A baby bluebird on our deck. July26, 2009.
If you have been reading Betsy’s blog, you know how interested she has been in the bluebird family that has been nesting in our back yard. We’ve been watching the second brood and Betsy felt that it was close to the time for the babies to fledge.
In the late morning yesterday Betsy noticed the baby bluebird in the above picture on the deck. He most have flown to the deck from the nest, but he wasn’t very good at flying just then. He mostly ran around the deck before falling off the edge. Fortunately he wasn’t hurt.
Were there any birds left in the nest? A quick check of the nest showed that there were still babies in there, but that they were thinking about venturing into the big world.
Ready to explore the world. July 26, 2009.
Betsy was able to see the maiden flight of one of the babies. They didn’t get very far on that first flight, but at least they were out in the world. Daddy and Mommy Bluebird (and the juveniles from the first brood) kept a close watch on the babies, encouraged them in their efforts to fly, and in general offered moral support.
Daddy Bluebird keeping watch. July 26, 2009.
But things got very interesting when squirrels got too close to a baby. Then all the bluebirds started chattering and raising a ruckus. If the squirrel didn’t leave quickly enough, the bluebirds started dive-bombing it. I didn’t know squirrels could move so fast once that started. I only wish we could have captured a picture of that.
Senior Moments 