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The five new bluebirds from the first clutch and the parents gather around every evening for a mealworm feast.  The female parent continues to brood the five eggs in the nestcam box.

Evening meal – 05/29/2009

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The fifth blue egg of the second nesting cycle appeared in the nestcam box this morning.  Brooding starts when all the eggs have been laid so that all will hatch on the same day, 12-14 days later. The nestlings fledge 18 to 21 days after hatching. 

Five blue eggs!

Brooding in process

We are looking forward to watching the second nesting cycle produce five more bluebirds.  That will be a total of ten new bluebirds from the nestcam box in 2009.

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The second clutch is coming along nicely in the nestcan box.  The fourth blue egg appeared this morning.  We’re hoping for at least 5 eggs.

Egg #4 in progress

Success!

You can watch live video from the nestcam box by clicking on the link below.

live nestcam video

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The baby bluebirds from the first clutch being fed by the adult male bluebird while the female is in the nestcam box laying the second egg of the second nesting cycle.  This is the time that mealworms really come in handy.

mealworm feeding time – 05/26/2009

Second egg, second clutch of 2009

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The male bluebird is feeding a baby bluebird, from the last clutch, mealworms.  The second nest in the nestcam box is complete and we expect to see blue eggs any day now.

05/25/2009

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After a two day break, the bluebirds are once again hard at work on nest number two in the nestcam box.

Hard at work on nest #2 — 05/19/2009

You can watch live video of the nest building process by clicking on the links shown below.

inside the nestcam box

outside the nestcam box

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The bluebirds decided to forgo the Gilbertson nest box and return to the nestcam box for their second nesting.  It is interesting to watch the nest selection process.  Bluebirds do change their minds.

It is a bit of a challenge to feed the five recently fledged bluebirds and prepare for the second nesting.  Hopefully, there will be ten new bluebirds in the area from this year’s nesting cycle.

Male Eastern bluebird inspecting the nesting process — 05/16/2009

Female Eastern bluebird hard at work building the nest

You can view live video from the nestcam box by clicking on the link below.

view live video from nestcam box

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The bluebird couple that build a nest in the nestcam box have selected a Gilbertson-style nest box for their second nest.  For some reason, they tend to select the Gilbertson for their second nest each season.

It is a good idea to put some pine straw near the nest box when you start to see interest on the part of the bluebirds.   The availability of pine straw facilitates the nest building step.

I have started putting all my nest boxes on concrete pedestals so they can be relocated as needed.  I like to place an Internet enabled color camera near the selected nest box so the nesting activity can be observed.

Bluebirds can build a complete nest in a Gilbertson-style nest box in 1–2 hours.

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The bluebird nestlings have all fledged.  The parents are busy teaching them how to survive in the world.  It is a good idea to put out plenty of mealworms to  help the parents feed the fledglings.  Placing a bluebird feeder where you can enjoy the action is worth the time and effort.  You may have to take off one of the Plexiglas sides until the bluebirds get the hang of entering the feeder through the holes at the ends.

Bluebird parents loading up on mealworms to feed the fledglings

05–11–2009

You can watch live video of the bluebirds picking up the mealworms by clicking on the link below.

view mealworm feeding

Bluebird Shepherd

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