Another Eastern Bluebird Blog 2025

UGG!! I have to stop trying to interfere with mother nature. I should already know this, but sometimes I try to help. I do provide food and shelter, but other than that I have to stop. Animals and birds do what they want, just as some people do what they want. Someone once told me that if they wanted to, they would. That applies to all living things.

It started this Spring. A pair of Eastern Bluebirds began looking for a home to nest in. For years I had bluebirds. I loved them and looked forward to two broods per year. I would watch them make the nest, lay eggs one per day and then wait for the babies. It is always so much fun when the fledglings leave the nest. Then one year the House Wrens showed up. As I have mentioned in other blogs, I would see them fly into the bluebird house and pierce the eggs. They would then throw them on the ground and dismantle the nest. I was so upset. I did discover a wren guard and if the bluebird got to the point of actually laying eggs, the wren guard would protect them. The last two years the bluebirds would show up but eventually get discouraged by the House Wrens. They couldn't get their nest and eggs in place in time.

I thought this year would be different. In early spring the bluebirds arrived as scheduled. The House Wrens hadn't arrived yet. The bluebirds couldn't decide on  a house. By the time they did, the wrens arrived and I believe the bluebirds eventually nested elsewhere. 

Fast forward to the first week in June. Wrens are known for building their nests of sticks in every single birdhouse they can find. All of them are mock nests except for one. This discourages all other birds from nesting in the same area. In one of the nests, the female lays her eggs. 

Things had calmed down here and the wren was quiet. I assumed they were nesting somewhere but I didn't know where. There were two birdhouses that were empty except for one. That one didn't have any eggs, just a house full of sticks. I didn't know if I should remove the sticks so they would be busy bringing in more or if they thought the full mock nest was complete and they would leave it alone. I just didn't want them to lay eggs in that house. I concluded that I should just leave well enough alone. 

During this quiet time, the bluebirds returned. They began building a nest in one of the empty houses and all was well. I thought maybe they found a good time to build a nest.

Things were going great. The House Wren wasn't paying attention or so I thought. When the nest was complete it was a work of art. I took a peek to see if there was an egg yet. There wasn't.

Then I waited. The bluebird pair would come to check on things, but suddenly the wren showed up. She/He started to pull the bluebird nest apart. The male bluebird kept trying to chase him off but the wren was relentless.

 I have a wren guard that I usually put up after the first egg is laid. There is a learning curve for the bluebirds to enter the house with the guard on. A mothers love makes it possible to get to the egg. I didn't know if they could learn before the eggs were laid, but I had no choice. I put up the guard. The bluebird and the wren were confused. It served the purpose, the wren couldn't figure out what to do but the bluebird couldn't figure it out either.

I thought I would wait but this morning I noticed the bluebirds building a nest in another location. I had put my hummingbird camera in this location and hadn't taken down this old house yet. They worked really hard all morning building a new nest. It was a quick process. Nest building usually takes several days.

The second nest is now complete, but the male bluebird is flying back and forth between the two houses. I guess he forgot which is home. We will see which nest they choose. I should say which nest SHE chooses. I have a feeling I know who's the boss. He helps choose the nesting site but she builds the nest, lays the eggs and sits there for hours after the last egg is laid except for a break once in a while. The eggs hatch in a couple weeks and then both parents participate in feeding the young ones.

 I waited to post this in case the egg laying process has begun. It has not. The bluebirds are very smart or at odds. I'm not sure. He has spent the day sitting on top of the house with the first nest. She has spent the day going in and out of the second nest and the wren is sitting on his house of sticks not quite sure who to taunt. I will amend this blog when I know more. 

UPDATE! June 15, 2025. Here is the update I promised for this blog post. The wren is still hollering and thinks she is in charge of the 1st bluebird nest. Meanwhile Lady Bluebird has laid 2 eggs with a couple more to come before she starts incubating them. Keep your fingers crossed. So far, so good. 

UPDATE #2:  It's June 27, 2025. The bluebirds ended up with four eggs. The mama bluebird sat on the eggs diligently and all was going well until last night. It was just a few days before hatching. When I went outside this morning, I knew something was wrong. The hummingbird feeder was taken apart, and I could see nesting material coming out of the birdhouse hole. A raccoon had gotten to the nest and the hummingbird feeder. It had gotten beyond a post with a big baffle on it, then a large metal disc on top of that and onto the nest. The bluebird parents have spent the day going from house to house just like they did in the spring. Seeming very confused. I looked on the camera installed in the hummingbird feeder to confirm it was a raccoon. It wasn't the house wren this time. Nature is cruel. I will have to think about it and maybe I can come up with a solution for next year. I doubt if they will try again this summer, but if they do I wish them well.

