Baby Bird Rescue!

Hatched Purple Martin egg shell in the grass at the base of the birdhouse

I just got up from my afternoon nap and walked in our backyard to water my new river birch trees.  On the way back, passing the Purple Martin house, I noticed a "leaf" moving in the grass at the base of the house that moved oddly.  Upon closer examination I saw that it was a naked baby bird, reaching its open mouth for food.  Nearby I saw a broken egg.  Uh oh, one of the eggs just fell from the Purple Martin house to the ground.  Emergency action needed to be taken.

No, I didn't take a picture of the newly hatched, naked baby Purple Martin.  Somehow that didn't seem right to take a picture of this poor creature that was born minutes ago, struggling to survive.  I just didn't feel right about this.  Now that I think about it, probably because some blog troll will think I staged the event.  Believe me folks, I get some strange comments on this blog.  I don't post all of my comments, especially from Blog Trolls.

I quickly walked back to the house and, seeing Bill come out of the garage I said "One of the baby Purple Martin eggs fell out of the house and hatched in the grass." He knew what I was going to do:  BIRD RESCUE.

I got my big step ladder out of the garage, took it to the Purple Martin house.  Bill followed me.  I opened and climbed the ladder to the Purple Martin house and checked the first apartment.  Ah ha!  The very first apartment had five naked baby birds.  No eggs shells though.  Oh, wait a minute!  I think the mother Purple Martin made a BIG MISTAKE.  She was cleaning out the eggs shells and must have pulled one out that still had a baby bird in it.

The bottom middle hole is where I placed the baby Purple Martin

While I was at the top of the ladder, Bill had picked up the little creature and was cupping it in the palm of his hand.  I asked him to hand the baby bird to me.  It was warm in my hand as I placed it gently with its sisters and brothers in the apartment.

Interestingly there were no adult Purple Martins around when I discovered baby Purple Martin or while I was performing my rescue.  Once I placed the bird in the nest and climbed down the ladder and folded the ladder up and began to walk away Bill and I heard the squall of several Purple Martins.  We looked back and saw eight or nine Purple Martins swooping around the birdhouse, making a racket.

When I got back to the garage, I looked back and I saw a female Purple Martin scoot into that lower apartment where I placed the rescued baby bird.

Yes folks, all is well in my latest Backyard Drama.  This is good.

Bill after helping me with the Rescue, returns to working on our front driveway.
We're gay so we have a LOT OF COLOR when you enter our driveway.

Terrorists

The European Starling - "The Terrorist"

Last year it was the House Sparrow who was terrorizing my Purple Martin house.  This year it is the European Starling.

Sometimes I wonder if it is even worth it to put up a Purple Martin house.  Every spring it is a battle between the non native North American birds like the European Starling and the House Sparrow and the native species of birds like the Eastern Bluebird, House Swallow, and Purple Martin as to who will occupy the birdhouses I have placed in our backyard.

Already this year one very aggressive starling has killed one of the Purple Martins who was trying to guard the Purple Martin House.  I've already torn our three starling nests with a total of nine eggs.  I took a picture of the dead Purple Martin (at the base of the bird house) and the starling eggs but I decided not to post them on this blog posting.  I don't want to be too gruesome with my blog postings, this subject is gruesome enough.

Frank "The Birdman"  - the man who installs and maintains my Purple Martin House

Frank the Birdman, the man who put up my Purple Martin house, suggested that I get a gun and shoot the starlings.  Oh sure, that's a nice activity in Mr. Roger's Neighborhood here, me shooting a 22 to kill starlings.  Oh don't get me wrong, I have no compunction about killing these orange beaked, black terrorists but I doubt if I would endear myself to my neighbors in this heretofore quiet neighborhood shooting a 22 caliber rifle every day, killing birds.  Oh yeah, my father's hillbilly genes would come out in me than.  He shot birds all the time on his property. In fact he had a gun at the ready, which upset me every time I visited him.  Funny thing about all his guns, I think they're still in his gun rack.  None of this three sons desired or took them after he died in August of 2000 even though my Mother said "They're now yours."  She also said each of us could have one of the stuffed deer heads in his knotty pine paneled living room. Those deer heads are still in that living room, staring glassy eyed (literally) at the opposite wall.  He also has a stuffed owl.  Nice touch.

My father Isaac in his garden 1962 - he fought a lifelong battle with non-native birds in his garden - the birds usually won

Anyway, back to my current problem with the starlings who are terrorizing my Purple Martins.  Any suggestions short of tearing out their nests each time they build one?

My ladder at the Purple Martin house a short time ago after I cleaned out yet another starling nest

The Birds of My Backyard

Mama swallow guarding her young yesterday, in my backyard

After breakfast this morning I joined Bill on the back deck to enjoy the early morning breeze and watch the backyard bird activity.  This year we didn't have a problem with the sparrows invading the bluebird house like we did last year.  The bluebirds have already raised one batch of baby bluebirds and are working on the second batch now.  The swallows just hatched their batch (see the above picture "Mom" warning me away from her nestlings).

In previous years I've also had a problem with the sparrows invading the Purple Martin house.  I was very pleased to see that I didn't have that problem this year.  I lost count of the amount of sparrow's nest that I tore out of the Purple Martin house and the number of brown speckled sparrow eggs I tossed into threw into the adjoining cornfield.  I hated to do that but I had no choice.  I draw the line at destroying baby sparrows though.  Once they're hatched, they're free.  I leave them alone.

