The Bluebird House

We've always had bluebirds passing through the neighborhood. I've seen them waiting on the phone lines to fly down and catch insects stirred up by lawn mowers. Last year we put up a bluebird house at the back of the property line. We mounted the cedar house on an aluminum fence post to keep squirrels from climbing it. The only thing that tried to nest in it was the house sparrows. I did see a bluebird go inside, but no nest.

This spring I cleaned out the trash the sparrows brought in almost daily, until last week. I opened the nest box and noticed a neat nest constructed of pine needles from my garden. I kept my eye out to see what kind of bird was building this nest and soon saw a bluebird with a mouthful of pine needles lighting on the box. Another quickly lit on the top of the nest box. They are fiercely guarding their nest. A bluejay lit on the top and was attacked by the bluebird pair.

As I sat on the deck watching the pair yesterday, one dove from the oak tree to hover directly in front of me. I noticed a big caterpillar on the railing and moved it a little farther away from me. The bluebird came back and grabbed the caterpillar.

Just now I saw her fly into the next box with pine needles and now he is standing guard on top of the box. I hope they succeed!