Making the Best of Important Anniversaries

I had the best day. I was feeling out of sorts the past few days. I really didn't make the connection but June 8 was the fourth anniversary of my husband's death. It also would have been my parents 79th wedding anniversary. I have come to grips with all of it, as much as I can. Wallowing in it doesn't help. Moving forward is the only way, but it is always hard to have anniversaries. Don't get me wrong. I still have some very lonely moments, but I get over it. Having days like today certainly helps.

 

It all started by reading all 346 of the wonderful responses from the year to date memories on Facebook. My daughter had a post about her dad's death. I was tagged on the post so I was notified about the memory. That is the wonderful part of the memories feature, you are reminded every year. I was ready to read them now. After I read them, I texted my daughter and told her how much they all meant. Most of them were from her friends, but all had meaning. She asked me if I wanted to run some errands with her today and have some lunch. Of course, I said yes. She works a lot and having this opportunity was wonderful.

We donated a trunk full of items, we got some groceries and we ate lunch. Then we did a few more errands like getting my grandson's letter jacket updated and buying more sunflower seeds and cracked corn from the feed mill. 

Since my daughter loves butterflies as much as I do, she suggested we check out an area that is supposed to have Karner Blue Butterflies. I had been searching for a week for them, but I had no luck. I had been to this area two times already but found nothing. Karner butterflies are small blue butterflies that are endangered. They are small and are only the size of a nickel. The small green caterpillar of the Karner feeds exclusively on the leaves of the wild lupine plant. These plants only grow in certain sandy areas, so the available area to feed these butterflies is limited. Finding such an area was amazing in itself. 

When we pulled into the parking area. I didn't have much hope. I had been there two other times and had no luck at finding these small butterflies. I admit, I was a little nervous going by myself. I had heard stories of bears in that area and probably spent more time scanning the area than actually focusing in on the search. It was wonderful having a partner. We walked the trail which is only accessed by foot. Off the parking area was a bluebird house. The first time I visited, I watched a bluebird come and go. 

There were pretty wild flowers along the way including a lot of wild lupine. 

We walked along enjoying the whole experience but not seeing anything when suddenly one blue butterfly emerged ahead of us. I had not brought a camera except for my phone. I had noticed my phone was not charged in the car and plugged it in. I don't know what went wrong but it barely charged. I was upset but thankfully my daughter had her phone. As it turned out it was a blessing. I am usually so focused on taking pictures, I miss the whole experience. I was able to take in the trail, the beauty of the flowers and looking for the butterflies. From that point on I just looked for the butterflies and my daughter took the pictures. Once we saw one, we kept seeing them. It was an unreal experience and one I never thought I would have. My daughter was just as excited as I was. This first Karner Blue Butterfly is a female. 

The second one is a male Karner Blue Butterfly. This one isn't as clear. It was right next to a large piece of scat from some animal. It wasn't a bear but I didn't know what it was. All I know it looked large. 

We stayed for quite a long time. Every time we started to head back to the car, we would see another butterfly. We wanted to savor it as long as we possibly could. They are hard to photograph because they are so small and so fast. It was a dream come true.

As we left the area, there was a big patch of wild roses which we hadn't seen coming into the parking area.

The Karner Blue Butterfly's technical name is Lycaeides melissa samuelis. My granddaughter's name is Melissa and I have a grandson named Samuel. I think the whole experience today was meant to be.

It seems that blue is my healing color. I wrote this blog in 2015. 

https://www.thecabincountess.com/2015/07/blue-is-my-new-favorite-color.html 

Fawns in the Spring of 2025

These aren't good pictures because they are from my old trail camera in the woods. I have had this one battery operated trail camera for a long time. I check it once in a while but rarely do I see anything of interest. I have a lot of squirrels and raccoons. Deer come and go down the trail but nothing very note worthy. Imagine my surprise when I checked the camera this morning. These photos are of a doe just minutes before she gives birth. At about 9:12 AM on May 18, 2025 she is leisurely grazing. It was nothing that got my attention but in the next frame (at (9:40 AM) she was running with her tail held high, then at 9:49 AM she is walking toward the camera with a little one barely able to walk. What a thrill! Exactly one day later she is with her baby. I am sure the baby was hidden in the woods, and I probably walked right past it because because there are many pictures of her afterward where she is just grazing alone in the area. I have to keep my eyes open. I haven't been paying attention. The little one would be just over two weeks old now.

