Bluebirds Nesting Again

Other highlights of an early morning walk included a Summer Tanager singing in a tree beside our driveway, a Scarlet Tanager singing at the same time in the woods across the street, a Red-eyed Vireo’s Here I am, Where Are You? in the trees around our house, the long, dry trill of a Chipping Sparrow as I walked down the street, nine Chimney Swifts sweeping overhead in a soaring blue sky with small white clouds, several Robins feeding in grassy yards, the spee calls of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and the fluted song of a Wood Thrush near the pond.

In the Old Field, a Blue Grosbeak sang from the highest wire over the power cut. It looked like nothing more than a little dark blob, the blue color not showing up well until I got in just the right spot, but the big silver beak shined in the sun, and it sang there for several minutes, as long as I was walking along the field. An Indigo Bunting and a White-eyed Vireo also sang, from somewhere hidden or camouflaged in the weeds. A Gray Catbird emerged from a mass of kudzu and perched briefly in the bare upper branches of a small tree, then dropped back down into the kudzu. One Phoebe sat on a wire near the north end of the field, and beneath it, two House Finches, male and female, chirped and hopped around in a tangle of brownish weeds, the male’s head and throat gleaming silky orangish-red.

Just as I got close to the top of our driveway, I heard the song of a Bluebird, and then saw the female Bluebird slipping quickly into the bluebird house, so I think they’re working on a second nest – and I’m not sure, but I think the eggs may have been laid and incubation has begun. I’m not out watching them often – and I don’t like to open the box and look, even though it supposedly doesn’t disturb them – but the past day or two, I’ve noticed the male singing from somewhere near the birdhouse when the female flies out and stays gone for a short while. He sings a softly-warbled song before she leaves, and while she’s gone, and stops after she has returned.