Bluebirds in House E

About a week ago, I posted about a concern I had when I observed a House Wren entering House E, the one that is located on west side of the far north end of the pond. Prior to that time, I had seen a Bluebird couple occupying that house. It’s located in a somewhat out-of-the-way place that isn’t always easy to reach if the soil is really wet, as it has been. So, I considered the options. It was possible that the Bluebirds had fledged their chicks. That meant they no longer had claims on the house and the House Wren was moving in. The photo I took that showed the Wren tossing nesting materials from the house seemed to be consistent with that notion. The fact that the male Bluebird showed up and stood atop the box just after the Wren flew off, suggested that he still considered that house his turf. It was late, and I headed home without knowing what was truly going on at House E.

Yesterday, I had my first opportunity to visit that area, again. Here are some photos I was able to capture that chronicles what’s been going on in that part of the neighborhood.

As I first entered the zone, I saw the male Bluebird atop the box. He flew off as I moved closer.

There’s a old, wooden box on a post that is about 100 feet beyond House E. There, I spotted a Northern Mockingbird perched on the post. He was using it as a hunting “blind” to spot insects on the ground that he’d drop down and nab. Due to my distance from that post, I didn’t notice the House Wren atop the box when I was filming, and only saw it when I was reviewing the photos.

The male Bluebird flew back to House E a few minutes later, landed on the top of the house, then entered it.

To my Great Joy, the female Bluebird arrived shortly thereafter. She had a beakful of nesting materials!

She appeared to acknowledge that her mate popped his head out of the hole.

I didn’t catch the images of the female depositing that bundle of nesting material. However, I was fortunate to catch this little video a few minutes later.

From what I’ve read, the male Bluebird checks out available nest site options and then presents them to his mate. She makes the decision regarding where they will set up house, and he only minimally participate in the building of the nest.

I’ve only been lucky enough to catch the nest building phase once or twice before. I’m so happy I can share these photos here.

But, what about the House Wren? Well, I’m guessing that it chose to move elsewhere when it realized that the Bluebirds were not “done with their lease on House E” for the season. Even though it was a tiny spec on the view finder of my camera, I was able to film the little bird singing loudly from a spot about 25 feet from the old, wood house. I also observed it going in and out of that house multiple times. I didn’t want to disturb the bird and open the box to see, but I suspect that the House Wrens are building a nest in that house.

I like when everybody gets along!