New and lovely residents in our birdhouse
Blog vol 5.50. New and lovely residents in our birdhouse
Fantabulous development!
My family has been living on the same property for 23 years actively landscaping and planting trees. Over the years we have attracted more and different birds, Killdeers and Red-Tailed Hawks being two I have highlighted in the past. This winter, a neighbour gave us a birdhouse which we mounted on the post of our backyard pergola. Early in the spring we saw a pair of Eastern Bluebirds, Sialis sialis, trying to get into the house. The hole, made for a wren or chickadee, was too small. They tried, but there was no way they were getting in. I took the house to my workshop, made the hole a quarter inch bigger, and voilà, we now have new and lovely residents.
This pair is busy gathering scraps, grasses, and twigs... you know what that means. We are so excited! These are such beautiful birds.
We have been seeing an increase of paired Bluebirds in our area, likely because one of our neighbours (a different neighbour, we have pretty cool neighbours:) has been feeding them mealworms. They just love worms, especially mealworms. The worms supplement their diet of berries, providing a wonderful source of protein for a young and rapidly growing brood. The Bluebird has bright blue wing feathers and head covering with an orangey chest, with the male more lustrous than the female. Bluebirds also have an easily recognizable musical chur-wi or tru-ly song that is delightful. They apparently prefer free flowing water such as a small fountain or stream though we do not have anything of the sort. And no cats, a feral cat can be a big problem for these worm-eating songbirds.
Eastern Bluebirds are the state bird of Missouri (we lived there 1998 to 2001) and they winter all over the Eastern United States then migrate to Canada during the summer to nest. One pair migrated to our backyard.
We are truly thankful for neighbours and for the opportunity to host these lovely creatures.
How does this connect to eyes you ask. Hmm…
Til Next week,
The good doctor