So I thought I was getting off free this year without the invasion of non-native species of birds.  Ha!  Bill hands me his binoculars and says "Take a look", pointing to the Purple Martin house.  And what did I see? A mama starling feeding her young!  I couldn't believe it.  Starlings are too big to get into the Purple Martin house slots.  This one got in.  Incredible.  Well, there's nothing I can do about it now.  They look like they're about to come out.  I'll check the apartment after they leave.  I wouldn't be surprised if there are dead Purple Martin babies in there.  That's what starlings do you know, they kill the other birds then lay their eggs on top of them.  Same with the sparrows.  I've seen it first hand.

Starlings and sparrows are non-native species of birds that will be discouraged from nesting in my backyard.  It's a constant challenge.  I thought I got away free this year, apparently not.  Well, at least the bluebirds were able to lay two batches of eggs this year, unlike last year when the battle with the sparrows prevented that from happening.

I look at the life in my backyard as a microism of life in general.  Things appear to be going smooth until someone else comes in and takes over, destroying all in its path.  There won't be anymore starlings in that Purple Martin house, I'll see to that.

What It's All About

Swallow eggs in the bluebird house this morning -swallows always put feathers in their nest to "soften the blow"

This is what summer is all about for me.  This is a picture of four swallow eggs that the beautiful, iridescent swallow birds laid in the bluebird box in my backyard.  Normally the bluebirds raise two batches of young bluebirds in this box, but after the first batch left, the swallows quickly took over the box.  I let them.  Last year we had all kinds of trouble with aggressive sparrows which resulted in one swallow being killed and the next being abandoned.  Thankfully, this year the sparrows haven't tried to take over my backyard (including the Purple Martin House) like they did last year.

I'm very happy with my backyard this year.  I just finished filling a couple of vacant spots with some giant Asiatic lilies.  I think I'm set this year.  Now to set back and enjoy the summer.

This is what it is all about folks.  I worked hard a long time to arrive at this point in my life that I can do these little things to help nature.  This gives me a great deal of satisfaction to do my part.

I'm off to Washington D.C. tomorrow.  Hopefully it won't be too hot and humid.  I'm looking forward to taking a lot of pictures.  Sunday I hit the boardwalk in Rehoboth.  Monday my longtime friend Larry and his wife Lois are coming down and we're getting our picture taken at Olde Time Photo.  We're trying to talk her into posing as a dance hall queen.  My friend Lar and I will be the Old Grizzled Cowpokes.  We're never too old for that kind of fun.  I'm loving this retirement!

Have a great weekend.

Returning to the Scene of the Crime

Bluebird eggs at risk yesterday with the arrival of the Demon Kid

Remember a few weeks ago that I posted that someone had torn out the swallow bird nest (with live baby swallows in it) when Bill and I were on vacation down South?  I did a little sleuthing and came to the conclusion that it was the eight year old Hispanic boy who was with the lawn maintenance guy that my neighbor Tom had doing his lawn.

My neighbor Tom's Hispanic lawn maintenance crew yesterday arrives

Bill had pointed out to me before "how cute" the kid was with his hyperactive antics whenever he accompanied his dad (?) to his lawn maintenance job.  Thus, it didn't take too much to figure out who opened the bluebird box that contained the live baby swallows.  It had to take someone about three feet tall to reach up and put his greasy little finger in the open and pull the wooden door down because the latch was still in place.  At first I couldn't figure out how the door got open with the latch still in place.  I thought maybe a cat or another animal got into the bird box.  But to have the strength to pull the latch?  No, couldn't be.

After running different scenarios through my mind, this hyper active kid popped to the front.  Yes, this would be something that a curious, hyperactive, unsupervised, eight year old brat would do.  I went back out to the bird box to look for evidence.  Almost immediately I saw a small indentation in the thyme that I have planted at the base of the bird box.  In fact, right at the very base is a wild rose bush.  The indentation was to the left.  Viola!  That's why he put his finger up to hook it into the hole that is the opening to the bird box.  Once he opened the bird box he was too short to see into the nest so he obviously put his stinking, dirty, greasy little paw up to the nest and pulled it out.  He was probably very pleased to find four naked, three day old baby swallows in the nest.  His short attention span was satiated if only for a moment.

When Bill and I discovered the bird box door was open the next morning after we returned from our trip, I immediately went out to see what happened.  I saw the empty nest on the ground.  No baby swallows.  No adult swallows.  Gone.

Not knowing what else to to, I put the neatly built nest (which was cushioned by many down feathers from unknown birds) back in the bird box, hoping the adult swallows return and lay more eggs.  The determined sparrows do it so why not the swallows?  Well, it was not to be.

The bird box remained empty for two week until a week ago when the blue birds returned. Hallelujah!  This was great news!  The blue birds had returned.  For the past two years the blue birds have raised two batches of baby bluebirds in that box.  This year, right on cue in early April the blue birds returned only to be met by a very determined sparrow.  The determined sparrow had already killed a swallow in that bird box plus in another bird box.  I guess the blue birds assumed it was too dangerous to build a nest in that bird box this year.  They left and the swallows took over.  Oh, Bill took care of the determined sparrow.  He trapped it and "disposed" of it.  One less sparrow in the world, hooray!

