Bye Bye Bluebirds

If you recall, my last post described the invasion of ants into my hummingbird feeder, which I would have thought would be a food deterrent in the eyes of the beautiful fluttering creatures.  But, it turns out that my concern was for naught.  A friend of mine sent me a very interesting article that claimed that ants make great snacks for hummingbirds and bluebirds.   

But let's face it, a LOT of ants managed to sneak by both prior to their demise in the sugary pool.

So, I took matters into my own hands and stuck packaging tape, sticky side out, along a 12 inch section of the black pole that the ants used for transit from the deck.

It would figure that as soon as I finished with the tape, we experienced a deluge of rain for several hours.  I never went back out to check to see if the tape was still sticky after the rain.  But, since then, I haven't spotted one ant anywhere near the feeder, or the pole, for that matter.

The next morning, though, I spotted this beautiful creature drinking from the feeder.

Isn't he just gorgeous?

Little did I know, that this glimpse of mama bluebird would be one of my last.

Sometime over the last few days,  the baby bluebirds flew the coop.  That became quite obvious when this downy woodpecker came along to explore the house.

He actually had the nerve to enter and check out the place.  I knew that if there were babies still inside,  there was no way that daddy bluebird was going to let him anywhere near that house.

I was a bit disappointed, as I had hoped to have a glimpse of the family prior to departure, but once again the family had moved on without my seeing.  Oh well. 

I wasn't too disheartened as I found my attention quickly drawn to the back porch.

Look closely below and you can see the female goldfinch busily feeding on the seeds while the male looks on.

Soon, they took turns hopping back and forth between the flowers. digging out the tiny seeds. 

Of course, this excitement won't last long, as the flowers are shriveling up quickly.

I'm just glad that I was able to witness it first hand!