Bluebirds have left the nest

The Baby Bluebirds fledged the nest last Friday morning. I knew Thursday evening that they probably would leave the nest sometimes Friday because they were so alert and poking their little heads way out of the nest box looking all around. They were also flapping their wings constantly in anticipation of leaving the nest. What I didn’t know was how early they would leave the nest box before daylight. I was able to locate 3 of them right away. I found one hiding in my back yard, one in my front yard and one was dead. I didn’t find the 4th one until Saturday. I was in my backyard pulling up some plants near the nest box and when I disturbed a big Corn Snake that was camouflaged in the pine straw. I almost had my hand on it before I saw it and managed to jerk my hand out of the way just as it drew back to strike me. To start with I wasn’t sure if I had gotten my hand out the way in time but I did. Corn Snakes are not poisonous but I still didn’t want to get snake bit. After I calmed down, I noticed that the snake had a big lump in it about the middle of its body. It was my missing Bluebird baby. (You do not want to know how I know this.) Nature is tough. Out of the 5 original eggs, 4 hatched and only 2 survived their first day out of the nest. Until this morning I haven’t seen the 2 surviving babies since they left my yard last Friday so I was happy to see them both in a tree in my back yard this morning with the parents were bringing them breakfast. At least we know they have survived a week out of the nest.

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The Corn Snake or Red Rat Snake is a harmless non-venomous snake. Average adult size is 18-44 inches. Adults are orangish-brown with black bordered orange, red, or brownish blotches. The belly usually is a black and white checkerboard pattern. There is a spear-shaped pattern on the head and neck. The Corn Snake is primarily active at night. It is both a terrestrial borrower and extremely good climber. It feeds on lizards, frogs, rodents, and birds and their eggs. The name, 'Corn Snake', is from when southern farmers stored harvested ears of corn in a crib. Rats and mice came to the corncrib to feed on the corn, and corn snakes came to feed on the rodents.