We figured if we couldn't have the bluebirds raising their young in that bird box this year, at least the swallows would have a chance.  That is until the ADHD monster arrived on the scene.

I told Bill "He'll be back."  Bill said, "No, I think that was a one time job Tom (our neighbor) had done."  I disagreed.  I said to Bill, "Oh no, that little destructive monster will be back."  And sure enough, yesterday the little hyperactive brat was back.  However, this time he was staying in the truck.

A ha!  Either his dad knew what he did or this ADHD kid caused trouble at some of his other job locations.  I wanted to go out immediately and have words with Miguel (or whatever his name is.)  Manual, Poncho, Pedro....whatever.  Probably Jesus pronounced "Hey Zeus!"

Bill said don't do anything unless he gets out of the truck.  I agreed with Bill.  I went to our second floor and kept an eagle eye on that truck.  Occasionally I would see The Brat popping out of the driver's window.  One time he was almost all the way out.  This kid has so much energy, he could hardly contained himself.  I figured now was the time to go out and have a discussion with his dad Jorge (pronounced Whore Hey!) or whatever his name is (Juan, Carolos, Fernando or Pablo - take your pick.)

As I was walking towards dad Jose (pronounced Hose Hey!) on his tractor, he stopped immediately and looked at me with dread.  He knew this was trouble.  The kid pokes his stupid little head out the driver's side of dad's truck, a HUGE smile on his face.  This kid is ready to do Major Destruction.  I say "Ola", which I think is a standard form of Hispanic greeting.  But then my Spanish fails me.  I know a few words like "Amigo", and "Gracias" but none of those words will apply to this situation.  I figure the best thing to do is speak very slowly in English (or as they say "Inglis") and do a lot of motioning with my hands.

The Little Terror has the driver's side door open, ready to pop out and cause mayhem

I got his attention.  Pointing to his brat in the truck I say "Someone opened that bird box (I point to the bird box) and took out the nest."  Pointing to his monster, I say "I have reason to believe that it was him!"  I continue (motioning my arms wildly hoping this would make him understand I am really pissed), "No! No! No!"  And pointing to destructive little monster that he has in the truck, I say "An this isn't funny!" (like he understood me.  Made me feel good to say it.)

I motioned again to the bird box and say as loud as I can "NO!"  I think I got through.  In fact, the look on Hector's face (or whatever his name is), led me to believe that he thought I was going to deport him.  I am certain he is an illegal.  He just had that look of utter terror when I approached him.

Once back in our house I continued to monitor the situation.  The Devil's Spawn kept popping in and out of the driver's side window.  Then about a half an hour later went to the door and said something to the kid and opened the door.  Damien sprung out and ran to the side of the house.  Obviously a bathroom call.  After pissing on the side of my neighbor Tom's house he ran right back to the truck and hopped into the cab just like his father Alejandro (pronounced "Alley Hand Dro") told him to do.

Note the Devil's Spawn running towards the tree to take a pee

After his dad finished the lawn mowing (along with another illegal who collected the grass and it in another truck), he opened the door of his truck to let his kid out.  Immediately ADHD kid was doing cartwheels on my neighbor's lawn.  Damn, this kid has about as much energy as that BP induced oil volcano in the Gulf of Mexico.  GET HIM OUT OF HERE!

They left around 5 o'clock.  I could finally take my afternoon nap, secure in the knowledge that a destructive, wild child wasn't going to destroy another bird nest.

The Illegals with their Monster Brat getting out of Dodge

This morning I went out to check the blue bird house and found that another egg has been added.  This make one more to go.  Bluebirds usually lay four eggs.  They take about a week to hatch and about four weeks for the bluebirds to grow into maturity.  During that time I am positive that Pedro, Diego or (oh no, this couldn't be his name "Angel" and Pancho will return.  When they do I will be ready for them.
I'm calling Immigration this time.

The bluebird nest today, a third egg.  Safe...for the time being.

Murder in Milton Part Two

The beautiful eastern bluebird

When Bill and I returned from our trip south we discovered that someone or something had opened the bluebird house and torn out the nest of newly born swallows.

For the past two years this particular  bird house has been the home to two batches of bluebirds each season.  However, this year the bluebirds were not able to build their nest because of the aggressive house sparrows kept the bluebirds away.

Bluebird fighting off house sparrow

Swallows tried to build a nest in that blue bird house only to battle the same house sparrows.  As I wrote in an earlier blog posting, one day I came home from work and checked the bird house to see if the swallows had laid their eggs.  As I began to open the front of the blue bird house a house sparrow quickly exited the hole of the bird house.  I opened the front of the bird house only to find a bloodied and dead swallow.

Swallow

To those of you who think house sparrows are cute consider this, in one of my other blue bird houses I found a nest of sparrow eggs.  A dead swallow was also in the nest, pushed to the side.  Yes, the sparrows were going to raise their young with a dead swallow in the bird box.  This is the same bird box that swallows had raised two batches of baby swallows.

House sparrow

Bill set up a contraption and was able to trap the house sparrow that was killing the swallows.  After disposing of that sparrow, we didn't have any more problems with sparrows keeping other birds away from that bird box.

