Leslie Patten Books: Wild Places, Sacred Spaces

A pair of bluebirds has been nesting here for over a month.  They laid a clutch around May 25 which didn’t hatch until several weeks ago (unless perhaps, when I go to inspect the box, they built a nest on top of the old unhatched eggs).  From what I’ve seen and read, bluebird eggs should hatch within about two weeks so this was very unusual.  I had been checking the 5 eggs every few days, till finally, on June 25, they hatched.

The father is an especially watchful and concerned dad.  He is always checking on the hatchlings, and he was always checking on the eggs too.  Three eggs hatched and lately, as they’ve been growing, the parents have been busy feeding those hungry youngsters.

Concerned dad

Long-Tailed weasel

I just returned from a Bioblitz over the weekend in the Pryors.  I headed out to check my trail camera in the woods and upon my return the bluebirds were really upset, making a big racket right outside their box.  I stood watching fairly close, wondering what the fuss was about.  Then I saw.  A head popped out of their house, and suddenly a long-tailed weasel emerged.  He ran off into a ground squirrel hole quick as a flash. Then I went to check on the babies.  One had fledged and was alive in the grass, but the other two were dead in the box.  If only I’d been a bit quicker I might have scared that weasel off.

I watched the birds for the next several hours.  The weasel returned for his prizes and carried them back into the hole, while the fledgling made his way through the grass uphill into deeper cover.  While the upset parents kept an eye out for the weasel, they also fed and protected their only baby that was left.

fledging hiding in bushes, making it’s way farther from the nest box

Meanwhile a menagerie of other bird species were coming around, interested.  Juncos, a female bluebird, and especially a pair of chipping sparrows wondered what the fuss was about, sometimes helping to scare off the intruder.  One of the most fascinating things was to watch the response of all the neighboring birds over the course of the several hours the bluebirds were upset.

That weasel, or its offspring, may have been the one that ate my pika two years back.  Oddly, he seemed to know exactly when to make his move for the birds–when they were just about to fledge, still helpless yet nice and plump.

mom still feeding the one chick left in the bushes

I rarely see weasels although I know they are around.  But being opportunistic carnivores, they have impeccable hunting skills.  Since I’ve watched this pair of bluebirds year after year, I feel a kinship with them and wanted to drive off that weasel.  I even tried to get my dog to flush him out.  Maybe the fact that the dog and I were gone for 3 days gave this weasel his bold chance.   Yet nature has it’s own ways and my human interference, well-intentioned though it may be, is probably more of the problem than a solution.

Filed under: Bluebirds, Mustelids | Tagged: Bluebirds, Long-tailed weasel |