Living with bluebirds

For many years we have been so fortunate to have bluebirds nesting in a birdhouse in the back yard. There is nothing more beautiful.

Last year was the first year in a long time that we didn't have any. It looked like the house wrens scared them off. This year I moved the house to an area away from the house wren activity. When I put up a bird house, I feel a real sense of responsibility, that I have a stake in helping whatever babies come along to make it to the point where they can take care of themselves. I worry about them. I was happy to see that the new spot for the birdhouse seemed to be free of the house wrens. I thought we were home free until I notice a house sparrow sitting on the fence about 20 yards from the new house. Supposedly if you hang strips of mylar or tyvek in front of the entrance, that will discourage the sparrows so that's what I did.

A couple of weeks ago there was a lot of activity around the birdhouse which seemed to indicate that the baby bluebirds had arrived. The parents seemed busy going in and out of the house to feed the new arrivals. Then suddenly there wasn't any activity at all. That can mean that the youngsters had fledged but in the past I've always seen that happening. I opened the box and there was a nest but no birds inside. I wondered whether something like a snake, cat, or racoon had gotten them. I put up the barrier under the birdhouse to lessen the chances of that in the future. Part of me felt that I had let them down. That I should have put the barrier up earlier to prevent predators in the first place.

Yesterday I noticed the female bluebird foraging as usual on the back lawn. I noticed another bird close by and pulled out the binoculars to have a look. It was a young bluebird, recently born and fledged! Predators hadn't gotten to them after all! I was so happy and relieved. I noticed two others out there, feeding with their parents. For a short period of time anyway, all is right with the world.