Blue Bird Tragedy & Chickadee Hope

So yesterday Sean and I went to do our weekly nesting box checks a bit late due to rain. We excitedly opened the first box to find the nest abandoned. Where did we go wrong??? So we pulled the nest out as instructed and photographed the evidence.


The empty nest box:

The empty blue bird nest:

A discarded blue bird egg, that looks like a baby bird failed to hatch from:


We suspect foul play and would love to know what happened. We hope the blue birds return and try again building a new nest in the box we just cleaned out.

Sadly, we trudged to the next box expecting nothing. But when we looked into the little hole, I spotted some animal down caught on a splinter. We opened up the box and were staring right at a momma chickadee. We glared at each other for a few moments before she took off in a huff and decided to give us what for from the safety of a nearby branch.


Leaving us to photograph her beautiful clutch of five eggs! Aren't they gorgeous? Our hopes soared after the blue bird tragedy. Maybe we will have baby chickadees!


Doesn't the nest look cozy and warm? It is constructed of moss, lichens, grass, and animal down. Each egg is about a centimeter long and too cute for words!