Someone New In My Neighborhood

 Above are the ten pints of spicy pickled asparagus that I put up after our first picking. The last time I made some, I made about ten pints and my wife promptly gave away probably eight of those pints and so this year, I hope to make a lot more if possible. Due to a work trip for my wife and forecasted rains, it wasn't looking likely that a garden trip would be possible today, which is normally when we go. So I went down this past Tuesday, four days after the above picking, and picked about half as much as the first picking. It is currently soaking in cold water in the fridge and I hope to get it picked this afternoon (as I write this). Then maybe next Tuesday, make another run down to the farm for another picking and some mushroom hunting after all the forecasted rains, and get that preserved before my wife gets back and says otherwise. Hopefully if I hide some in reserve so she can't give all of it away, that will be enough to last until next year.

Our neighbor up the street really likes bluebirds and asked several years ago if he could put a nesting box in our backyard. They really like open glades with a nesting place a few feet above ground and so the box is mounted to a metal post in the middle of our backyard. The first year, we successfully fledged several batches of bluebirds and it was a treat to monitor their progress with my kids. Then racoons discovered things and we lost several batches. My neighbor put an upside down bucket around the post and underneath the nesting box to discourage the racoons and it did, but is also discouraged the bluebirds. We went about a year and a half without any bluebirds using the box. 

Last fall, the bluebirds found it again and successfully raised a brood of young though I missed out on seeing them fledge. An ill timed vacation meant we were gone when they fledged. The first year when they fledged, it was always a treat to see. The young bluebirds would fly to nearby trees and sit their peeping their heads off as their parents frantically hunted for worms to feed them. After a couple days, the young bluebirds would either get the hint or move on and they would disappear.

This spring, they immediately found the box and built a nice nest and sometime late last week, laid their first egg. Everyday for four more days, the added another egg to the clutch than stopped, I think as a new one didn't appear this morning. They typically lay 4 to 6 eggs at a time and this one is right in the middle and right on our average. (We have never seen six eggs but another neighbor with a similar bluebird house has several times over the years.) Now the waiting game begins and they will hatch anywhere from 13 to 21 days from now. I find it fascinating that they largely leave their nest unguarded during the day and so temperature plays a large part in hatching times. I have also read that the diet of the female bird also can vary the incubation time. Despite being laid over five days, the eggs will typically hatch all at once or within a day of each other. I'm not sure how that is possible but it is. Then they will hang out in that nest for another 19 days and fledge. So sometime in mid May or the third week of May, I should have five more bluebirds peeping their heads off for their parental worm meal. This will put our total of reared bluebirds up to around 30.