Attracting bluebirds

If you'd like to know more about the habits of bluebirds, build a bluebird nesting box or just look at pretty bluebird pictures, this book could be for you.

I was attracted to this book in particular because it provided detailed instructions for building nesting boxes. There are several variations - all of them easy. It's a project you could easily to do with your kids.

Happy birding!

Checking out the neighborhood

In a classic case of 'if you build it they will come,' I'm delighted to report that we have bluebirds checking out the bluebird house my husband build earlier this spring.

At first just one, but yesterday, a male and female were in and out on a regular basis. I'm keeping my fingers crossed they'll like the accommodations well enough to set up housekeeping and we'll have babies to report soon.

I'll try for a better picture, but the bluebirds are shy and don't stay anywhere long. Nor do I want to give them any cause for concern about their new home, so I won't walk too close.

Knowing how quickly one house was successful in attracting birds, we may have to put up another one.  If for no other reason that I want to be able to see the house and birds from the kitchen window.  When the apple tree leafs out, this bluebird house will be completely hidden from kitchen view.

The bluebirds of happiness are definitely flying around here this week!

Hope in a Bluebird house

I remember the very first Eastern Bluebird I saw.  The unexpected colors of that charming little bird perched on the top wire of the fence that separated my country school yard from a farm field caught my eye. It was only there for a few seconds, but I always remembered the lovely blue, dusty rose and white. I can still feel the thrill, the joy, I felt to see such beauty for the first time. Though I kept my eyes open for more bluebirds, I happened across only a handful in the past 50 years.

That is, until my husband and I moved to an acreage five years ago. I couldn't believe our good fortune to see many bluebirds flitting through our trees. Bluebird nesting houses posted along a neighbor's fence no doubt encouraged the pretty birds to come and stay. I bought a bluebird book to understand them better. The book provided detailed - and simple - instructions for building nesting boxes, but we never made the effort.

In the last two years we haven't seen near so many bluebirds. I blame a late spring cold snap a couple of years ago that may have set nesting birds back a generation or two. Or it could be that the neighbors aren't maintaining their nesting boxes.

Anyway, we dug out the book and refreshed our memory of what attracts bluebirds. Come to find out, bluebirds like honeysuckle hedge and grapevines. We have both.  In a few hours, my husband built a nesting box and installed it on our fence.

Now, every day when I look out the kitchen window, I see the box and the box gives me hope. Hope for the next generation of bluebirds. Hope for seeing the unexpected beauty of their colors flashing across the sky. Hope for a return of the childlike joy I feel each time I see them.

* The Bluebird Book: The Complete Guide to Attracting Bluebirds
*Bluebird photo from National Geographic