These bluebird nests are from the nesting boxes around our farm. You know why I keep harping on the importance of cleaning out the nest boxes in the spring before the birds build new nests?
This is why. The old nests are build high in the box. When the new courting couples moves in, they might build on top of the old nest, putting their chicks close to the entrance. Then it’s easy for predators to get their babies.
The bluebird nests are removed and the nesting boxes are clean and waiting for the new tenants.
Bluebird nest with an egg. The egg probably never hatched.
I knew Shadow’s thick fur was good for something! The birds used it as a layer in their nest!
Jeanne Grunert is a certified Virginia Master Gardener and the author of several gardening books. Her garden articles, photographs, and interviews have been featured in The Herb Companion, Virginia Gardener, and Cultivate, the magazine of the National Farm Bureau. She is the founder of The Christian Herbalists group and a popular local lecturer on culinary herbs and herbs for health, raised bed gardening, and horticulture therapy.