Before moving to North Carolina in 1991, I had never seen a bluebird, much less, watch them build a nest or hatch a nest of fledglings. North Texas, central Colorado and northeastern Oklahoma had lots of birds. but I never lived anywhere that was conducive to bird watching. I don't bird watch now in the normal sense, I just look out my windows, or sit on the deck, or sit in a deck chair out in the back yard and watch for the birds to come see me.
The trick is to have squirrel proof feeders in strategic locations that are filled with different types of feed that attract different kinds of birds. Cardinals and bluebirds don't like the same kind of food. I think all birds eat insects but all don't eat meal worms in a feeder. Goldfinches like thistle (nyger) seed but house finches prefer millet and sunflower seeds. It took several years, but we finally learned the best feed for the kinds of birds we wanted to attract.
Our back yard backs up to a home that sets on several acres with a private lake and covered in hardwood deciduous trees and a smattering of long leaf pines. We are in an ideal location to attract birds of all types including migratory flyers who stopover for short durations. The climate in the Piedmont region of North Carolina is moderate, with short periods of extreme hot or cold weather, so many birds remain throughout the year.
So it is with bluebirds, as we may observe them anytime during the winter, spring, summer, or fall. I chose to highlight bluebirds because they were the hardest to learn their ways. A little reading and a lot of mistakes taught us where to put their houses and what to put out for them to eat. They are very private and skittish if you are nearby so you have to give them as much seclusion as possible. As you will see in the pictures below, we figured it out and enjoy new fledglings every year. Please comment or ask questions at the end and I sincerely hope you enjoy the site.
Great pictures of one of our favorites. We live in Western Kentucky, near the Land Between the Lakes region. We tend several nest boxes, scattered up and down the length of our open little valley, which helps to keep them around all year, too. Some of the boxes are used for roosts when it gets really cold. And, like you guys, my wife and I are bird watchers, but usually just out the dining room window, on the porch, or out on walks around here. Thanks for words that encourage us to find something for them to dine on here at the feeder stations. We enjoy watching them snag insects in the warm weather months, but offering something during cold weather would obviously be fun, too! Thanks for your insights!
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