House sparrow on top of perch at bluebird house

The swallows built their neat nest and laid their eggs in the former blue bird house.  Two days before we left for our vacation down south, I checked the nest and saw that the eggs had hatched.  The little featherless and blind baby swallows were ready to grow.  Thus it was with great anticipation that we were looking forward to seeing how much the baby swallows had grown.

Bill looked out the window and said "The box is open!"  We rushed out and, sure enough, the front of the blue bird box was open and the nest on the grown.  There was no sign of the baby swallows.  Now this was a real mystery because the latch was still closed on the door of the bird house.

We couldn't figure out what happened.  Could a cat have climbed the wooden pole?  But what cat could have that kind of strength that it took to open the front of the bird house without removing the latch?  It wasn't until the next day that we figured out what happened.

A few weeks ago our neighbor had some lawn service people in to take care of his lawn.  Bill pointed out to me that the Hispanics who were doing the yard work had a hyper active little kid with them.  Bill thought the kid and his antics were cute.  Me, not so much.  I'm not a fan of over active, bratty, little kids.
I didn't give this kid any more thought until this day.

Another thing we noticed when we came back from vacation was that our neighbor's back yard was completely trimmed.  This was very unusual because our neighbor Tom rarely if ever trims his back yard.  Alright, now I'm adding two and two together.

This Hispanic lawn service crew is working on my neighbor's back yard.  My bird box is near the fence of the back yard.  The swallows who built the nest hover over the bird box and sit on the perch at the top of the bird box.  So picture this:  a bored, hyper active, little kid sees the swallows around the bird box.  He goes around the fence and sees the bird box.  With me so far?  Then he sees the adult swallow enter the bird box to feed its young.  Okay, now the kid wants to see what's inside the bird box but he isn't tall enough to open the latch.  So he puts his greasy, dirty little finger in the bird box hole and pulls down.  Viola!  Then he sees the nest and pulls it out, baby birds and all.  Now he's no longer bored because he has destroyed the nest.

I go out to check my theory.  Around the bird box I have a wild rose bush.  At the base of the island I have ground cover of thyme.  To the left of the bird box and away from the rose bush I see an indentation in the thyme.  The indentation is the size of a child's foot.  Ah yes.  Theory proved.

Again, as has happened so often in my life of growing plants and trying to maintain a backyard habitat, it has been invaded and destroyed by kids, animals and insects.  We had so many problems with the neighborhood kids when we lived in Philadelphia I finally gave up even planting flowers in front of the house on the tree lined street where we lived.  I thought I had a safe place in our new home in Milton.  Apparently not.

Well, long story short.  This morning we had good news.  Bill spotted a bluebird on the perch atop the bird house.  That's wonderful news!  Maybe the bluebirds will be able after all to raise a batch of young bluebirds this summer in that preferred bird house.  After the deaths of two adult swallows, the deaths of four baby swallows and one murderous adult sparrow, this story will have a happy ending.

Me early this morning checking out the bluebird box

Not a pretty sight, me early in the morning

Taking out the old swallow nest 

Life and Death in the Backyard

Perhaps my greatest pleasure living in southern Delaware is my back yard.

I live in a development of three quarter acre lots.  I chose my corner lot because it is almost an acre and backs up to a farmer's field.  Beyond the field is Route 1.  I am far enough away from Route 1 that the constant traffic doesn't bother me but is rather like a living panorama.

The real panorama is what goes on in my backyard during the spring and summer months.  I love grow flowers and herbs.  I also love to provide a natural habitat for several native bird species.

I have my back yard lined with three blue bird (or swallow) boxes and one purple martin house.

The past two years I have had bluebirds take up residence in one of the bluebird houses and raise two batches of four baby bluebirds each season.

The blue bird house in contention

Each year I have had to fight the common house sparrow who are a non-native bird species.  The sparrows come in early and take over the bird boxes, fighting off and killing the native species of birds that I am trying provide a home for.

This year the sparrows have been particularly aggressive.  So aggressive that the bluebirds have given up even building a nest in the same box that they built in the past two years.

A pair of swallows is attempting to build a nest in that blue bird box. So far the sparrows have killed one of the swallows.  I came back from an errand one day and checked the box only to have a sparrow fly out of the box, leaving a dead swallow in the box.  That was two weeks ago.

Since then Bill has built a contraption to trap the sparrow in the box.  After I returned from my visit in Pennsylvania he showed me the male sparrow that he caught with a bottle that he put to the door of the bluebird house that he had trapped.  He intended to keep the sparrow for me but the sparrow died in the bottle.  He didn't know why it died because he left the lid ajar for air.  Maybe the bird died from shock that he was caught.  Good.  I was going to twist its neck anyway.

Since then another pair of swallows has been attempting to build a nest but without success.  Last Saturday I was checking one of the other bluebird boxes and I was shocked by what I found.  The sparrows had built a nest but to the side was a dead swallow.  As incredible as it seems, the sparrows were going to raise their young with a dead bird in their box!

I took the dead swallow out of the box and tore out the sparrow nesting.  Below is what happens when you let sparrows take over your bird boxes.

This is the dead swallow in the sparrow nesting.  

