Disabled but Determined

Back at the end of April, I published a post about a lovey Bluebird couple that was considering a nest box that sits outside my office, which is in the back of our home. Here’s that post HOPEFUL. The pair didn’t select that location in which to raise their first brood of the season, and I was a bit sad about it because I can observe that box all day long out my window. A House Wren pair has taken occupancy of the box and I plan to get some photos of that couple soon.

What I found interesting about the Bluebird pair was that the female had sustained an injury or infirmity in her right eye, which can be clearly seen in these photos from April 26, 2023.

In early May I observed a Bluebird couple around box #5, which is in our front yard. As the crow flies, I’d say it’s about 150 feet from box #2 (above), with our house sitting between the two locations. I wondered if the pair in the front yard might be the birds that had rejected box #2 in the office yard. Curiously, because I typically take off to the east (towards the pond and Jaye’s Pasture where much of the bird activity has been this Spring) when I go on my out-and-about trips around the property, I only occasionally checked in with box #5 in the front yard (west of the house.)

On May 14, 2023 we opened box #5 (front yard) and I got a shot of five brilliant, blue Bluebird eggs. On that say, I also filmed the male “standing guard” atop the box. That spurred me to keep more frequent tabs on that pair.

On May 16, 2023 I filmed the female atop the nest box as well as in a young willow tree not far from the box. When I reviewed the images, I noticed the injury to the bird’s right eye. Clearly, the couple that had rejected the office yard box (#2) chose to stay close to the house and was incubating eggs in box #5 in our front yard.

On May 24, I put a scope in the box. No chicks yet.

On May 26th I filmed the female taking food into the box, indicating that the chicks had hatched!

I’m not sure, but based on the photos I took, it’s possible that her eye is healing a bit. Let’s hope! Time will tell. What I do know is that this bird hasn’t allowed her handicap to interrupt her quest to thrive and raise chicks.