I just came inside from checking the box and all 4 nestlings are doing just fine. They are growing very rapidly. It must be all the deliciously large insects that Papa carries in to them constantly (or at least it seems like it). I get a great look at what he has in his beak because oftentimes he'll perch with morsel (waiting for it to die?) on the hook that we have on the deck that we kept it up for him even though we took down the hummer feeder that was hanging from it.
It's hot today but fortunately the humidity has abated a bit. It must get pretty damn uncomfortable in that box when it's really hot and humid.
Here's the photo of the day.
Yesterday, I noticed for the first time Papa carrying a fecal sac from the nest box (oh, the joys of bluebird monitoring!) Like I told Paul when he gave me a strange look at my excitement over the event "it's not every day you see a sac of shit flying through the air". If you are curious about how birds manage to keep their nest boxes clean with all the pooping that goes on, this article is a good resource. I think that birds make our babies look totally inferior and downright disgusting compared to their little ones. And with landfills overflowing with shitty diapers, we look like the most inefficient, abusive toward our environment and idiotic species on the planet. Oh, but when don't we look like that!?
