A Lovely Beginning
I found four bluebird eggs in a carefully woven nest of fine grasses in our nestbox today. I suspect that there will be five tomorrow, and then the female will begin to incubate them. Waiting until a full clutch is laid ensures that the young birds hatch, grow, and fledge together. Most of the other songbirds that nest here are just getting started or are yet to return. New songs fill the blossoming woods and fields each day – what a lovely beginning for the new season.
Tips & Techniques- When painting a nest that is made of very fine materials, you might decide just to focus on the eggs and suggest the nesting material. Some careful pen or pencil lines and loose paint will often do the trick. And a word of caution: If you find a nest with eggs at this time of year, snap a photo to work from rather than sketch it in the field. This will create the least disturbance for the birds.
Drawn In 
A beautifully perfect approach in nest suggestion, Jean. Just enough to cradle those 4 lovely eggs. And bravo for using a photo to capture the scene. Do you know if your bluebird pair are repeat nesters in your box? When we lived along coastal NC, a friend of ours was certain she had repeat nesters in her bluebird box. She installed a motion camera inside the box and was able to watch the activity, from nest building, egg laying, hatching, rearing, fledgling and flight …… then repeat all over again up to 4 times one year! She sent me all the video clips one year and I created an illustrated book for her. It was like I was there witnessing every step. Wished I’d thought to try your approach in minimizing nest illustration. Thanks so much for sharing!
What a terrific project that must have been– but I’m sure it was challenging, too. The nest materials are so fine– and the young birds look so gangling in the early days. Your friend must have been thrilled.
Thanks so much for those wonderful comments, Jean. Definitely challenging (haha … that’s an understatement!) and she was very delighted with the book.
Beautiful!
Thanks!
I love this! We never have the luck to find a nest and don’t have a “nesting box.” Is it possible for you to post this with the original photo on Instagram so we can see what you were working from?
Peri
I didn’t know Bluebirds got started so much earlier than some of the other songbirds. You know, there’s something of the sky in those eggs, the way you laid the washes, the highlights…just lovely.
The Great blue heron nests that I watch on camera are yielding chicks now…when a heron FINALLY stands up, if the angle is right and you can see down into the nest, there are little fuzzballs in there. Such a treat, even if 90% of the nests (it seems) are now hidden behind leaves. 🙂
Bluebird do indeed get a jump start. They are well established before the tree swallows show up.
I’d love to find myself in a heron rookery!
Pretty stinky…and we don’t go near there, of course, until they’re long gone. Even then, the nests are neck-bendingly high up. I like your bluebird box better. 🙂