I haven’t written about the birds in awhile so here is an update for you along with some more pictures.  The current status of all the babies is that they have grown up!  Yes they are all gone, all the nests are empty once again.  The Bluebirds must have left early Wednesday morning – they were still in the house late on Tuesday.  I think the Chickadees left Tuesday morning – I saw one fly out of the house as we were leaving to go to school and he joined several others that were waiting in a tree and they flew off together as we drove away.

baby bluebird peeking out of the house

Here are the last pictures I have of the Bluebirds –

Mr. Bluebird

Mrs. Bluebird

I could see the babies inside the house when I watched them from the driveway.  They were practicing their flying and looking out of the hole alot.  I knew they were ready to go and wasn’t surprised at all that they left yesterday morning.    I don’t know how well you can see it in this picture but if you look in the hole of the birdhouse one of the babies had his wings out.

flying practice in the house

I watched the houses throughout the day yesterday and never saw any of them return.  So today was cleaning day.  I took all the nests away and have pictures of those now that they are empty – all four nests are very different.

The robins have been in the yard again – one has been pecking at the windows and then later it appeared they were….well….you know….private stuff in my backyard right outside my window!  Maybe they will build their new nest in the same spot unless they already have it done somewhere else.

The yard is full of new life and I’ll keep my eyes open for any new nests that might get built.  Normally the bluebirds have two or three broods in that house each year.  I’ve cleaned it out so it is ready for the next one.

The Chickadee nest was in one of the houses and it is mostly moss, a little bit of straw and then lined with fur. It was a big nest with a small cup in the corner.

The Bluebird nest was in one of the houses and it is mostly pinestraw. The moss at the bottom is probably what the chickadee brought in when they were both trying to build. This nest was the only one that was messy - but I think they had more babies too - 4 or 5.

The Towhee nest was the one in the bush out front and it is made of twigs, bark, vines and straw - it was all wedged into the center of the bush.

The Robin nest was the one on the downspout from the gutter by the kitchen window. It is pinestraw and some vines and it was held in place with mud.

Here is the mud at the base of the Robin nest that held it in place. There was also mud on the back side where it was next to the house.