After the disappointing second brood that never materialized, I was hoping the bluebirds would come back in time for a third brood before the end of this year’s nesting season. On June 30, the female appeared at the nest box and immediately began building her nest.
Mom laid a total of four eggs.
On July 4 mom laid the first egg; three more followed, bringing this clutch to four eggs total. All went well; I checked the nest box daily to find all eggs intact.
The first egg hatched on July 20.
On July 20 the first egg hatched, and two more hatched the next day. The fourth egg was not viable and failed to hatch, leaving this brood at three chicks total. I checked the nest box daily and the three chicks appeared healthy and were growing nicely.
The remaining two eggs hatched the next day. The fourth egg was not viable and failed to hatch.
On August 2, only a few days away from fledging, I noticed rather hectic activity in my back yard involving birds of several species. The parent bluebirds, along with some cardinals and a few others, were flying around the shrubbery along the base of my deck flapping their wings wildly. They were also very vocal. At first I didn’t understand what was going on but soon realized they were sounding the snake alert. I looked through the shrubbery but couldn’t find the source of their concern. Eventually, I saw the tail of a snake sticking out from under a bush. I removed the snake and the ruckus subsided.
The three healthy chicks grew larger and hungrier.
Four days later, the three chicks began peeking out at the world as fledging was imminent.
Feeding the chicks kept dad quite busy in the August heat.
What happened next was perhaps the greatest joy that I’d experienced so far in my bluebird hosting adventures.
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This is the eighth column in a series.
Next in the series: “The Third Brood of 2020: The Kids Come Home for the Big Event”
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