Blue Bird Baffle

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. 

 

The birds, as I, will return another day for another amusing moment.  They always do.