Tuesday, March 3, 2026

New Neighbors

 We will have neighbors! We have had 5 male Eastern Bluebirds (more?) show up scoping out the housing for their prospective women. Apparently it's a common occurrence with bluebirds and a few other species. We are used to seeing male Robins in our yard very early. When we lived in SC, and here in FL they are just passing through. This year our robins came through in early February. They definitely got some bad advice as to when to head north with all of the cold and snowy weather the east coast has seen! 

Back to the bluebirds: We received a bluebird house as a Christmas gift this year. The Mister bought another and recently put them up in our yard. He was very thoughtful, putting them in locations that I can see from my sewing room. The past few days have been very entertaining with the 5 males. The congregate around one birdhouse, taking turns perching on top. One will flutter down from its vantage point and check out the interior, then another male will swoop over to sit on top of the house. There's not as much aggression as we thought there'd be. Maybe when the females return that will change. 



The fence in this picture is about 5 feet from the birdhouse. The birds line up on the fence, looking for their opportunity to oust the one that is sitting on top. I can't tell the birds apart, so I can't tell if it is always the same male that has claimed the house. 

The Mister was considering moving the house, until he saw the birds. He thought it might be too close to the fence as far as predators are concerned. The other house is in the open. I haven't seen any interest for that one from the birds. I'm thinking that maybe they like the fence being nearby!

Of course, now that I want to post about the birds, there are none to be seen! 


8 comments:

  1. I don't know if I've seen bluebirds. I must have. Strange that they all gather around the same house.

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    Replies
    1. It was fun to watch, and they are beautiful to see.

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  2. Aren't the bluebirds and robins welcome?! How nice to have birdhouses ready for the winning male and his lady (and how does he know he won?).
    We're under one of the flyways so see migrating birds going and coming. Have you ever seen the documentary titled "Migrations"? It's amazing.

    Hugs!

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    Replies
    1. I will have to see if I can find 'Migrations' to watch it. We were on the flyway for Sandhill Cranes when we lived in Colorado. They made a racket flying overhead!

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  3. How wonderful that you have Bluebirds. You need more houses!

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    Replies
    1. We do need more! But, luckily there are half a dozen across the street in an open area, and we have a number of dead trees to provide nesting sites.

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  4. They're camera shy :) I hesitate to put up birdhouses for a couple of reasons: 1) our cats are part-time barn cats, and I don't want to serve up a bird buffet to them and 2) speaking of buffets, we had a hostile takeover of our chicken feeder by sparrows (I think that's what they were) and were having to refill the feeder every other day. L.E. finally bought a feeder that the chickens can work, but the birds cannot. Now we're not running out of feed so quickly.

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  5. I understand about cats. They can be devastating to bird populations. LOL at the 'hostile takeover'!! I picture sparrows in full armor with some sort of lance held in their wings, marching on the chickens and defending the feeder!

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