The dead swallow before I buried it

Last year I wrote several blogs about my battles with the sparrows.  I never caught one last year but they never did raise any of their young in my backyard.  I lost count of the nest I tore out.  I threw out a total of 19 if the brown speckled sparrow eggs.  I don't have a problem throwing out the sparrow eggs but I don't think I could destroy young sparrows.  I'm not that ruthless.....yet.  

At the present time there is a sparrow nest in one of the purple martin apartments.  I'll wait until they lay their eggs and then I'll take out their nest, eggs and all.  There is a downside to this.  Last year when I tore out one of the nest the sparrow got into one of the purple martin apartment and killed three baby purple martins.

Planter boxes that edge my back yard bull of herbs

I grow a lot of flowers and herbs in my back yard.  The bees and other insects love those plants and, in turn the birds feed off of the insect.  I love sitting out in the early summer evening and watching the purple martins and swallows soar up and down in my back yard catching insects.  I understand some people's concerns for all birds but I will not permit the sparrows to take over my back yard.  They can find somewhere else to raise their young because it won't be in my backyard as long as I live here.

The purple martin house with gourds for the swallows

Bluebirds Growing Fast

The second batch of baby bluebirds is growing fast! I haven't been checking this batch as often as I checked the first batch. It seems like it was just a few weeks ago that this bluebird box held four pastel blue eggs. Judging by the knowing eyes of the baby bluebirds this morning, it looks like they will be out of their nest sometime next week. Then the bluebird box will be empty until next year.

The Purple Martins continue to reproduce. I thought I had a problem a few days ago. One of the baby Purple Martins was on the ground at the base of the Purple Martin house but couldn't fly. For about four hours the young Purple Martin tried to fly but couldn't. Except for a few feeble flaps of its wings, it stayed on the ground, waiting for its parents to feed it. It's a good thing I don't have cats because they would have made quick work of that vulnerable young bird.

Bill was getting concerned that the young Purple Martin would die from the heat. He suggested that I put it back in it's nest in one of the Purple Martin house compartments. I wondered if this was the same baby Purple Martin I had rescued a few weeks ago who was also at the base of the birdhouse. The bird I rescued was so young it's eyes weren't even open and it had not developed any feathers yet. I pulled down the Purple Martin house and placed it in one of the compartments with other young birds about its same age. That is the same thing I did with this new baby Purple Martin I found, I placed it back in the same nest.

Alas, the next day there it was again, flapping around at the base of the Martin birdhouse. Bill and I decided to leave it there and let Mother Nature take it's course. Good news. About an hour later there was no baby Purple Martin flapping around at the base of the birdhouse. We missed the takeoff but that is apparently what happened. After a slow start, that baby Purple Martin is now soaring with its brothers and sisters. Mission accomplished!

Purple Martin House Update

Almost all of my bird update blogs are about the bluebirds in my back yard. I also have a swallow nest and a Purple Martin House. The pictures on this blog were taken about a half an hour ago after I made a check of the Purple Martin house to make sure there were no dead baby birds. That happened one time last year. The only way I knew about it was that the adult Purple Martins were acting strangely by squawking and flying about in an alarming manner. I took down the house and found three dead baby Purple Martins, pecked to death in their heads probably by a house sparrow trying to take over their nest.

Thank goodness that wasn't the situation this time. Of the six compartments, four were occupied by baby Purple Martins in various stages of development. Those are the pictures I have placed on this blog. I've lost track of the number of baby Purple Martins born to this particular house but it was to be at least two dozen.

The Purple Martins arrived right on time May 1st of this year. I'm not sure when they depart. I think it is at the end of this month so these are probably the last batches. Then all will be quiet in my backyard again. I'll miss them and their soaring antics as the adults taught the young Purple Martins to fly. Soon they will be on their way to their winter destinations. I bet the mosquitoes in my back yard will be glad to see them go. Then it's just me and Bill against the mosquitoes.

Bird Rescue

About an hour ago while I was doing some yard work out back I noticed that the Purple Martin house was very quiet. That usually indicates a problem. I looked up and saw the Taliban House Sparrow barrel out of one of the gourds. He’s back. I went over and pulled down the Purple Martin house (as I have done many times this spring) and checked all the apartments. All apartments had either baby Purple Martins, eggs, and one had Mom sitting on her eggs (she wasn’t disturbed by me.)

In one of the apartments one egg was in the forefront. I felt it and it was cold. The nest in the back held four warm eggs. I took the cold egg out. I don’t know how it got to the front of the apartment but it obviously was abandoned.

I checked both gourds. One held a neat nest which was obviously the former swallow nest. The other gourd was stuffed with just about every kind of weed and trash that you can imagine. That’s a Taliban Sparrow nest. I checked it for eggs. None were there…..yet. I left the nest. I’ll wait until Taliban lays its eggs then I’ll get rid of the whole thing. That seems to be the only way to keep this varmint under control and out of my bird boxes and birdhouses.

As I was raising the Purple Martin house, I noticed a broken egg at my feet. Then I noticed a live, naked baby Purple Martin on the ground. I have no idea how it got there. Maybe it was one of those eggs hatched near the entrance to one of the apartments. A week ago I noticed there were two eggs at the front of one of the apartments but I left them there. Thank goodness I didn’t step on this defenseless baby Purple Martin. It surely would have died if left on the ground. The poor thing didn’t even have its eyes opened yet.

