Bluebirds Leave the Nest
Beau May 17th, 2008
I was walking along minding my own business when I was dive-bombed by a Bluebird. They had been rearing young in the nest boxes, and as I looked down I found this little guy sitting in the grass. Another fledgling was in the garden a few feet away. Very strange because they couldn’t even fly yet. I left them alone and when about my business.
Later that evening as the sun dipped below the horizon, I found another one near the door of the barn, all alone. Not a Bluebird adult in sight and that one looked even more pitiful. I usually leave wildlife alone knowing that nature knows much better about how to take care of itself than I do, but we were due for cold and heavy rain that night and I had a feeling the little guy wouldn’t make it. So I plunked him back in the nest box near the garden. He (she?) hopped right in and looked at me hungrily. I said goodnight, and the next day checked the box again. The bird was gone. Maybe it’ll grow up around here with the others.
There are quite a few Bluebirds flying about the grass now, eating crane flies and other morsels, with the little ones hopping and flying about. I love how they eat so many bugs. Of course I wasn’t too thrilled with the Phoebe’s the other day- they were perched above the beehives snacking on my new workers!
Mother Nature can be cruel to baby animal wildlife. It’s hard to accept when you come from a species where very few of the young die. Hopefully the bluebird made it.