The Second Clutch Hatches

After a first clutch of five eggs which hatched only a single baby, our backyard bluebirds at Chateau Papillon, Eloise and Nathaniel, have successfully hatched a second clutch. Joining little Harry (or Harriette?)--now a juvenile getting brave enough to visit the yard proper--are five new arrivals.

As of about 1pm, Beth checked and saw that the first three eggs had hatched, and we both figured that the other two, if they hatched at all, would do so over the next couple of days. So imagine our surprise this evening when we went to check on the box and saw that all five had hatched in the same day! (I can only see four in the photo I took, but Beth said she counted five in the box itself--and one might be a bit hidden in the photo on second glance.)

Already, whistling will bring the babies to poke their heads up and open their mouths, begging for food. We're ramping up the number of mealworms we put out for the bluebirds so they'll have plenty to feed the new arrivals without having to hunt all over the neighborhood for bugs and the like (and expose themselves to the hawks I've heard calling out from the woods).