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[Phyl]

An empty nest after a fledge 8-14-21 late afternoon.
Jim will be out to clean and sanitize box #1 to ready it for the 2022 nesting season. With only a mimimum of tidying-up come March 2022.

[Phyl]

In the meantime, we have a pair from 2021's first clutch visiting . I think the new adults are two older ones CR 39 & 40, male/female respectively. They visited the mealworm feeder the past two days. Our 2020/21 parents may not stay once #49-52 have been shown the door. Or their senior offspring may take their place. Who knows until it happens.
CR-39 is a carbon copy of his dad with the almost Indigo blue head and shoulders , perhaps with more depth of color. CR40 has just slightly  more vibrant colors then her mom.
I'll post photos as the pair present themselves.

[Phyl]

Surprizingly with all that IDA dumped on us the last two days. I had a BB sighting late Monday.
This had me all excited and over the moon!
A very rain drenched Dad   (CR-31)or Dad Jr.  He appeared much more color intense than when dry...dah! LOL
My iPhone was in reach, I got it and positined myself to shoot---he turned, saw me. And, off he went! 
Confirming that this was Junior from clutch #1  of this season.

Jim's cleaned nesting box #1 and it is officially ready for BBs next season or this winter as some have chosen in the past.

[Phyl]

Saturday, 9-4-2021, was sunny and I had some time before dinner, so I 'camped out at the deck doors and was happily surprized by a visit by three of our 3rd clutch juvies.
Who have yet to perch themselves on our deck. But will settle for a feeder pole appearance. Not too sure  who is who here since the family took off  while we were busy.
 Even though we make it a habit of glancing out a back window to see what we 'can see'. We managed to miss them.
However!
Finally... I was fast enough on the " shutter"

[Phyl]

Chipmunk, 9-4-2021.
Caught this chubby critter while waiting for the appearance of the 3rd clutch fledglings.
We have several ground squirrels. But, this one has been porking out on the peanut
pickouts.

[Phyl]

9-4-2021
Dad Jr. , CR- 39( so named, for his almost Indigo blue head and shoulders like his father's), visiting after 3rd clutch fledges and briefly return.


CR-40, his sister usually flys with him. She was out of camera's 'view', to the right.
Could they be the new 'Mom & Dad' for 2022?


Although, not the customary 'graduation' photo I'm usually able to capture.
This does officially close the 2021 nesting season here in our Cane Ridge backyard.

[Phyl]

The Bluebirds have hinted  of some 'surprizes' our way for the remainder of 2021.
 What could these be?

[Linda M]

They are so beautiful; congratulations on a great season and thank you for sharing the photos!

[Phyl]

From the archives of  The Cane Ridge Bluebirds

We hadn't been bluebirding but a few years when we decided to document our resident blue avians.
 I was still using my Cannon camera in 2011 when we started to photograph the nest activity. Everything I photographed was printed on paper from the usual
negatives (which I stll have, somewhere  ).
Jim was still flying corporate aircraft for a private lable pet food manufacture. He was gone, alot untill 2010.
It wasn't until  2012 that I upgraded to digital Nikon camera. Later, I found using my smart phone to take the bluebird snaps more convient and easier to transfer to my desktop
computer.

[Phyl]

Here’s a full list what to plant for our charming Eastern Bluebirds as provided by Sialis.org
It is noteworth to mention that multiflora rose, is a highly invasive plant and should not ever be planted.

Autumn Olive - see Elaeagnus
    • Barberry, especially Japanese (Berberis thunbergii), also European (Berberis vulgaris)
    • Bradford/Callery Pear - Pyrus calleryana - recent cultivars bred to reduce splitting are not sterile and are invading distrubed areas in the eastern U.S.
    • Cherry Silverberry - - see Elaeagnus
    • Chinaberry/Umbrella Tree/Persian Lilac (Melia azedarach L.)
    • Chinese Tallow Tree (Sapium sebiferum or Triadica sebifera)
    • Common Privet (Ligustrum vulgare) and Japanese (L. japonicum)
    • Cotoneasters - some like Franchet (Cotoneaster franchetti) and silverleaf (Cotoneaster pannosa)
    • Dwarf Mistletoe (Arceuthobium spp.)
    • Elaeagnus: Russian Olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia), Autumn Olive (E. umbellata), Cherry Silverberry (E. multiflora), Thorny Elaeagnus (E. pungens)
    • English or Cherry Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus)
    • English Ivy (Hedera helix)
    • Honeysuckles (11 species listed in some states) especially Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), also Tatarian Honeysuckle (Lonicera tatarica)
    • Leatherlef Mahonia (Mahoni bealei)
Morrow Honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii) and their hybrids
    • Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora Thunbergi)
    • Porcelain Berry (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (Maxim)
    • Russian Olive - see Elaeagnus
    • Oriental/Asiatic Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus Thunb.) - bright orange berries along the length of stems - American Bittersweet is not invasive
    • Thorny Elaegnus see Elaeagnus
    • White (wild) mulberry (Morus alba) - white berries




Above: Western bluebirds eating Tonyon berries. Photo by Leslie McCulloch of California.
Below: Eastern bluebird fledgling eating Pokeweed. photo by Dave Kinneer of Virginia.

