annie blossum Loc: USA

I have a bluebird trail my grand-sons and I monitor each year. We have 18 houses. Please send me your bluebird pictures and tell me what you or others do to help with their lost habitat in your area. That way we can all learn things from each other as we go along. I use my bluebird pictures for my carving hobby. I asked my dad for the top of his fence post to put the bluebird on. Look at the insulator and the bent rusty nail holding it on. That is what I wanted that post for. I could have sold this carving hunderds of times just because of that being on the post. I've never taken pictures like the bottom two. If you will look you can see I have a hub cap for their birdbath and on the right side there is a feeder for meal worms and peanut butter. I use crunchy. This is the first time I've use it but they like it. Just don't but out too much at a time they like it fresh. The bottom photo I took several years ago. I had my camera and the baby had just fleadged the nest.

I started my trail in 1980 with one house. Pictures I take helps we with my carvings.


I've have never taken a picture like this but I wanted to share them with you.


That's all of that. The bluebirds don't mind you monitoring their nest.

annie blossum Loc: USA

Well old HP laptop locked up again so I didn't get my last photo added to my reply. Here it is. I hope you like it.

I call this my bad hair day. Looks like me in the morning. He has a reason because he had 4 other baby birds laying on top of him for several days. Isn't he cute. I bet he was gald to get out of there.

Blueduck Loc: Maryland

#3 looks like Larry Fine from the 3 stoogies. Very cute. By the way what is the pan above the bluebird house for? It must be awfully loud when it rains.

cameranut Loc: North Carolina

I will post a couple pics when I get my pc out of the shop. One is a baby that fledged & the other is an adult on my neighbor's fence post. They have bluebird houses on the posts that surround their horse pasture & lots of woods in the vicinity.

foehner Loc: St. Louis, Missouri

Twenty years ago, I built and put up my first blue bird house on our hobby farm. I walked about 200 ft away from that new box, started to tell my wife that it was ready for occupancy and noticed that a pair of bluebirds were already inspecting it. Do you think they were hurting for habitat?!?! That pair raised at least two broods that first year. I added about 20 more boxes to the farm over the years.

I moved away and just returned a few years ago. I no longer have that farm, but still have irregular blue bird visits. We have excellent bluebird grounds... wood-edged pasture and a county park. I've put up a special 'blue bird only' meal worm feeder, 5 houses and three winter roosting boxes. We get 5 or 6 blue birds hanging around each late winter and spring, but they end up nesting somewhere else.

Maybe next year?

C. David Loc: Wisconsin

The pix are GREAT!!!! I've heard from friends and family the Bluebirds are in this area and I've yet to hear one. :cry: We set up a Bluebird house/feeder a couple of years ago and have seen a bunch, but nothing yet this year. If anything neat shows up I will post the pix. :thumbup: 8-)

annie blossum Loc: USA

I hope some will nest for you soon. I love my bluebirds. These 5 babies left the nest yesterday and the parents are already building another nest in the house. Please share how you do your photo technique if you don't mind. I have some posted on my topic happy mother's day.

This picture was taken in March. It is blurred because I didn't expect him to do that.

foehner Loc: St. Louis, Missouri

I'm quite pleased that someone thinks I have a 'technique'!! I take a lot of bid photos... and probably the biggest part of my technique is that... I take a LOT of photos (and get rid of almost as many). Many of my backyard bird photos are through a large window. Shooting through glass is not something I recommend for anyone, but you take whatever you can get.

My bluebird pic was taken like that from inside the house. I use a Canon SX30 IS and make use of the zooooom for bird pics. Even when taking shots at 800mm, the results tend to be improved by cropping (which I did on the one posted).

I really like your leaping bluebird. I've looked a long time at the photo, but can't find what has caused such an alarm!

And there is news on my home bluebirds... I walked past one of my boxes yesterday and a bluebird flew out. I later saw another fly out, so something is definitely going on. But I think both birds I saw were males. Anyway... I'm going to start putting meal worms out again.

How do you feed with peanut butter? I have a gaggle of (unwanted) birds that swarm all over peanut butter and suet. I make my woodpeckers happy with shelled peanuts, but would like to supplement the bluebird food with peanut butter.

Thanks for any help - J

mrspatanderson Loc: Saskatchewan, Canada

Oh I love these colorful little birds! Thank you so much for sharing!

annie blossum Loc: USA

I don't know why he jumped but it may have something to do with the night berfore. These bluebirds have a dine in and spa area. The hub cap is a birdbath. On the right side there is a feeding tray for mealworms. This is the first year I've offered crunchy peanut butter. My meal worms are mostly in the pulpa and beetle stage so I don't have a lot to feed rigt now. They like the peanut butter but it has to be fresh so don't add a lot at one time. The bluebirds fledged early last week so I cleaned out the nest and the parents are nesting there again so the birdbath must not make too much noise. So far 10 babies have fledged, 5 babies died were the parents left the nest due to red wasp and 2 eggs went missing from one box. I didn't take time to check the boxes this week but I have 2 pair building nest and one has eggs or babies. This is the house where the 5 died. Do you raise your own mealworms? They are easy to raise. Instructions are on the internet.

