Oh, the Drama!

Time for a little catching up on nesting news in the neighborhood.  And, as my title says... there's some 'drama' involved.   

First of all, a pair of Eastern Bluebirds arrived back in our yard on March 11th and started checking our nesting boxes.  I have photos of them from that day, on what seemed to be their favorite box (which we'll call Box #1).   However, that was a foggy morning, and there was snow on the ground, so I'm going to show you a photo of them on Box #1 from March 25th instead.

Things were looking good for the bluebirds until along came a pair of Tree Swallows, who decided that they want to live in Box #1.  

Being the nice birds that they are, the bluebirds didn't put up a fuss and simply moved to Box #2.

On May 4th, Mama bluebird was building her nest.

She used lots of dried grass and added a few old leaves, too.

By May 12th, she had laid 5 pretty pale blue eggs in Box #2.

And by May 30th, the eggs had hatched.  Not sure how many babies are in there, it's pretty hard to tell.  I can't see them, I had to snap a photo from above and then check that.  I don't look in often, and then only a quick look so as not to disturb them too much.

Meanwhile, back at Box #1, the Tree Swallows have been minding their box carefully.  I don't even try to check theirs... they would dive-bomb me!  But on May 13th, I got to watch this little drama...

A pair of House Wren who had used Box #1 for their second brood last year (only after the Tree Swallows had raised their family in it) came around checking things out!

First, sit on the top of the box and sing.  Then, have a look around....

Whoa, someone seems to be inside!

Wren's not sure what to do!

But it decides to get out of there, before Papa Tree Swallow gets back, and not a moment too soon!

The Tree Swallows seem to have a little conversation about what just happened.

Maybe Papa reassures Mama that he'll keep a closer eye on things for awhile?

Now, wrens are feisty little birds, and they wanted a house.  (Actually, the males often build several nests and let the female choose their favorite).  We have a wren house, which they used for their first brood last year.  But apparently that one wasn't to their liking now, because they decided on Box #3.

That suited me just fine, because I was battling with a pair of House Sparrows over that box.  I kept taking the House Sparrows nest out, but they kept building more.

 The House Wrens solved that problem by simply building over top of the sparrows' nest.  (I haven't seen the House Sparrows for awhile!)

Wrens like to fill their cavity right up with sticks.  I can't even get in there to take a photo, but a couple of days ago, I felt inside very carefully with my finger and there were 2 tiny eggs!

There are more eggs in the neighborhood, too.  I can't see the next ones either, because they are over my head... but a pair of Cardinals have a nest in our lilac bush, right next to our house.

 And a pair of White-breasted Nuthatches must already have babies in this tree cavity because they are busy bringing food-- in the form of caterpillars and such.

Our neighborhood Killdeer already have two young ones running around and they are brooding a second batch.

They lay their eggs right on the ground, where it's easy to see them... that is, if you know where they are!  Once again, I was only there for a minute or two, because I don't want to disturb them.  One of the parents went in one direction doing its 'broken wing' distraction performance (talk about drama!), while the other went the other way.

I left pretty quickly, watching as I left the area, and one Killdeer went right back to those precious eggs.

It settled down and was back to work keeping them warm.

All is well in the neighborhood again.