BLUEBIRD BLESSINGS

I feel like I have died and passed on to Bluebird heaven. Honestly, I don't think I have ever been able to enjoy Bluebirds like I have this spring. Around late March or early April I spotted what appeared to be babies in one of the trees just about twenty feet from my deck. As these bluebird babies have grown into juveniles, they have been practicing their flying skills from tree to tree in the yard, very easy to spot as they zip around. They look more and more like adults now, but they fly like teenagers, once two of them nearly knocked into my head as they drag raced down the driveway. Really, I actually had to duck. And as reckless as their flying can be on occasion , at dusk, you can usually find them all snuggling closely together on a branch up in one of the leafier trees in the yard.

As these juveniles have grown, the parents' attention turned back to the bluebird box. As each week went by, I figured they were going through the courtship, the egg laying, the egg sitting, the hatching and finally, the unending feeding of the small featherless baby birds. Again, weeks went by, until I estimated it was time for the growing babies to leave the box. After three weeks, they are getting fat, fluffy and probably spilling out of the nest in the box. Mom and Dad can barely keep up with the unending feedings and removing the fecal sacs from the box. Being a Bluebird parent is definitely a full-time job.

I was expecting to see the mom and dad start feeding them from the peg outside the box. I'm used to seeing the babies stick their heads out and receive their yummy insects and worms from their "driveby window", so to speak. Then, I'd expect to see their heads pop out, looking for mom and dad and their next meal. Well, that didn't happen at all. Instead, Mom and Dad Bluebird got very agitated one evening last weekend. They were making all sorts of noise on branches just above the box. Mark and I were sitting under the deck observing all this flurry of activity. Pudge wandered down to see what all the commotion was about and this merely increased the parents' agitation. So, we put all the dogs inside to be safe. Not two minutes later, the babies started literally spilling out of the box, one right after the other. Mark saw the first and alerted me, as I was reading a book. I looked up to see four fall from the opening in the box and land in the grass below.

I could not believe that there had been five babies in the box! I also could not believe the parents' had prematurely coaxed them out, as they, apparently couldn't yet even fly a short distance. Past experiences have always included babies flying right from the box to the nearest tree. So, now there were five little fluffy grey baby bluebirds hopping all over our yard beneath their box. We watched as they fell off a rock wall and onto the grass below. Eventually, the parents corralled them, through swooping and chirping, into one part of the front yard. Next thing I know, I see five little grey tufts of fluff hopping up the driveway hill. As dusk settled, and darkness fell, I could only pray that God would protect this little family from all the predators that are capable of snacking on baby birds on the ground.

Well, I am happy to report, that after days of seeing the babies in various parts of the yard, mostly on the ground, but always clustered close together, they are finally up in the trees. This morning I watched Dad Bluebird feeding one of the growing babies on the fence wire across the street. After the feeding, he flew directly over the babies head, practically knocking him off the wire as an encouragement to have him fly behind him up to a safer, higher wire over the horse pasture. When I sit quietly under our deck, I can witness all sorts of feedings and flybys. Yep, I think I'm in bluebird heaven.

I've been taking note of the changes going on in the horse pasture concerning the horses as well. There have been four this past year or so. Recently, someone came and got one of them and took him away. In the last two days, one has injured it's back leg and has it wrapped. Now, I was told that one of them had gotten tangled up with the fence somehow and was hurt. So, this morning, as we took our first walk by the pasture, I noticed that only one horse remains in the enclosure and he is visibly wounded on his front. The other two have been moved further past the farrier's home and up a hill. They whinnied to me as we walked by. The injured horse has been entertaining us, galloping back and forth as he gets the dogs all stirred up. I guess he's bored and missing his two friends.

Today, the news has reported that it is Prince William's 29th birthday. Next year, Dustin and the Prince will be celebrating the big 30. You may remember my mentioning before that when Dustin's birth announcement was in the local Rhode Island paper we received, the front page was headlined with the birth of Prince William to Charles and Diana. I enjoy noting the comparisons between this version of the Prince and the pauper, so to speak, even though I'm sure that they will never meet. Christina always dreamed of marrying a prince, but she gave that up years ago as well. I'm content to let my children take their time and hopefully, make wise decisions all their adult lives.

Well, for the first day of Summer, this is starting out to be a perfect season. Finally, the weather has lined up with it's season of the year. I will just be sad that whereas the days have been getting longer and longer, they now will peak with the longest day, possibly today, and now get shorter and shorter. Sigh. I'm going to enjoy this season of Summer while it's here.

I hope you're having a great first day of summer. Stay safe, luv, Susan

P.S. Mark told me why the Mom and Dad Bluebird had probably been so agitated that day when they coaxed the babies prematurely from the box. He killed a four foot snake just an hour or so after the five left their nest. It was sunning itself on a rock just ten feet or so beneath the box. No wonder they were agitated and wanting their babies out!! I thank God for my Bluebird Blessings.