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The fledglings continue to explore their world

Luke appears to be getting ready to make the big step of looking for his
mealworms inside the feeder instead of having Anakin feed him while sitting
in the cup on top. |

Well, he almost made it, didn't he? He's so cute, who cares if he's a little
dense? |

Padme shows one of the babies the birdbath.
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This is how you use it!
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After
he finishes his bath, Luke flies to the top of a trellis for some grooming.
Luke is beginning to get his adult plumage. The speckles of the new
fledgling have begun to be replaced with the distinctive blue of the male.
Soon after this picture was taken, the Skywalker family stopped coming to our feeder. We can
only assume that they were looking for a warmer place to spend the winter
months. Although Eastern Bluebirds sometimes will overwinter in the
northeast, this family must have known that the winter of 2002-2003 would
not be as mild as the previous winter had been. |
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As the season drew to a close, we
realized how sweet and patient our Skywalker family had been with our
blundering efforts to "help" them. In our ignorance, we had encouraged them
to put themselves into a less-than-ideal location. We had fiddled with their
first nest after discovering that something had indeed invaded that
location, causing them to abandon the nest and start over. The Skywalkers
only had one nesting last year, when possibly they could have had two. We
learned some valuable lessons which can be summed up in one phrase: Get
it right the first time! But, if you've already made some blunders
yourself, don't despair! The Bluebirds are of a forgiving nature, and if you
take steps to correct your mistakes, they will likely reward you with those
beautiful flashes of cobalt and cerulean blue flying past your windows all
summer, and perhaps even through the winter!
The 2003 nesting season is proving to be as much of an adventure as
2002! Check out the "Aiken" family story of
2003! |
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