Blue Bird Wars

Al and I were wandering around the yard and we noticed a lot of Blue Bird Activity.  There were 8-10 Birds fluttering around, chirping, and fighting. 

Evidently a new pair decided to move into one of the empty nest boxes.  We know that they are territorial and that you can’t put the houses too close together, but we put one up a little close to another, hoping to give them lots of options.

We have a nest down in the pasture and the babies fledged a few days ago.  Mom and Dad keep them kind of sheltered for a little while until they hone their flying skills.

The other active Blue Bird nest is up by the motor home. There were 5 eggs and we think all 5 hatched.  They hatched while we were at Keaton Beach, so they are getting close to fledging. 

The new house is close to the one by the motorhome and they old birds are not having it.

They were having a major fight, where one bird would be on the ground on his back, and the other one would be on top of him, pecking at him.  We tried to break up the fights, but they just took it elsewhere.  It was interesting, but we didn’t want anyone to get hurt.  I know it’s nature, but in my back yard, you have to play nice!

I tried to take some pictures but they were flying around so fast I couldn’t keep up. They had no fear of us either and flew right up near us.  The only time they quieted down is when they heard the hawk.

Here is a picture of a fight.  One is one the bottom.

This is the new nest box, that was at the center of the controversy.

This is a bluebird coming in for an attack.

I think there were three birds here..one is on the ground.

We had about decided to take the nest box down and move it, but it appears they have quit fighting, so maybe we can keep it there.  It’s closer to the house so we could enjoy them a little more.

The next few photos are some of our flowers.  No Zinna’s yet, but they are coming.