It’s spring! And my yearly bird watching has begun; rather, continues! I am
excited to see what this year brings to my yard. I really want to see the Mountain Bluebirds again this year. They have been sparse the last couple years it seems, though we always manage to get a few Western Bluebirds to nest in our boxes. The Mountains are not as agressive as any other bird I have seen, and will not usually be the ones to win the box. They are delicate and rare. For that reason, and also because they remind me of my childhood, they are my favorite bird.
I
picked up a couple new, premade boxes at "Fish and Game" just last week. A few years
ago, the cat had killed the daddy of the pair of Westerns nesting in the box that I had
used for a number of years. I found the daddy by the garage door and it broke my heart. The mama sat
on the outside of the box all day waiting for the daddy to come home. Of
course, he never came. It was one of the saddest things for me to watch.
Eventually, she left the box leaving her family behind. The
daddy is an important part of caring for his family and the mama couldn’t do it
alone. Needless to say, there was death
in that box and because of that, I believe, the bluebirds have never returned.
After that season, we had carefully cleaned out the box knowing they otherwise
wouldn’t revisit, but they still didn’t seem to come back.
So this year I decided to get new boxes. Matt put them up for me a couple days
ago. I am very pleased with the job he
did. He asked me where I wanted them placed in the yard and he took the time to
get it just right. He made sure to put them on metal poles so that cats or
predators can’t climb up to the box and get at the nest. And he made sure to place them so the nests will be protected from the wind and elements. I really want to be good stewards of these birds. Birders say once you know the joys of the bluebirds you will also know heartbreak and that is so very true. I have certainly known both. But that only makes one want to try all the harder to protect these beautiful song birds.
I couldn’t be any happier with the job my son has done in putting up my new boxes! He called me out to the back yard for my approval. As I was looking, I
thought how cute it would be to plant flowers around the base of one of the
boxes. I already had something that would work
perfectly as a planter at the base. So
he put that in place for me, as well. I can’t wait until it gets a little
warmer so that I can plant some pretty flowers at the base of the box that will bloom all summer. If I plant too
early, though, the plants will only freeze.
I finished some of the work I was doing in the yard and went
back into the house. It hadn’t even been an hour yet, but when I looked out the
picture window of my living room to admire the new boxes, there was a mama
bluebird entering the hole of the box. The daddy flew around outside.
“Matthew!” I exclaimed. “You were just in time! They are already here!”
He knew exactly who I was talking about, and simply smiled
at the crazy bird lady he has for a mom. I like to think it was good manners that prevented further comment from my son. ;-)
As for my bluebirds:
How neat!!! I'm so glad you already got some birds!!
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