Meal(worms)s on Wheels

Hello again! Schools has been hectic lately, so not much time to post!

So since my brother went out of town on Friday, we checked boxes on Thursday this week...exciting news!

C1: previously had twigs and feathers, a start of a nest...but this time...a FULL NEST and active bluebirds around the nest...hopefully there will be eggs next week

C2: previously 5 eggs, this time 5 BABIES!!! All five hatched and have fuzzy little heads and bright yellow beaks...they were sleeping when we visited (yes sleeping, not dead, they were moving and breathing :D) the picture is of the C2 babies.

C3: still 5 eggs and active bluebird parents, same as last week...babies by next week for sure

C4: 5 MORE BABIES!!! also cute little fuzz balls with extremely distinct eyeballs...they were also sleeping and all 5 babies hatched. check out the picture to see these babies' eyes. These ones (to the left) are a lot smaller than the ones from C2, meaning they were probably born a few days after them.

C5: last week, this box had the first babies of the spring with the newly hatched 5 bluebirds and one dormant egg. this week, the one dormant egg was still there, but the 5 babies were so much bigger! more than double their size, making it easier to photograph them. In the

picture, you can see the wings and the five babies, though you can see three distinctly. This

box will not be checked for the next two weeks to prevent the hatchlings from fledging early, which nearly always means death for the little baby birds. However, after that, the bluebirds can use the box again for another nest.

R Family box: As said in the post from before, the mother bird was incubating her eggs on Wednesday when we checked it. We went back today to see if we could get a count of the eggs. There are 5 eggs in that box, which will hopefully hatch in the next week or two.

The other boxes were empty, as usual. This week, we also hung a box at school, which I already posted. There is a possibility of adding another box near the R Family box for the new bluebirds that will soon hatch from their nest. Also, we were thinking about adding another box or two to the cemetary to accomodate the bluebirds living there. Hopefully we'll start to see some activity in the other boxes soon too!

After Thursday's check: Total eggs: 26 eggs (1 dormant), Total babies: 15, Total boxes in use: 6, one new box hung

Don't forget, if you have any comments, questions, concerns, requests, anything at all, just leave a comment on the post and I'll make sure to respond! :)

Thanks for being interested!

The father bluebird lands on the bluebird box to eat the mealworms we left for him. Later, he will regurgitate them back to his babies. Both the mother and the father take an active role in rearing the young bluebirds.