The Year Without The Bluebirds

This is the last bluebird I saw on our property.  It was November 20th of 2013.  That was very late to see one here.

He was all alone.  I hope he met up with some friends down the road.

Mother Nature is a hard woman to deal with sometimes.  2014 will be called "the year without the bluebirds".  Every summer since we moved to Princeton, we have had nesting bluebirds.  They come in March to check things out and then begin building their nests using the exact same bluebird houses.  Every year like clockwork, the Tree Swallows and the Bluebirds arrive.  They squabble over which houses to choose, and then each settles on the same house as the year before.  This year was different.  The Tree Swallows arrived, nested and raised their family but I didn't see a bluebird.  I have seen a few in the area, but only a small percentage of what I usually see.  I don't know if the harsh winter and late Spring had some effect.  I suspect it's the mean little House Wren.  I have written about this nasty little bird many times.  If you want to read some of my rants, just type 'wren' in the blog search box.  This year the wrens are very plentiful.  Every birdhouse on our property was stuffed with sticks.  I would remove them and in a few hours they were full again.  It is illegal to remove House Wren eggs, so I make sure it doesn't get to that point.  Most of the nests are mock nests to discourage any other bird specie from nesting.  They want to dominate an area, and they have taken over this one.  They aren't easily discouraged.  Most of my FitBit steps are from chasing after House Wrens.  The sound of their song makes my blood boil.

I will do whatever needs to be done to discourage the little buggers.

I will use strapping tape when it is necessary and otherwise, I will just leave the door open.

To add insult to injury, our pond is drying up.  Whenever they mess with the locks on the river, we lose most of our water until Spring.  The water can be here one minute and gone the next.

Heron standing on a tuft of grass.

A couple hours later the water has receded with no warning.

I shouldn't complain, I think the Great Blue Heron's love it.  I think when the water leaves, a lot of frogs show up on the mud flats.  The heron's are flying in like it is O'hare Airport.

The weeds have also taken over the landscape.  If I think of it right, that also provides food and shelter for wildlife.  That is nature, and I am fortunate to be able to see the changes on a daily basis. That doesn't mean I don't try to change Mother Nature's mind.  She doesn't listen, but I will keep trying.  Today I turned on the air conditioning because I must have angered her and she's breathing her hot and humid breath into the air.