Bluebirds are on the rise...

This season, I was glad to have two helpers because bluebirds are on the rise again, although they have not yet fully bounced back (see summary below). But we also encountered some interesting love stories.

A male and his mother decided to mate together. As you can imagine, the results were not glorious: only 2 kids from the first attempt, one malformed out of 3 kids in the second attempt, one chick that died within hours of hatching during the third attempt. Despite this success rate, they have remained faithful to each other.
A pair that met last year and was already successful then managed to raise FOUR broods of 4 to 6 kids each, totaling 19 kids in 2023!
Three pairs who were successful with their first attempt encountered various issues of predation, loss of partner, etc. The last attempt at these three nest boxes was really sad. After all their efforts, the three females incubated clutches of 3 or 4 eggs each that never hatched. They kept trying for 2-3 weeks beyond the normal time, but to no avail, because those eggs were sterile.
A pair that is mostly quiet and barely seen kept hopping from one nest box to the next but they were as successful as last year.
A female lost her partner (divorce or death, we don't know) but managed to raise all 5 of her kids all by herself, which is rare. She was doing all the work: incubating, feeding, cleaning, keeping them warm, and defending the nest box against intruders.
The female we named Janet (after a cancer fighter) was in poor shape when we captured her after the snowstorms in 2021, but she's made an incredible recovery and raised three broods this year for the third year in a row!
A pair fought against a weird disease that plagues 3 of their 5 chicks during their first attempt, then a cat that relentlessly jumped on their nest box managing to snatch at least one of the chicks in the third nesting attempt.

Aren't bluebirds amazing little things?

Besides that, bats have also made a come back. I had not seen them sleeping for the day in nest boxes since 2019, but this year, we made four encounters. They don't cause any trouble so I was happy to see them. On the other hand, mice started using nest boxes as well, a first on the Jonesboro bluebird trail, and that is more of an issue, so we will have to keep an eye.

So, here is the summary for this year, relative to previous years:

First egg date:

2023: March 14

2022: March 19

2021: March 28

2020: March 14 (record tie with 2006!)

2019: March 25

Last Fledging date:

2023: Aug. 21

2022: Aug. 20

2021: Aug. 23

2020: Sept. 11