Michael & Liz are Bloggable

A couple years ago I started building birdhouses so that we could place one in the backyard. I figured we'd probably get a few birds that use it and enjoy seeing them come and go. It turned out to be awesome. 2 years in a row we have gotten 2 broods of 4 babies each to roost in the house. That's 2 years times 2 broods times 4 babies each which comes to 16 baby bluebirds we have successfully fledged. We'll have 1 roost from early April until June and then another from late-June to August.

I thought the enjoyment would stop there. I enjoyed building the houses and also enjoyed seeing the birds roost, but little did I know that there would be a third benefit. The birds are actually coming home.

A few weeks ago we were sitting in the Sweet Room and noticed there were roughly 6 bluebirds peacefully chillin' on the deck railing. We got up and just watched them. Each one was doing it's own thing. A couple were playing and would fly around each other. Another one was very clearly hunting and looking in the grass for food. A few were not doing much of anything which makes me think they were sunbathing.

This hasn't just occurred once either, it has happened many many times. I'll notice this situation maybe once a week at least, where we have an overwhelming number of bluebirds on the deck.

I have read that bluebirds have a tendency to come back to the location where they were born and I think that's exactly what's happening. I realize the deck railing is awesome, but that's far too much of a coincidence for these little babies not to be ours. We got so much enjoyment out of seeing them sitting there, like we had really made a difference. I realize they are just silly old birds, but it made a difference to them.

I've also read a lot about how good bluebirds are for the local environment and how they are succumbing to predators and lack proper nesting grounds in the area. I'm so glad our backyard has become their safe haven.