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Project Noah Nature School
Sialia sialis
We have been creating a wildlife habitat since April 2011 & received NWF certification last fall. Our plan included creating a small bluebird trail of 7 boxes & planting around 100 trees to provide wildlife corridors & places for the male bluebirds to perch to guard the nest. Currently 5 of the 7 boxes are occupied - 4 by bluebirds & 1 by tree swallows.
The eggs had not yet hatched when I did my last nest check on Saturday so these little guys are one or two days old & just developing a little fuzz. All four eggs hatched & as you can see all four hatchlings are gaping for food so all looks good here. Mom kept a watchful eye on my from a nearby tree & returned the to box 5 minutes after I had checked it.
Spotted on Apr 9, 2012
Submitted on Apr 9, 2012
6 Comments
I've added the final photos of this little brood taken today, which I estimate is 16 days since they hatched. I fully expect them to fledge tomorrow morning or the day after at the latest. There were 4 eggs & now there are 4 seemingly healthy little guys ready to experience life in the big wide world!
I've added a further photo of the brood at estimated 13 days. You can see that their wing feathers are developing well. The white blob on the edge of the nest is a fecal sac. The parents remove these until about day 12 but tend to leave them after then so the nests can get a bit smelly towards the end. I removed this one.
I will check them again tomorrow & try for more photos which I suspect will be the last ones I get before they fledge!
I've added two more photos of the brood now that they are about 9 days old. They are starting to develop their flight feathers & are considerably bigger than a week ago.
Thanks Teresa! We put up our first box last summer & got instant tenants so we added another 5 in the fall in the hope of a bumper crop of bluebirds this year! So far we have 3 occupied & ten more eggs to hatch!
Yes, a great result Alice!
So Sweet! Great find!
Four Mouths, Four eggs! They all made it -Good!