I gently lifted it up and put it in the nest with the other naked baby Purple Martins. I’m not sure if it belonged in that nest. If not, I hope that the mama Purple Martin doesn’t mind an extra mouth to feed.

I didn’t think to take a picture because I was anxious to get the baby Purple Martin back into the safety of a nest. Actually, I wouldn’t want to post a picture anyway of the poor thing lying on the ground. I did take some pictures of the activity around the Purple Martin house after my rescue, one of which I posted on this blog.

Whenever I rescue one of nature’s critters in harm’s way, I feel a complete sense of fulfillment. There were a lot of other things that happened today, some good, some bad. But the day ended well. My day is complete.

Feathers

The baby bluebirds are no longer naked. See for yourself, they have developed feathers with a blue hue. I check the bluebird box every morning and I am amazed at how fast they are growing. Still not a peep out of them. When I open the front door box, the see a pair of big dark eyes looking at me. In this picture the main baby bluebird quickly took a peek and saw me then went right back to sleep. I think he's getting used to me peeking in his box every morning. Not to worry though, those big eyes open when Mama Bluebird stops by with a tasty morsel. This little bluebird will probably have a long journey ahead of him once he fully develops his feathers and is on his own. I don't know the migration patterns of bluebirds. It seems to vary by food sources and what is genetically implanted in the bluebirds. This is the second year that bluebirds have raised their young in this particular bluebird box. I have two other bluebird boxes surrounding the perimeter of my back yard but they don't seem to prefer those boxes. Perhaps they're facing in the wrong direction. Except for the occasional sparrow, those boxes remained empty during the summer season. Next year I will place another bluebird box on that side of my backyard. Perhaps I can attract another pair of mating bluebirds to raise their young. I now have other visitors to my backyard, humming birds. I don't know where their nest is but there are a lot of them. The humming bird feeder is placed on the railing of my back deck. That feeder receives a constant stream of visitors and needs to be refilled every day and a half. The humming birds are getting so used to me and Bill, that they don't even hum away now when we're out on the deck.

Feed Me

That's what the baby blue bird is saying with that open mouth. This picture is from yesterday morning. As I open the front of the bluebird box, some of their mouths open ever so quietly, as compared to the noisy demands of the baby sparrows. I think the baby bluebirds are so quiet because they don't want to draw attention to themselves. They know that the only person who needs to know they're hungry are their Mom and Pop. I notice that some big birds land on top of their box during the day but they can't get in. I don't worry about other predators because the blue bird box is out in the open in my backyard and I am constantly monitoring it. I think Mom and Pop bluebird know that because they always leave on my approach to their nesting site. The baby bluebirds haven't opened their eyes yet. I about a week's time a fine down of feathers will appear on their little round bodies and then those big dark eyes will open for the first time to take in the wonders of life. The Purple Martins are long gone. I see where the sparrows are still chirping at the entrance to one of the Purple Martin apartment but I don't think he has any takers. I'm not bothering with the sparrows now. Before winter sets in, I'll give the Purple Martin house a good cleaning so they will be ready for the returning Purple Martins next spring. Today is going to be a busy day. Haircut this morning. Then a run down to Eastern Ornamental Gardens to buy a pink crepe myrtle (I have the perfect spot for it by the side of my house). Later, this afternoon, I'm meeting my friend The Cajun for a birthday dinner celebration at Cloud Nine restaurant in Rehoboth. He's already warned me that the food choices are limited for me, a non seafood eater. I know, I know. What am I doing living at a seaside resort and I don't like seafood? I don't even like crustaceans. However, I did see a few other dishes on the menu that appealed to me. I would try the strip steak but restaurants don't seem to want to fully cook steak. They think a pink, pulsating slab of meat if appealing. Not to me. I like my meat fully cooked. Thus, I will probably get the chicken pot pie or grilled chicken with pasta. Egads you say? Well, Sussex County is one of the major poultry processing areas of the country. Yesterday I saw truckload of chickens being hauled to their doom. Maybe I'll have one of those.

Then There Were Four

This morning I checked the bluebird house and now there are four!

Naked and defenseless now, they will soon sprout feathers and open those big beaks for their daily feedings by Mom and Pop bluebird. All my other accomplishments in life pale to what I'm able to do for this pair of bluebird parents, give them a helping hand in raising their young. Sometimes the best things in life are truly free.

New Baby Bluebirds

We have new baby bluebirds! I checked this morning first thing (as I always do). What I saw was four blue eggs. After returning from my Friday morning visit to the super WalMart in Milford, I checked again. Two new bluebirds! I'm hesitant to keep interfering with Mama and Papa bluebird in raising their young, but I have to check. The Purple Martins are gone. The sparrows have taken over their house. An occasional grackle swoops over by the bluebird house but they are quickly chased away by Mama and Papa bluebird. The other two bluebird houses remain empty. There are no other predator threats to the bluebirds on my property. This is the second year the bluebirds have raised their young in this particular bluebird box. Success!

