Just Sittin' and Waitin' and Hopin' and Dreamin'

Man, would I love to know what is going through Sylvia's mind! Sometimes when I catch her sitting on the nest, I imagine her inner dialogue:
(Cut to the dream sequence and dreamy music sound)

"Wonder where that good-for-nuthin' lazy Lloyd is? Off chasin' a little tail, I'm sure, while I'm stuck on this freakin' nest.......Ooh, is that a bug? Oh, no, just some dirt. How did dirt get in here? Maybe I should head out and get my own cricket...guess I could rotate the eggs again for the fortieth time today.....Ooh, that egg is poking me and driving me crazy....I should definitely try for six next time, more balanced that way, three on one side and three on the other.....what is Lloyd doing??...ooh sounds like a fly-by up there....those darn cowbirds are back....what was that? A hawk? oh I hope not...nope just a Mockingbird trying to fake us all out....why doesn't he get his own song instead of copying everyone else's? Man I could really go for a grub right now.. or a mealworm, yeah, mmmm, nice and crunchy, yet soft in the middle....they go down so easy.....time for a little cat nap, uh, bad choice of words, a bird nap.....yeah, nap....."

Every now and then she looks up and stares into the camera for a while. I can see a little reflective dot in her eye and I am not sure if it's light from the moon or if the camera gives off some ambient light. Anyway, countdown is on and I am still looking for any grub/mealworm sources......

Five is the Magic Number!

It appears the Sylvia is egged out and stopping at five eggs for this first clutch. They seem to be doing well, although Lloyd is spending a lot of his time chasing off Brown-Headed Cowbirds. I am taking grub or mealworm contributions. If anyone knows where I could order some live ones, let me know. I only came across a few very small grubs in my garden. My neighbor donated some huge ones and they scarfed those right up.

On a side note, it appears that some Tree Swallows might be moving into my recycled plastic house that I relocated across the street! Finally those houses will be used! They have a snazzy little latch that flips back to allow the side of the box to flip up and then there is a lexan wall behind it for nest monitoring. the box came from bestnest.com and it is great and will last forever!

The Fab Four!

Just like clockwork, Sylvia produced egg #4. Hopefully, we will have a succesful brood. Tonight is supposed to get down to 35F, so hopefully she will be able to keep them nice and warm. In a few minutes I am headed out to the garden to find some grubs that I came across yesterday. The ones I put out on the buffet have been scarfed up, so I am hoping that Lloyd has been taking advantage of the free food. Anything I can do to make it easier for them......

Today will be warm followed by two chilly nights and days in the low 60's. Keep your fingers crossed that the cooler temperatures won't have a detrimental impact on our little nursery!

And Then There Were Three......

Three eggs and counting.....I'm almost certain there will be one-two more. Today Lloyd was fending off some Brown-headed Cowbirds who were at my neighbor's feeder and too close to the nestbox for comfort. He was kicking birdie tail and taking names! Oh and last night, Sylvia was in the nestbox sitting on her eggs. I was watching her until about 10:30 when I went to bed, so it looks like my initial assumption that she didn't nest-sit at night was wrong. It was very sweet to see her in there trying to chill. She would doze off and her little head would kind of fall forward. Then every now and then she would jerk awake and stare at the camera or at the hole. I'll be looking for egg #4 tomorrow.....

Two, Two, Two Eggs in One (Nest)!

That's right, folks, the egg you know and love has doubled! I missed the event, but I think I pretty much know how it goes....As of 10am, when I first turned on the cam, there was another egg. I didn't think there would be much going on this morning because once again we are having strong winds, but, I guess the egg must go on and come out when it's knocking on the bluebird backdoor!
I discovered that Eastern Bluebirds do not incubate at night, at least maybe not until all of the eggs are laid. I suspect she may get to some serious incubating once they have all arrived. Lloyd seems to be slacking a bit in the "feeding-your-hungry, tired, overworked, nest-building, egg-laying wife duties", but I am thinking he might get a bit more serious once the eggs are all there. Then it will be down to some serious child-rearing business.
We're working on some software issues to edit the discs into just a few and get some stills on the site. In the meantime, stay tuned. If history repeats itself, Sylvia should be laying 2-3 more eggs and then it's 10-17 days until they hatch, putting us on schedule for an April 17th or 18th delivery date. Tres exciting, non? Maybe for us bird nerds out here it's eggciting!
Happy Spring and Happy Birding!

Oh, and here is a preview of what the babies will look like. These were taken two years ago, I believe. They are some of Sylvia and Lloyd's previous offspring. Notice the Goldfinch hanging out with them!

Houston, We Have Egg!

Well, finally! Sylvia laid her first egg this morning. It did not look like she was having fun, to say the least. I was literally watching her squeeze it out. It would be cool to have a camera below the nest so I could see the actual egg shoot out. She turned on her head a couple of times like she was looking between her legs to see if she had success. It was pretty funny to see her turn upside down with her tail straight up in the air. Hopefully I will be able to post some footage or at least pictures soon. So she was huffing and puffing and breathing pretty hard. Just like a human. I even think I heard her yell at Lloyd: "You did this to me!!"
So a few minutes ago, Lloyd brought her a post-delivery snack. I put out some grubs but I think they expired in the cold weather last night. It doesn't appear that any have been eaten. Speaking of the cold, a pretty dramatic front came through last night bringing with it very high winds and cooler temperatures, but thankfully they are not worse for wear. Attached is a picture of Sylvia sitting on one of the bird feeders. I placed the pan of grubs on the railing, but I don't know if they have figured that out yet.

Mating Colors

I noticed last week that the male American Goldfinches already have their full mating color. Here is a picture of a female and a male perched on a feeder hook.