I love to watch
birds.
I am quite the novice
when it comes to bird watching because I am poor, at best ,when it comes to
making identifications based on songs,
calls and even the birds themselves…unless they are the easily identified like
the cardinals, bluebirds, blue jays, gold finches, to name a few, by the
obvious color of their feathers. I love color! But,
the farm is home to quite a population of those that give me pause and rushing to
my bird identification book. Fortunately,
watching, even those unidentifiable to me, is fun and interesting.
Today, I was lucky
enough to observe a large (12 +/- male, female and immature) group of Eastern Bluebirds around our closest
bluebird nesting box which is nailed to a fence post only feet from the
house. I was inside the house, but quickly
decided to slip outside and to creep as close as I could. If I scared them all away, then I would try
again another day. They did not scare,
and I was able to watch them for several minutes.
Look into the hole...see the eye peeking out? |
First, one bluebird
would fly to the hole of the nesting box, look in, and then fly off. As soon as this bird left, another bluebird
arrived and repeated the action of looking in and flying off. Only one of the bluebirds dared to enter the
box. This sequence was repeated many times over by, what seemed, like the
entire group.
I am totally ignorant
as to what these birds were doing, but their activity was fascinating to watch. In fact, I think the birds would have continued,
but I took one step too close. The birds
flew off and I was left watching an empty nesting box.
Great photos, Cyndy! I love bluebirds. You don't see many in the suburbs of DC. I must get a house for them now that I'm in the valley.
ReplyDeleteI'm having a good time looking through your old posts. Take care.