all that approach - including me!! HAHA Luckily I have many feeders scattered around the yard, so the other hummingbirds passing through still have a fighting chance to get some nectar.

Sure will miss you when you're gone in a few weeks little fellas...

Summer's End

Well, it's mid-August and it's a good time to watch your feeders and take note of the changes that are ahead. The transition from summer to fall is in full swing. Over the next 30 days there should be some pretty drastic changes to the birds you will see. The Orioles and White-winged Doves are about to head south just as the Sharp-shinned Hawks and native sparrows are going to start showing up. As always let us know what you see.

We love hearing your bird stories! Happy birding!

Second Brood WBU Bluebird - UPDATE

Okay...second brood of babies are 8 days old today. Looks like they're progressing nicely, but the nest is VERY shallow, so we won't be opening the box again, I think. There appear to be 3 nestlings - even though there were 4 eggs initially. Mom and Dad are feeding them constantly, so hopefully they will grow and fledge by Sunday or Monday.

Bluebird update

UPDATE: Checked the eggs in the box on Monday, June 27...all but one had hatched out. Dad and 1st set of fledglings still coming to feeder for mealworms and Mom also comes and is feeding the new nestlings...Let the JOY and WORRY begin !!!

All four fledglings at the store in Nashville have been coming to the feeder - Mom & Dad are always very close by. The entire family has also been spotted in the birdbath together and Mom has built another nest and already has 4 more eggs in the box! We expect hatching to begin on the second brood sometime around the 26th or 27th of June. Standby for more.... :)

Martins!

Ok, so maybe 10 years ago we decided to put up a Purple Martin Gourd System at the Goodlettsville location. We are right off of Rivergate Parkway, so certainly not an ideal location for attracting Martins; but not so far away - as the crow flies - there are some pretty full colonies, so we were game for the wait.

For the past two years, we have seen Martins checking out our system during migration, but never any takers. This year we got lucky! One pair of Martins decided to give our housing a shot, and today the babies were hanging WAY out of the hole watching for their next meal/s.


While watching the feeding, I noticed that there was some activity in the - too tall - grass directly below the Martin system.... ohhhhhhhh..... baby Martin. Silly, silly, chick must have fallen out of the gourd - or been pushed out by rambunctious siblings!


Quickly, I fashioned a Fall-Out Shelter from a box and hung it on the fence, and placed the chick into the box. I then left the premises in hopes that the adults would first, find the chick and second, feed the chick in its' new abode. I was pleased as punch to see one of the adults land on the box immediately after feeding the nestlings in the gourd -- but there was no food delivered to our wayward chick. I watched for several more food deliveries, and our chick was never serviced. Being visited is nice, but for a chick, food is far more important.



Ultimately, and after discussion with Kent, we decided that I just needed to get the bigger ladder out there and put the chick back in the gourd with its' siblings. This is always the best option for a wayward chick; but if doing so requires the use of a pretty tall ladder, we strongly recommend that you have someone there to assist! All is well now, the adults are being very successful with their hunting on the wing, and we expect these little guys to fledge any day now.

Bluebird Fledgling

Three of the babies fledged on Monday evening...the last one was still in the box on Tuesday morning. Although he looked somewhat irritated that everyone had left him, Mom and Dad finally coxed him out of the box and we enjoyed trying to spot them up in the trees. Eventually, we did spot one of the babies sitting on the fence waiting for mealworms.

Cicadas

Just had to post a couple of photos of the cicadas in my yard. The birds are really enjoying them, too...I have seen bluebirds, mockingbirds, robins and even house finches munching on them....YUM!!!

BlueBird Nest Box Update

Bluebird babies were very active on Sunday at the store. I was there until 4:00 and they hadn't fledged, but it looks like they're ready to go anytime now. Good luck little fellas...

Eurasian Collared-Dove at WBU Nashville

WBU in Nashville has had Eurasian Collared-Doves visiting the store for the past couple of years. Yesterday, we saw only one, but most times there are two or even three at a time. They are strikingly beautiful when compared to the mourning doves we normally see.

Blue Birds nesting at WBU Nashville

First time in many years we've had bluebirds nesting at WBU in Nashville. There are literally dozens of house sparrows at the store, but our male bluebird - affectionately called "bruiser" - is MUCH more aggressive than any other bluebird I've ever witnessed. He guards the nest box and feeder with all his might...swooping and fighting off not only sparrows, but ANYONE who comes too close including finches, chicadees, robins, mocking birds, blue jays and even employees!

So far, so good...Mom and Dad have been feeding babies constantly this past week and hatchlings should fledge by Monday or Tuesday.

Butterbutts?!?

Yup, that's right! We have been seeing Yellow-rumped Warblers for several weeks now.

I sure hope that they stay around for next week's Great Backyard Bird Count!

Whoop!!

The Barred Owls have kicked out the squirrels and taken back their house for 2011!