Most Excellent Bird Day

My morning started much earlier than I had planned, I was awakened by a noisy little house wren, just outside our open bedroom window.  Something in the far reaches of my dreams told me this was a special day, the wrens have returned for the summer.  She was a chatty little thing and she hasn't stopped sharing with the world how happy she is to be back!

Bluebird eggs...

And so it continued, the MOST EXCELLENT BIRD DAY........  Today is the day I usually check all the Bluebird boxes.  I may have mentioned before that I made 22 new Bluebird boxes this past winter.  Each are named after the "girls" in my life, my daughters, grand daughters and cousins and sister friends.  As a responsible Bluebird Trail Keeper, they should be checked once a week and notes taken on their progress.  The boxes were all put up in February and that first week I saw a Bluebird checking things out!  Then in late March I started seeing Tree Swallows too.  I encourage both to live in my boxes, they are hunters of insects and so having them around is a very good thing!

Two of my Bluebird boxes have already hatched baby Bluebirds.  There is a third box that lost their babies due to a very cold snap.  There are a couple more with fresh new nests and the eggs are being laid.  

baby Bluebirds....

There are twice as many Tree Swallows in the boxes.  Their nests and Bluebird nest are made with grasses, the difference is the Tree Swallows always finish their nest with a feather or two.  One box has more feathers than I've ever seen!  And one box has a big ole owl feather inside!  I tried to imagine what a little Tree Swallow must have looked like flying with a big owl feather in it's mouth!

While checking to boxes a Northern Oriole followed me down the fence row.  Hearing them sing will stop me in my tracks, it is so beautiful to hear their clear and cheerful song.  You know of course that the Oriole loves building their basket nests from strands of horse hair.   Outside my window where I feed birds year round, I hung a suet feeder filled with horses tail hair that was collected after the horses were groomed.  Today I saw the female Oriole come and pull strands of long tail hair for her nest!!!!  When I had horses I never worried about them finding hair, it was everywhere, but with no horses on our land I had to ask my grand daughters to save me some from their horses.  I am delighted they will still be building their nests in our yard again this year!

It doesn't take much on a late spring day to make me happy!  It was indeed a Most Excellent Bird Day!