
My Eastern Bluebirds are leaving the nestbox, one left 2 days ago, some may have left yesterday, I haven’t checked this morning as it is still dark. The first one may have left prematurely with the heat, but it is okay. It has been an eventful few days and evenings at the nest box as all the noise attracts predators, mainly in the form of snakes. The female was making a lot of noise and very focused on a vine about 6 feet away the other day and would fly over toward the porch where I was sitting, almost trying to get my attention. I went over toward the nest box and sure enough there was a fairly small, maybe 4 foot Rat Snake. I relocated it the best I could. Not 2 hours later just before sunset she was alerting me again, this time another Rat Snake, about 5-6 feet in length. I was able to relocate it as well. The third alert came when a Rat Snake over 6 feet in length was attempting to go through the predator guard I install. I relocated that snake as well. 3 definitely different snakes in 2 days, but my yard still has a bunch of chipmunks and voles. Through all of that she is still the attentive gentle mom to the birds still in the nest box. Life is not easy for my Bluebirds. I do everything I can to increase the chances of their survival with nest boxes 6 to 7 feet high and at least 6 feet away from surrounding trees and shrubs, in addition to the stove pipe I install around the poles and snake netting around the pipe.
Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 3200, shutter speed of 1/250th of a second, Sirui P424S monopod, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #withmytamron, #tamron, #tamronusa, #tamronlensesusa, #tamronimagemaster, #tamron150600g2, #sirui, #siruiusa, #bearwoodsphotography, #bearwoodswildlifesanctuary