Baby Bluebird Rescue

Bill and I had just returned from shopping at the Super (Duper?) Walmart store in Georgetown this hot and humid summer morning. Bill headed down the outside entrance to our cellar. He wanted to get his paint to repaint the wooden post that holds our mailbox. Immediately he came back up and said to me "There's a bird in the stairwell, you better take care of it." Ron to the rescue! I took a peek over the railing down to the bottom of the stairs. Sure enough, there behind an old motor, that someday we will get around to taking to the recycling center, and a broom, were two black, scared to death eyes peering back at me. A baby bluebird had lost its way. Bill had told me that the mama bluebird was still feeding her babies even though they had left their nest a couple of weeks ago. Some or all of the baby bluebirds had taken up residence in the pine and holly trees that border my back yard. Apparently some of them aren't ready for prime time yet. Maybe their flying wings aren't ready yet. The baby bluebirds don't seem to develop as fast as the Determined Sparrow's offspring. The new young sparrows are long gone. Even the new baby Purple Martins are swooping and diving every day, testing their new wings. In fact, they've been dive bombing me almost every time I go out to the shed. Well, it was rescue time for this wayward baby bluebird that had lost its way. I went to the shed, dive bombed and screeched at all the way by about three Purple Martins, and got my gloves. I headed back to the stairwell, gloves in hand for a gentle rescue. I hoped that the baby bluebird wouldn't be thrashing around and break its wing or worse during this rescue attempt. I looked for Bill. My thought was to ask him to video tape the rescue. That would be interesting to show on my blog. But, no Bill. The rescue would have to be done, sans video. I quietly descended the cement stairs to the cellar to the discarded motor. Just around the corner of the motor, I could see one black eye looking at me. I moved my gloved hand to scoop the baby bird up. It gave a squawk and scooted to the other side of the stairwell, obviously petrified. I wish I could tell it I meant it no harm but was there to rescue it. Quickly, I gently closed my gloved hand around the trembling bird. It was quiet, with just its little dark head sticking out of my closed gloved hand. I ascended the stairs to the backyard and took it back to the pine and holly trees that border my backyard. I gently placed it down at the base of the holly tree, shaded by the weeds. It made no further sounds but did look up at me. The Purple Martins (or bluebirds - I couldn't' tell which in the blazing sun) were still dive bombing me with their screeching alarms calls. I left the baby bluebird at the base of the holly tree. When I got back I told Bill to keep an eye out for it when he mows the lawn later this afternoon. I'll go out a little later to see how it's doing. Hopefully, it's parents will continue to feed the poor little thing until he or she feels confident enough to try its flying wings again. An update on the bluebird box, it now has four bluebird eggs in its neat bluebird nest. One more perfectly oval blue bluebird egg to go. The baby bluebird I rescued today will soon have new brothers and sisters. And so it goes in Ron's Backyard Habitat.

They're Out!

After a busy night at the Inn last night, and a early morning shopping trip to the Super Walmart in Milford this morning, I thought to make a quick check on the bluebird house. I thought they might be ready to pop the house. Well, the house is empty. They're out! The house contained five serious and quiet baby bluebirds. As I looked around the backyard I could hear mama (or papa) bluebird chirping insistently. Then I spotted what all the chirping was about. One lone baby bluebird was clinging to one of the stakes which is tied to one of my skimpy holly trees. Apparently this was the only baby bluebird not quite ready to go off into the wild blue yonder (or wherever baby bluebirds go when they leave their nest.) I've posted a short video I took of mama bluebird chasing away an errant robin who happen to fly too close to her baby. I'm glad these bluebirds are not wimpy. This will be a short posting. Last night was very stressful. I've been asked to work the next two nights. Hopefully, I'll find enough time to keep my daily blog updates going. An update, my video hasn't finished processing so I'll include a picture of the empty bluebird box instead in this blog posting. In my next posting I'll include the video of the mama bluebird dive bombing the robin who got too close to the baby bluebird clinging to the stake. I have to get ready for work now!

Baby Bluebirds Almost Ready

Another check on the bluebird house and it looks like they will be ready to leave their comfy nest in about a week. They're still awfully quiet in there. No loud squawking like the baby sparrows of a week ago. Yesterday I saw one of the fledgling baby sparrows trying to climb the siding of my house. He/she was hidden in the herb and flower garden that I have planted beneath my bedroom windows. I probably scared it when I was watering the plants (by can, not hose). It was trying to fly but couldn't get altitude. That was yesterday. No sign of that baby sparrow today. Thank goodness I don't have cats around here to take advantage of the baby birds at their most defenseless. My Mom in Pennsylvania has a brother/sister duo of cats (Molly and Rusty) that would make quick work of such a young bird. They're lovely cats (Molly is a calico and Rusty is an orange tabby - kittens of a feral cat my Mom found in her corn field some twelve years ago) but ruthless when dispatching little critters like chipmunks or baby birds. They feel a responsibility to repay my Mother for their room and board so they periodically make a tribute payment of an occasional dead baby bird or Rodent of the Day (mole, chipmunk, or baby squirrel). The baby birds are safe here. I would hate to lose any of the five baby bluebirds who are growing very quickly in their nest. Their feathers are starting to take a blue hue. As you can see by the pictures I've included in this blog, their eyes are starting to get that "Mad Max" look of the famous bluebird picture that we've all seen. I'm still amazed at how quiet they are in their box. I'm not comfortable opening their box and taking pictures like I just did a few minutes ago but I do want to record the progress of their development. This will be my first delivery of baby bluebirds. My Dad would be proud.

