Welcome back, Mister Bluebird!!! Blue jays coming around, too!
Houston, we have a bluebird! I was out on our deck Sunday morning before church, and look what appeared (middle right)…an eastern bluebird on our nestbox! Excellent! I don’t think it’s the same male we’ve had all spring and early summer, but he’s a bluebird nonetheless and therefore a most honored and welcome guest in our yard! He sat on the nestbox, peeked inside once, chirped softly, looked around, and then flew away a couple minutes later. He might be a young male because he doesn’t look as brightly colored as a typical adult male eastern bluebird. Maybe he just needs a bath, but I’m almost positive it’s a different bird.
Now the bird on the top right, of course, is a blue jay, not a bluebird. Blue jays are bigger, louder, and more aggressive than 
bluebirds. They have more of a screech than a song, and they will steal eggs and nestlings from other birds’ nests. Still, they are beautiful birds with dazzling shades of blue and purple set against crisp white and black markings. We’ve started seeing some blue jays at our seed plate eating the peanuts we have. They are definitely welcome…because of their beauty, not their character.
A few other things to share from the weekend…one is this cute photo of an adult chipping sparrow (right) and a fledgling (left) at the plate together. The little one was chirping quite loudly and demanding its appropriate share of the loot. Also, here’s another hummingbird photo for your viewing pleasure, and lastly, we started an experiment this morning to try to attract some orioles or tanagers to our yard. More on that later! Dave
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nice, definitely