Tree Swallows in birdhouse on deck - Part 2

We arrived home from vacation just in time to witness the

Tree Swallows as they were learning to fly.

Or not.

Two still in the birdhouse, that seem to not want to leave the comfort of home.

The one in the background is one of the babies that has come out.

The juvenile is gray brown instead of the glossy greenish blue of the adult.

In the last photo you can see the baby is not too happy about not being fed,

but they are trying to get the 2 still in the birdhouse to fly.

Vacation was not much of a photography vacation.

We had a great time with the family, didn't think much about photography.

Click here to see the first post about these Tree Swallows on my deck.

Notice the split in the birdhouse, you can see why we never thought the birds would use it.

Tree Swallows in birdhouse on deck

The Tree Swallows are using the birdhouse on the deck.

Jimmy found the birdhouse out in his shop and just placed it on the deck, next thing we knew the Bluebirds and Tree Swallows were checking it out. One day while we were watching a Tree Swallow went in the house and a Bluebird was hanging on the outside. I tried to capture a photo of the 2 looking at each other, but was not able to. The Bluebird flew off, then out came the Tree Swallow.

This sheppard's hook is real close to the deck,

and one of them stays on it most of the time,

the other one in the birdhouse.

This photo the Tree Swallow is perched right in front of the birdhouse.

They have gotten very used to us walking right past the birdhouse.

I talk to them as I walk all the way around the birdhouse. On Sunday afternoon I went out there with a fly swatter in my hand and shooed a wasp away from the birdhouse. The Tree Swallow just watched my every move, but never flew, or retreated back inside.

Eastern Bluebirds in backyard at Rockwood

Last Thursday we put up one new bluebird box.

Saturday this pair of Eastern Bluebirds were checking it out.

We bought another house, but have not put it up yet.

These boxes are well worth the $10 Walmart charges for them.

Brown Headed Nuthatch at Veterans Park

I thought this Brown Head Nuthatch was building his nest

in this birdhouse at Veterans Park in Spring City.

But now I am thinking maybe he was taking the nesting material to another location to build his nest. Or maybe he was cleaning out the birdhouse because he was going to use it. Either way it does appear he was taking something out, not bringing it in.

I like the way he looked straight at me, then gave me his profile again.

I will try to keep an eye on this box.

Eastern Bluebird checking me out

At my house we didn't have Thanksgiving until Friday. Thursday afternoon I decided it was warm enough for me to venture outside to see if I could capture any birds.

I have this neighbor that lets me wander around his yard too. I noticed he had put up some new birdhouses recently. I turned to see if he had taken the old crooked house down when he put the new ones up. When I turned back to look at the birdhouse I had just walked right past, this is what I saw. As you can tell by the background I walked all around it and the Eastern Bluebird continued to watch me.

I saw a post this past week that the person was wondering about leaving the birdhouses up. Sorry, I don't remember who it was. But this is the reason you don't take down the birdhouses in the winter. They use them to stay warm. The bluebirds have always used our birdhouses in the winter. I don't really know about other birds.

House Sparrows at Veterans Park in Spring City

Some House Sparrows I caught through my lens in Veterans Park, October 9. Didn't know what they are, until Hap ID'd them for me. After my attempt with the non Rusty Blackbird (which by the way, was NOT a Rusty Blackbird, you can check it out here), I didn't even try, but Hap came to visit and ID'd them for me.

Just liked the fact they were going at it over this birdhouse cluster when there was plenty of room to share.

They were chasing each other so much they did not care about me photographing them.

The bottom photo is what they do with the birdhouses they don't want any other bird in.

Mockingbird at Rock City birdhouse

This Mockingbird is at a Rock City barn birdhouse. 30 years ago barns all over East Tennessee were painted very similiar to this birdhouse. As the barns became less frequent these birdhouses became popular in the same area. It reminds us of times gone by. Don't know that I have ever seen a bird actually use one.

Mockingbird caught in the wind

This Mockingbird starts out very composed.
Then the wind starts.

But he won't let the wind get the best of him. He hangs on until the wind settles back down, then he flew off.

I am posting this in honor of my two brothers, Linley and Tim. They survived Ike. Grand Turk is worse than the island they are on in Turks/Caicos. When the power went out on Saturday evening they went on to bed, they slept through most of the storm. We have now received an email saying their power is back on and they are ok. Going back to work today. I want to thank everybody for the prayers for them and everybody else in Turks/Caicos. Cuba and Grand Turk are both in bad shape, we all need to continue to pray for them.

Eastern Bluebirds through the Leyland Cypress

Wednesday morning I was headed down to the wall to spread the sunflower seeds out. And glanced up through the Leyland Cypress and these 2 young bluebirds were just sitting there.
One flew after I got one good photo. But I was still behind the Leyland Cypress. Then I stepped out to the side.

This one was as curious about me as I was him. Then he flew.

You can see these are fairly young and in the new birdhouse I have babies getting real close to flying. They have had them one brood right after the other this year. Never thought we would ever see so many bluebirds at the same time.

Eastern Bluebird babies peeping out of birdhouse

I was walking across the backyard when I saw the bluebird leave the birdhouse. Then I saw something start out again. As you can see from the photos below they were curious about me. All 6 pictures were taken in less than 1 minute. It is almost as if the 1st one said "come look, you gotta see this", then there were 2 heads trying to look out the one little hole. Then one last look and down they went. I waited about 5 minutes and they never popped up again.It does seem late in the season but these photos were taken Monday, August 11. This is the new birdhouse I put up and they built within the week of installation.

Eastern Bluebirds at newly installed birdhouse

Eastern Bluebirds a plenty.Between us and the neighbors yard (5 acres) we have 8 bluebird houses, counting this new one. It seems like earlier in the spring the Tree Swallows were winning the fight, but now it seems we have a lot more Bluebirds than Tree Swallows. Not sure what happened to the Tree Swallows, maybe they don't continue to have more like the Bluebirds do.It took them 1 week to check this one out after it was put up. Notice the young one is helping too. There are now babies in the box.

The last photo is just to show where the new house is located. This arbor was built for wisteria starts from my Granny Sorrells. Due to the drought last year (some better this year) they have been real slow at getting going. We did face it toward the outside, for when the wisteria is more plentiful, hopefully the bluebirds will still use the box.