Dorie's Nest

I have been obsessed with the bluebirds in our back yard so much so that I've been neglecting my house-wife duties (such as making dinner, doing laundry, and vaccuuming) to stare out the window. To be honest, it's not really that difficult to distract me from all those glamorous duties, but the bluebirds really are exciting. Today, my sweet husband says to me in a matter-of-fact tone, "Oh yeah, I saw the nest yesterday." A nest!! So there is a nest, and eggs should be soon to follow! My goal is to get a better picture of the nest tomorrow if it doesn't rain.

This blog entry couldn't be complete without the picture of Dorie. She is quite a specimen, and Hank is a lucky bird.

Northern Cardinal

This is the Northern Cardinal that's been coming to our feeders for several weeks. When I first saw him, he looked a little mange-y and must not have been a full grown bird. I think he has a mate now, and she likes to use the feeder in the back yard. I managed to get a picture of the male at the back yard feeder. The camera is peering through the bars of the deck in the first picture in the first picture. The last picture is of the cardinal on our fence. I've not been able to get a picture of the female. She flies away at the least noise. Last summer, the female cardinal was my favorite bird. (I've been obsessed with the Bluebirds, Hank and Dorie, so far this year.) The cardinals seem not to like having their picture taken, so I have to have good timing to get a picture. We love to hear their metallic chirp at the feeders every morning. We had three baby cardinals last year, and I'm hoping we get some more this year!

Hank Fights off a House Finch

Hank didn't like the little house finch getting too close to his girl or his next box. He flew at the house fince as Dorie looked on. I'm guessing she was pretty impresed!

The Eastern Bluebird Lovers: Hank and Dorie

On Monday morning, a male Eastern Bluebird took a fancy to our nest box. Hank (who was not named at this point) choose our nest box to be his wooing ground. He fluttered around the nest box for two days. Today, he attracted a female: Dorie. I'm very hopeful that the two of them will build a nest and start a family.

Hank

Dorie and Hank

Once I see them taking nesting materials to the box, we'll sneak a peak at the nest!