Empty Nest

The Determined Sparrow nest is empty. They're out! I hear the new young'uns loudly chirping in my neighbor's Leyland Cypress trees that border the now empty sparrow nest. Yesterday I cleaned out the nesting material and gave the birdhouse a good scrub. I kept the door opened the rest of the afternoon so the cedar wood could dry out. The blue bird nest is still occupied, although getting more crowded each day. Mom and Pop bluebird can't get in the house now to feed their young, they have to perch on the opening outside and put their beak holding the latest morsel through the round hole opening in the bird house. As the picture shows, the baby bluebirds' feathers are starting to take a blue hue. They are so quiet, unlike the baby sparrows who were vociferous whenever I touched their birdhouse, thinking I was their parents with more food for their ever expanding appetites. Occasionally I see an inquisitive grackle perched on top of the bluebird house, but they are quickly dive bombed and chased away by Mom and Pop bluebird. I'm surprised at how slow the baby bluebirds are developing compared to the baby sparrows. I think that the baby bluebirds were born first. It took only a week or ten days for the baby sparrows to go from five brown speckled eggs to five more Determined Sparrows unleashed upon the world. Ironically, the bluebird house in between these other two bird houses, has remained unoccupied during this whole raising of new baby birds. It was my intention to create a backyard habitate when I moved in here in November of 2006 and I must say I am pleased with the progress that has been made. My backyard has robins, catbirds, barn swallows, Purple Martins, sparrows, bluebirds, and even a visit the other day by a group of golden finches (who were probably en route to another destination and just stopped by for a quick pick-me-up of a bath in one of my five bird baths and a tasting of my many seeded plants). On the periphery of my property I have let the grass go to seed. The sight of the gently waving grain reminds me of what our country's Great American Prairie must have looked like before the White Man; during his great move westward, killed all the Buffalo and changed our country's once vast grasslands to settlements and ranch land for cattle and sheep. In this one small, less than an acre plot in Sussex County, I have created a little bit of heaven for some of nature's creatures. One surprise guest that is making the most use of my flowers and bird baths are the honey bees. I don't know where they're coming from but they are almost always at my bird baths, taking a sip of water or on the many flowering plants I have that border my back yard. Im going out now and refresh the birdbaths and check on the progress of the baby blue birds. I hope they don't grow so much that they get stuck in their bird box.

Fly Free

As the video in this blog shows, the baby Purple Martins are out of their nest and flying free. Listen to their joyous chirping sounds and they swoop down and around in the warm summer sky, learning to fly for the first time under the loving guidance of their parents. The Determined Sparrows offspring are also out of their nest. This morning I went out to take a picture of their nest and it was empty! I heard a lot of chirping in my neighbor's trees which adjoin my back yard. So there are out testing their young wings. Hopefully they won't invade my remaining birdhouses for raise their young. The baby bluebirds are still in their house but have filled up the nest so much that Mom and Dad bluebird can't get in the house now to feed them. The baby bluebirds are interesting in that when I open the front of their box to observe, they are so quiet. One might almost think that they weren't alive. But they are. Their behavior is in stark contrast to the baby sparrows. Last week when I open the front of their box and all the mouths come open up, demanding to be fed. Talk about passive aggressive. My neighbor has a barn swallow nest right above his front door. One of those babies is already out of its nest. The others haven't taken the plunge yet, but might do so my day's end. I also have a catbird in my backyard, hanging around the shed. Since I've put up a humming bird feeder on my deck, it receives almost constant visits by a passel of hummingbirds. It is quite interesting to sit on the back deck in the early evening and watching them humming in, stop and take a look at us as if to say "So, what are you looking at?" then zero in on one of the feeders with their unicorn like beak. I now have five bird baths in my backyard plus a couple of low saucers for the bees. All is well in El patio Tipton hábitat

Baby Birds

When we last left my friends, the Determined Sparrows, he and she won when I left them build their nest in one of the six Purple Martin birdhouse apartments. I don't know the status of their nest but I do know that the Purple Martins have occupied the other five apartment and are conducting business as usual. The sparrows fly up to their Purple Martin house nest all day, oblivious to their chirping neighbors, the Purple Martins. As I had mentioned in earlier blog postings, I have three blue bird houses that border my backyard. One of the bluebird houses is occupied by bluebirds and contains five bluebird eggs. The bluebird house in between, has a half finished nest that's been at that status for about three weeks. The remaining bluebird house has a five freshly hatched baby sparrows. Those are the baby sparrows pictured in this blog. I've also included a picture of the bluebird house which they occupy. I briefly opened the bird house to make sure the sparrows were still alive. A few days ago we had a ferocious thunderstorm blow through here in the late afternoon. During an earlier nor'easter, earlier occupants of this same birdhouse were drowned. They were only a few days away from leaving their nest when they died. These days there is a lot of activity in my back yard. The Purple Martins, swallows, sparrows, grackles, bluebirds, and robins. Even a noisey catbird made an appearance this morning. The Word must be out, the Tipton backyard is the place to be. The grasses and plants attract insects which in turn attract the birds to this Garden of Eden. The four birdbaths are in almost continuous use by all the birds. I thank my friends who read my previous blogs and urged me to keep my backyard open to all. That I have done after waging a losing battle trying to keep the sparrows out of the birdhouses they desired. Having done so, I see now that my feathered friends seem to have sorted things out themselves. Good show.