 

 

This photo was the doe just leisurely eating about 30 minutes before she gave birth. 

 

 

 

She started running around with her tail held high. 

 

 Nine minutes later she is walking with a baby. It is amazing.

 

One day later she is nurturing the little one. 

 

Now it is June 4, 2025. It is 17 days after I saw this series. This morning I saw a little fawn come out of the woods. It looks about two weeks old. They grow fast. 

 

I have no way of knowing if this is the little baby because they all look alike. I saw another pregnant Doe on another camera later on May 18th. She was obviously very pregnant. 

 

Today I also saw twins fawns. They are adorable and are about the same age as the single fawn I saw. I know what I will be doing the next few days. I will be watching and hoping for another look. The deer can be so annoying and eat all the tender plants in my flower garden, but there is no denying how cute these little fawns are. 

 

As far as the flowers, the deer eat a lot of them but there are still plenty of flowers for both of us. 

 

An Unusual Birthday Celebration

My youngest daughter is now 50 years old. Even though that fact makes me feel very old, she acts the same way she did as a child. She still loves her birthday. In fact, we tease her that she starts celebrating on May first and continues through the entire month. It's a birthday month instead of a birth-DAY. I never cared for my birthday but she loves it.

I'm not sure her birthday reached her expectations, but she did spend two full days of fun for me.

Since I wanted to go to a place called the Heckrodt Wetland Reserve and she loves hiking and nature also, we decided to start the day there. It is a free boardwalk in the City of Menasha, Wisconsin. It has three miles of trails with the opportunity to see and photograph a variety of animals and plants.

We had heard that the property had two owls with one having nested this spring. The owlets were able to be seen from the trail. We got there quite early and walked the trails. We saw a few animals but nothing more than I can see on a regular basis. She wanted to see a baby fawn laying all alone in the sun near a babbling brook. We saw some deer but no baby fawns. We saw pelicans, geese, various birds and small animals, but the trail was closed in the area of the owls. It appears that the owlets were about to fledge, and they didn't want any extra people scaring them during this process. It was a bit disappointing, but it was a peaceful walk and a lovely morning. There was a group of school children on a field trip and that could have forced more animals deeper into the woods.

We stopped at a bakery when we were finished and splurged on a tasty treat. It was delicious because we don't often do that. 

 

 

Next we met my oldest daughter and switched places. I drove home and they spent the next few hours at a spa. They had massages and loved being pampered. That is definitely not my thing so I was happy the two of them could spend time together. They finished the day with a trip to her son's track meet and dinner with the family. But wait, there's more.

 

The next day started off bright and early. My daughter's birthday also means a trip to the cemeteries. It sounds morbid, but it is actually a nice tradition. My mom, dad, grandparents and great grandparents are buried about two hours away from my home. Every spring before Memorial Day we make a trip there to clean up the gravestones and put baskets of flowers out. It was a very important thing for my parents and grandparents so I am continuing (along with my daughters) to keep up that tradition.

 

On the way up we had coffee and a treat at our favorite coffee shop. Two days in a row was heaven. Then as we were traveling the back roads of Wisconsin, my daughter pulled the car off the road. I thought we might have been having car trouble, when right up close was a baby fawn. It didn't have a babbling brook in the sunlight, but it was newly born and adorable. The mother was no where in sight, but the baby looked healthy. It was behind a fence so it was safe.

 

 

Then a little bit later down the road we came across a young eagle and a full grown one out in the field. It wasn't the best picture, but fun to see out of the car window.

The first cemetery was bustling with many people trying to take care of the graves before Memorial Day. I am sure this tradition will diminish as the years go by. The tradition of funerals and burials are becoming less and less, but right now there were several people paying their respects. The second cemetery we went to is an old country cemetery. It is very quiet and serene and we were the only ones there. It is where most of my mother's relatives are laid to rest. It is always a good feeling to just visit and feel all the history there.  

As we headed home, it was good to honor my family in that way. I imagine it wasn't the two-day birthday celebration my daughter would have chosen, but I appreciated it more than I can say. It's a good thing she celebrates for the whole month and maybe she can also do something for herself before the month is over. In the fall, my other daughter will take me to pick up the baskets and put everything to sleep for another year.