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[Phyl]

3rd clutch for the 2023 Nesting Season

Welcome to the world! Cane Ridge #59 and 60.

7-23-23 3:04pm 
The hatchlings will often move about and thus change their hatch order. My best guess is they follow the  previous order
with CR 59 and 60 the two in the very back. In the days that follow, their size and gender will  aid in determining hatch order ---I hope. I need all the help
I can get.     LOL


We love you. Love you all! 

[Linda M]

Awesome - so glad all hatched and wish the best for them!  Thank you for the updates.

[Phyl]

Hi Linda.
You're welcome.
There will more photos and info. in the future.
Thanks again for following

[Phyl]

3rd clutch for the 2023 Nesting Season



7-28-23. 3:59 pm. CR #s 56,57 and 58 in foreground. And CR #s 59 and 60 back against nesting box wall.
 CR 59 and 60 being youngest are just sprouting pin feathers.

[Phyl]

3rd clutch for the 2023 Nesting Season

2nd clutch juveniles on break from feeding 3rd clutch hatchlings.
We see CR # 49 and CR  51                                   
8-2-23 5:17 pm

[Phyl]

3rd clutch for the 2023 Nesting Season

Bluebirds  2nd clutch of nesting season 2023 feeding visit by... season's CR49 and 51

8-3-23

[Phyl]

3rd clutch for the 2023 Nesting Season


2nd clutch adults   CR 51 (left) and 49 of the 2023 nesting season with Male cardinal

8-3.23 12:15pm



None of the birds were very obliging.  In that they wanted to 'hold a pose' for long .  I had to act really fast  from camera first pickup to  shutter click and  move on to the
next.

Jim is due to check nesting box #1 today for hatchling's growth progress. Fledging is predicted for between  August 9th to August 17th. Hopefully, I'll have the hatchling update in a day or two.

[Phyl]

3rd clutch for the 2023 Nesting Season


Bluebirds 2nd clutch adult CR 49 and 51   caring for 3rd clutch of the season.    Adult Mourning Dove ...(pigeon)  in willow.

CR49 has some dried meal worms ready for feeding. He left for nesting box #1 shortly after this was snapped.

8-3.23 12:18 pm

[Phyl]

Apologies to all who  may follow our bluebirds.
I am so very far behind'


This photo certainly says it all

They've fledged ! ...8-6-2023 all that's left is part of a broken shell.


8-6-2023  12:53pm


The 3rd clutch of the season has apparently fledged and completed 'Flight School' with their dad CR44. 
Sneaky little critters.
And mom's (CR47)holding down the 'fort' so-to-speak.
Had once thought s he might even join them.   But seems like she spent most
of the time as dad's second at base.

[Phyl]

All I've seen are two of the younger chicks. CR #59 and # 60 OR CR 58 and 59. Both are extremely camera shy. The little 'buggers' !
Not at all sure what has happened  to CR #s 56, 57, and 58. Hopefully, they are more camera shy than the younger chicks.  Or maybe they've gone on into the world all on their own.

Since fledging haven't seen CR #s49 and 51 who've stayed on to help feed and tend the nesting box.  At any rate you both have been invaluable and we salute you!
Do take care out there---not everyone is like us!  Please visit---you know where we are and how to find us. 

Anyway---hoping the shy feathered buggers get over their ‘Shyness’ soon. Otherwise, it’s not gonna be easy  for this gal getting some snaps.
You hear me?!

[Phyl]

Corrected stats for 3rd clutch of 2023 Nesting Season

5 eggs laid 7-10-23

5 eggs hatched 7-21-23 to 7-23-23

As far as we know 5 chicks fledged  about 7-6-23.

* a word of worry. Jim has failed to keep the nesting box padlocked. It has been unlocked for the past two seasons. This is the first
season where doubt is cast on the number that actually fledged.
Hopefully, Jim will attach a small padlock and leave the key with me in the house.

[Phyl]

 My sincere apologies for taking so long to post this photo.I've been under the weather with a Summer cold and sinusitis
.
But...Well, well, well     The little 'buggers' , CR 58 , 59 and 60, my best educated guess.  Have made an appearance upon returning from the forest and survival training aka 'Flight School' as we call it.
Guarantee, I was most lucky to have caught them when I did.
The older two  #s 56 and 57, I haven't seen since fledging and leavening for 'Flight School'.

I'll wager this is the last we see of the third clutch.  As I've not seen a bluebird in almost two weeks.
However, should they grace us with their cheerful presence I'll endeavor to grab a snap and post.

8-25-23
late afternoon and sadly under exposed .
The 'boys'  have matured much and look well.

[Phyl]

Our go to source for all things Bluebird.



http://bluebirdnut.com/

[Phyl]

Why is the color blue so rare in nature?
By Mindy Weisberger


Feeling blue? That color isn't as common as you may think.
When you look up at the blue sky overhead or gaze across the seemingly endless expanse of a blue ocean, you might think that the color blue is common in nature.

But among all the hues found in rocks, plants and flowers, or in the fur, feathers, scales and skin of animals, blue is surprisingly scarce.

But why is the color blue so rare? The answer stems from the chemistry and physics of how colors are produced — and how we see them.

We're able to see color because each of our eyes contains between 6 million and 7 million light-sensitive cells called cones. There are three different types of cones in the eye of a person with normal color vision, and each cone type is most sensitive to a particular wavelength of light: red, green or blue. Information from millions of cones reaches our brains as electrical signals that communicateWhen we look at a colorful object, such as a sparkling sapphire or a vibrant hydrangea bloom, "the object is absorbing some of the white light that falls onto it; because it's absorbing some of the light, the rest of the light that's reflected has a color," science writer Kai Kupferschmidt, author of "Blue: In Search of Nature's Rarest Color" (The Experiment, 2021), told Live Science. all the types of light reflected by what we see, which is then interpreted as different shades of color.

[Phyl]

Why is the color blue so rare in nature?, continued

"When you see a blue flower — for instance, a cornflower — you see the cornflower as blue because it absorbs the red part of the spectrum," Kupferschmidt said. Or to put it another way, the flower appears blue because that color is the part of the spectrum that the blossom rejected, Kupferschmidt wrote in his book, which explores the science and nature of this popular hue.

In the book "Blue," writer Kai Kupferschmidt explores the science behind this elusive color. (Image credit: Courtesy of The Experiment)

In the visible spectrum, red has long wavelengths, meaning it is very low-energy compared with other colors. For a flower to appear blue, "it needs to be able to produce a molecule that can absorb very small amounts of energy," in order to absorb the red part of the spectrum, Kupferschmidt said.
Generating such molecules — which are large and complex — is difficult for plants to do, which is why blue flowers are produced by fewer than 10% of the world's nearly 300,000 flowering plant species. One possible driver for the evolution of blue flowers is that blue is highly visible to pollinators such as bees, and producing blue blossoms may benefit plants in ecosystems where competition for pollinators is high, Adrian Dyer, an associate professor and vision scientist at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, told the Australian Broadcasting Company in 2016.