Bluebird nest spring 2023

My resident bluebirds were busy early this year. 

   They had their nest built mid-March and I would check every other day or so for eggs and to make sure no house sparrows around them or the nesting box. On the 6th of April, I went to peak in the nesting box and found 5 eggs! Two up from last year's 3. 

If you've never had the opportunity to host bluebirds, they are amazing parents and a joy to have in your yard. Just be warned if, you have house sparrows around, they will kill them, I almost lost the mom last year and learned quick they don't get along. 

I would check every few days to see if any of the eggs had hatched and it wasn't long until I noticed babies on the 15th of April. 

Once they hatched it doesn't take very long before they are ready to fly the nest. On April, 29th I took the picture above and on May 4th the last one left the nest. I hope these babies will make it and make many more native Bluebirds. 

Book reivew of How Birds Behave: Discover the Mysteries of What Backyard Birds Do 365 Days of the Year Paperback – by Sharon Sorenson

Title: How Birds Behave: Discover the Mysteries of What Backyard Birds Do 365  Days of the Year Paperback 

Autor: Sharon Sorenson

Source: Netgalley

Genre: Bird Fields Guide 

Rating: 4 

A well-documented, beautifully photographed, year-long daily account of what 150 common backyard bird species do and how their behaviors change over the course of a year. Guided by an experienced birder, you'll know what to look for and how to attract and observe birds in your own backyard and by watching and chronicling how they behave, you'll begin to understand them better. You'll see how their actions change season to season, month to month, sometimes day to day. By peeking into their secret lives and unraveling the mysteries of their daily behavior you'll find your bird-viewing pleasure enriched.

This book is really hard for me to review, I was expecting something I just didn't get. As a birder and backyard bird feeder, I really found nothing to help me advance by backyard bird habitat, but I can say the work she put in this book is priceless. 

This lady has spent a lot of time journaling her backyard birds, but not everyone lives in her climate and not everyone has the land that she describes seeing all of the backyard birds she has, so keep this in mind when you are reading. 

I really enjoyed reading her day by day bird count and I love the image she would add each day of a bird most people will never see. I can say I would give anything to live where she is, just to be able to see theses vast bird species she sees, but like normal people, I live in an older subdivision which does give me a bit of land to be able to have backyard birds so I consider myself lucky, but a lot of people don’t have what I have. I was looking for something more in this book, like what bird kind of feed she puts out for the birds, what kind of birdhouses or feeders she uses and I never found it but then I did give up reading when I got to August.

I think I would suggest this book to those that love birds but they live in places where there is wall to wall houses. This book would show them what life can be like on a bit of land. 

Urban Aviary: A modern guide to city birds by Stephen Moss, Marc Martin (Illustrations)

Title: Urban Aviary: A modern guide to city birds 

Author: Stephen Moss, Marc Martin (Illustrations)

Source: Netgalley

Genre: Nature 

Rating: 4 

A unique guide to the unusual and often surprising birds that soar above our cities around the world.

From frigatebirds wheeling over Rio de Janeiro to bowerbirds displaying in the suburbs of Canberra, penguins in Cape Town to pelicans in San Francisco, and huge flocks of starlings roosting around the Colosseum in Rome, the world’s cities are home to a remarkable array of feathered citizens.

Through Stephen Moss’s expert knowledge and insight, Urban Aviary provides a beautiful guide to some of the most extraordinary species of city birds that have become native, including helpful spotting hints and fact boxes for each bird, all of which are brought to life by Marc Martin’s distinctive and beautiful watercolours. 

What a unique way to show urban birds.

You will get a brief description of each bird along with a wonderful watercolor photo. This is a good for both adults and children as you read about each bird you’ll read a brief description of each bird along with a wonderful watercolour of that bird.