We had a pair of chickadees that nested in our bluebird house on the fence in April. I was disappointed not to have bluebirds, which usually occupy that box, but they passed us up.
In May, a pair of bluebirds decided they would, after all, nest in the box just vacated by the chickadee family. We were delighted.
In June, when the bluebird chicks would have fledged, we were out of town and didn’t get to see the young ones emerge. In fact, I wonder if the babies made it, since what appeared to be the same pair of blues, almost immediately began to build another nest.
This is awfully late to raise a family and that house has to be 95 degrees inside, but the chicks have now pecked their way through the small egg shells and are beginning to beg for food and attention.
I was prepared for their arrival with 5,000 fresh mealworms in my refrigerator. I intend to make it as easy as possible for the adult pair with mealworms galore in the small bowl near their house.
Nature is amazing when it comes to reproduction. Many birds will nest again and again until they get it right. In the old days of quail hunting, I remember seeing young quail that could barely fly come November. That meant the quail had nested as late as September.
Here’s hoping our bluebirds will pull off a successful nest and will continue to grace us with their cheerful presence in the future.