[Phyl]

“The best thing you can do to help bluebirds have a healthy, varied diet is to landscape with native plants that produce berries throughout the seasons, and avoid using pesticides (which kill insects and can harm or kill birds), and place nestboxes in the right habitat for hunting. Eastern bluebirds prefer semi-open grassland habitat, such as mowed meadows, large lawns, cemeteries, orchards, roadsides, and areas with scattered trees and short ground cover. Areas with fence lines, some medium size trees, or telephone lines provide perches for hunting and nest-guarding. Western Bluebirds tend not to favor large, open meadows.”
 From Sialis.org
    • Guinan, Judith A., Patricia A. Gowaty and Elsie K. Eltzroth. 2008. Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/510 doi:10.2173/bna.510
    • For those who want to reduce the use of pesticides, starting a bluebird trail in agricultural areas like vineyards can be a great addition to an Integrated Pest Management Plan (which minimizes the use of chemicals and relies more on natural alternatives.)

    • Migratory Bird Treaty Act - This law did not go into effect until 1918. It prohibits collection of native birds without a permit.

[Phyl]

A selection of Books on Bluebirds and bluebirding

Attracting Bluebirds and Other Cavity Nesting Songbirds in North Dakota: A Guide to Establishing, Monitoring and Maintaining Nestbox Trails
Chris Grondahl
1999
16 pp Pamphlet

Audubon Birdhouse Book: Building, Placing, and Maintaining Great Homes for Great Birds
Margaret Barker & Elissa Wolfson
2013
160 pp guide
Beakless Bluebirds and Featherless Penguins

Sister Barbara Ann
1990
274 pp Novel
ISBN 1878919059

Bluebird Book, The Complete Guide to Attracting Bluebirds
Donald and Lillian Stokes
1991
96 pp guide
ISBN 0316817457

The Bluebird, How You Can Help Its Fight for Survival
Larry Zeleny
1976, 1978
170 pp
ISBN 0253202124

The Bluebird Monitor's Guide

Cynthia Berger, Keith Kridler, Jack Griggs
2001
128 pp
ISBN 0062737430

Bluebirds!
Steve Grooms, Dick Peterson
1991
159 pp
ISBN 1559710950


Bluebirds and Their Survival

Wayne H. Davis, Philippe Roca
1995
154 pp guide
ISBN 0813108462

Bluebirds Forever
Connie Toops
1994, 1997
143 pp
ISBN 0896582493

[Phyl]

A selection of Books on Bluebirds and bluebirding, continued

Bluebirds in My House, Bonnie and Ben
Arnette Heidcamp
1997
150 pp
Hardcover
ISBN 051770497X?

Bluebirds
Their Daily Lives and How to Attract and Raise Bluebirds
Tina and Curtis Dew, and R.B. (Reber) Layton
1986
212 pp
ISBN 0912542063

Bluebird Trails
A Guide to Success

Edited by Dorene Scriven
1999 (3rd edition)
210 pp guide
ISBN 0963966111

Bluebird Trails in the Upper Midwest: A guide to successful trail management
Dorene Scriven
1989
178 pp

Bring Back the Bluebirds, Even to Your Hand
Andy Troyer
1994
32 pp booklet
ISBN 0964254840

Build a Bluebird Trail
Dale Evva Gelfand
1999
32 ppbooklet
1580172342

Captivating Bluebirds
Stan Tekila
2008
144 pp
ISBN 1591930731

[Phyl]

A selection of Books on Bluebirds and bluebirding, continued

Eastern Bluebird
Gary Ritchison
2000
119 pp
ISBN 0811727459

Enjoying Bluebirds More
Julie Zickefoose
1993, 1999?
32 pp
ISBN 188024103X

Enjoying Bluebirds More

Julie Zickefoose
1993, 1999?
32 pp pamphlet
ISBN 188024103X

How to Control House Sparrows
Don Grussing
1980, 2000
51 pp booklet
No ISBN


I Hear Bluebirds
Shirl Brunnel
149 pp
ISBN 0913425168

Life Histories of North American Thrushes, Kinglets and Their Alliesez
Arthur C. Bent
1949
452 pp
ISBN 0486210863

[Phyl]

Mountain Bluebird Trail Monitoring Guide
Myrna Pearman
2002
56 pages
ISBN 0-9685765-2-4

The Return of the Bluebird
Andre P. Dion
1981

Studying Eastern Bluebirds: A Biologist’s Report and Reflections
Dr. David Pitts
2011, self-published
ISBN: 0615411339