Sad Day for the Bluebirds

It turned out to be quite decent at 7:00 a.m. Warm but not hot and not humid yet. Best of all, the mosquitos weren't bad at all - quite a contrast to the last few weekends.

It was pretty quiet today. I was greeted at the lower gardens by a bubbling house wren, robins, song sparrows and lots of catbirds. I could hear the wood thrush from the woods near the JCC.

As I walked around the lower gardens I did manage to see a male and female yellow warbler as well as the female yellowthroat. I heard her husband somewhere but never did catch a glimpse of him.

Upper gardens were quiet too - mostly the same as the lower with a chickadee and bluejay thrown in.

I was in the parking lot heading down to the pond, when I saw a flash of blue and some very strange flying low to the ground. As I arrived, I saw the saddest sight. There was a bluebird laying on the ground looking dead. I was devastated. I found a little stick to see if it was alive and it flew off a short distance and sat up. Something was terribly wrong with it but I couldn't tell what. It's tail feathers looked bent off to the side. I wasn't sure what to do - whether I should take it home and see if there was any chance it could survive with some care or leave it to mother nature. I decided to walk to the pond and if it was still there, reconsider.

Down by the pond I saw quite a few mallards but also saw the female wood duck! That was a nice treat - however there didn't appear to be a male unless he was out of view.

On my way back to the parking lot, I looked for the bluebird and it was gone. I'm sure it will not make it and I think it was a female. I hope it found a cooler spot to rest. This has been a tough time for the bluebirds. Our expert Brian discovered that a house wren had punctured the five eggs the bluebirds had laid a few weeks ago and now the female is dying. I just felt sick. I may go back this afternoon and see if I can find it. Of course I'm hoping for some miraculous recovery.