What’s Going on in Those Bluebird Boxes? Come With Me as I Check Them Out

There’s a place in Western North Carolina where I spend many hours every spring, summer, and fall, especially in the mornings when the meadows there are blanketed with fog.

It’s a place without a name, without trails or signs, a place where animals go about their days largely unnoticed. Turkeys and deer melt into the tall grasses and bees and butterflies fly freely, flitting from wildflowers planted by Mother Nature.

I often get lost there, though I go no where, spending hours crawling around to seek out and photograph creatures most people would never notice. Time disappears; I am mesmerized. Dragonflies, damselflies, bees, beetles, bugs, butterflies, caterpillars,moths, spiders and many other invertebrates have been captured by me and my Nikon, frozen forever in time so they may be used by me to show the world these amazing little wonders. My favorites are the spider webs–covered in dew, ephemeral works of art that will melt away with the sun’s warmth.

An organization here in North Carolina called Conserving Carolina owns this special piece of land, buying it after the golf community it-was-to-be fell through. Because it is on the French Broad River and has several wetlands, it is an important area for migrating and resident birds. Starting in early spring and continuing through the summer, I monitor 10 bluebird boxes on the property.

Have you ever had the opportunity to monitor bluebird boxes? It can be both joyful and heartbreaking as I have been learning this spring. It is almost always an uplifting experience and I feel immensely grateful for the sneak peak into the lives of some of our most beautiful birds–Eastern Bluebirds and Tree Swallows. I get to witness the progression of the bluebird and swallow families as they go from building the nest, to laying and incubating eggs, and then! To the hatching of the eggs to baby birds and finally, when the babies grow big enough to fledge and head out of the safety of their home, into the field where dangers lurk.

It is reassuring to know that Mother Nature continues on in the way she has since the beginning of time, unaffected by the pandemic tearing through our world. Our world may be chaos, but Nature pays no attention.

The nest boxes are in pairs so that they can accommodate both tree swallows and bluebirds, birds commonly found in meadows. A bluebird will tolerate a tree swallow close by and vice versa, but two bluebirds will not nest this close together, nor will two swallow pairs. By setting the boxes out in pairs, more birds will be served.

We had several nights recently in the 30’s, which for our area, in early May, is unusual. One nest box full of baby bluebirds froze to death, their stiff bodies cold when I checked the box in the afternoon. I felt sad and heartbroken for days. But Mother Nature doesn’t stop to grieve–most of the time the birds simply start building another nest, beginning the process again. Time marches on. There’s a lesson in that for all of us about perseverance, about failures, about never giving up.

Since you can’t be physically with me, I thought I would take you along virtually. You can see what I find in the boxes! (I promise it’s all good!)

I hope you enjoyed this video! I’d love to hear from you if you have questions, comments or just want to share your own stories. Please use the comment box below. Good luck discovering your own amazing moments! There are lots of them out there–you just have to get out and LOOK.