Backyard Drama: Foreign Invaders vs. Sky-blue Protagonist

Female bluebird arrives with nesting material

A month ago I described the avian drama unfolding in my backyard. For a year I’ve hoped that last year’s Eastern Bluebird nest would be re-claimed by its original owners and I’d witness one, maybe two (dare I be so greedy as to hope for THREE?) clutches this season.

In April it seemed as though last year’s pair was back to claim their nest. A pair of bluebirds examined the box interior, fluffed the grass, but didn’t find it satisfactory and moved on. Was this last year’s pair thumbing their beaks at the box? Were they early migrants who decided a more northerly climate would be best to raise a family? Or did they find a lovely Cape down by the creek? A cold snap may have contributed to their chill reaction.

At the same time, a pair of dark, mottled House Sparrows started casing my yard. This raised my dander and sent me straight to Floyd Van Ert to buy House Sparrow traps. Soon after, a pair of European Starlings moved into the flicker box we’d placed on the barn (which, by the way, is in clear view of the woodpeckers daily feeding route). It was like being invaded by Mongolians! Constant vigilance was required.

So instead of spending lazy Sundays in the yard watching bluebirds and baby woodpeckers feed chicks, the last month has been us continually peeking into an empty bluebird box, watching flickers whiz by with nary a stop, suspiciously eyeing House Sparrows, and consciously evicting nesting starlings.

The House Sparrows took the hint and moved on. The starlings, however, are like the tenants that can’t pay rent but won’t move out. We’ve busted in and tossed their belongings on the front lawn, we’ve stolen their babies, we’ve boarded up the house! But they fly into an open window at night and start all over again. Are they smokin’ crack in there?

Sparrow traps won’t work on this particular box, so week after week my husband has stretched a ladder up to the box, removed nesting material, removed more nesting material, then removed egg after egg after egg.

We thought all this nest trashing would weaken their reproductive will and they would either move on or give up. The darn birds keep nesting and keep laying, however. Tomorrow we are due to deliver another eviction notice, and may need to bring the sheriff for backup.

But hark! My avian soap opera has an up-twist. Luke and Laura have returned to the set!

Ten days ago, we finally spied another bluebird couple in our yard. They visited familiar perches: telephone wire, shed, pine tree, walnut tree, and gutter spout on neighbor’s house. No nesting activity was taking place, however, so I tried not to get my hopes up.

It didn’t work, that whole not getting my hopes up. The fact is, I’d be disappointed if this pair decided to move on. I would be crushed if our box lie empty, fallow, barren, unused for the remainder of the season.

So imagine my glee when three days ago, a full week after they started their neighborhood reconnaissance mission, Luke and Laura FINALLY committed to each other–and this box–again. Theme song, please!

And now, every day I tip-toe outside to watch her build as he looks on from his favorite perch.

Quite a mouthful of nesting material! The blades are so orderly and even...

Sure, the producer COULD have given it to me easy.  But I’m on the edge of my seat watching the series unfold. The introduction of a classic European antagonist as a foil for a growing SUB-plot involving another foreign invader that twists and becomes the MAIN plot? Genius! Cameos by popular but aloof characters? Addicting! Plus what I hope is a swelling crescendo of its sky-blue protagonist? Simply brilliant!

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