Male going to eat mealworms


This is the house were I lost the 5 babies. A new nest has been built.


The tray I feed mealworms and peanut butter.


Looks like they could be having a little fight,

annie blossum Loc: USA

Keep sending me pictures and ways that helps you take good bird pictures. I need help. I've got to go to bed but I will share with all of you some things I do when I take pictures of bluebirds. Talk to you later today. Good Night. I'm out of here.

cameranut Loc: North Carolina

We don't have Bluebird houses (to many cats) but I managed to get a few pics. One is from a neighbor's fence post, & the baby was in our yard a couple years ago. Both parents were working to get it to another location. I don't know where the nest was at. I never could find it. The pics aren't very good & I don't have PS or Lightroom, etc. I will have to mention the peanut butter to my neighbor. Maybe she will let me add some houses to the fence post.

on fencepost with a bug


baby not quite ready to fly


on power line

annie blossum Loc: USA

I love the little baby.
Don't give up for this year. Bluebirds nest about 4 times per year. Put your houses about 5 feet off the ground on a metal pole or pvc pipe. Erect it facing east or north that faces a large open area. The boxes stay cooler facing this way. Make sure there is no large growing plant or trees next to the house. They like to look out for danger before leaving the box. Watch for them doing their wing wave during their mating time. That alone is great to watch. They also like a wire to perch on. Power line, clothes line, whatever. I bet I will hear from you later that a pair came to nest at your house. There is a lot more information on the internet. Happy birding. Your pictures are great. Send me more as you get them. 7 eggs now. Makes 10 fledged, 9 egg 2 missing from nest. 5 dead from red wasp taking over the house.

Bluebird on my redbud tree.

annie blossum Loc: USA

I know this is long but I hope it will help in taking pictures of birds.
I'm no professional but I will share with you some things I do to take bird pictures. I use my truck as a blind. The birds see it around the yard so they don't mind me getting close to them. They see me coming and they are glad to get a free meal. This year is my first year to feed bluebirds (cheap) crunchy peanut butter. Don't feed a lot at one time they like it fresh.
If you take time to observe the birds you will learn where they like to pearch before they come for food or moreso where they go after they have gotten their treat. After I find that spot I can plan on getting a picture in their natural habitat instead of at a feeder. Late fall to early spring when the leaves are off the trees is a good time to take pictures. I love to take them in spring when the buds and blooms are beginning to start. The photo above of the bluebird on the redbud took days for me to get the lucky shot. I was feeding the bluebirds mealworms when 2 males came in at one time. This one stopped for a second and I got 2 shots. Just a lucky moment.
While using my truck I use all of the mirrows to watch the bird activity. They have a pattern to what they do most of the time. I parked so I could see one of their favorite places in my side mirrow and places in my rearview mirrow.
When my bradford pears were blooming I wanted to get a male bluebird or redbird in the white blossums. I took all of my feeders down and left only one out that attracts redbirds. After watching for a while I learned which side they flew to most of the time. I wanted them closer to my truck and a better place in the tree to get a better picture. I moved the feeder to that side then watched to see where they flew too. If I needed to I moved the feeder closer to the tree or back away from it.
With the bluebirds I only feed 2 mealworms at a time on a plastic tray on the ground. That gave me a shorter wait before they return and more pictures I could take. They had about 3 places they liked to pearched before coming to the food. Corner of my shop, our basketball backboard or our fence.Since I don't like to take their pictures at the feeder I wait for them to fly to the tree. If branches are bloomes are blocking the place they like to go I cut off a branch or remove some blooms. I moved the mealworms until I got them going close to where I wanted them to fly. This is going to take some time.
Using shodows: A couple yeaars ago I noticed the bluebirds going to the goal backboard. While I was working in my shop I noticed I could see their shadow when they flew away. I set a tray of mealworms (with branches of natural habitat add)in front of my shop rollup door. I went to do yard work. I checked to make sure they were eating them and would give them more. Later that afternoon I sat on my lawn mower and started taking pictures. Since they had been coming for food they didn't notice me because I was several feet inside the shop.
I was chair person of the wildlife committee at the chemical plant where I worked. Each year we went to Washington D.C to wildlife symposiums with WHC. On one of our trips we went on a hike with a perfossional photographer. She had made a fake owl out of quail feather,foam balls and eyes. She had a tape called a bird enticer.(You can buy those at wildlife stores). We were in a small group of shrubs but where you could still see the birds. Within just a minute or two all kinds of songbirds came to check out the sounds. She also taught us sound we could make to get the birds to come in. You hold your teeth together and blow air through you lips that are puckered like your giving a kiss. It really works. Better when you have a group. If you use these techniques have your camera ready to take pictures. The birds have come so close to me my camera was zoomed too much to get their picture.
In 2011 we had a lot of snow for N AL. When I wasn't out in my truck freezing I took about 3 tree branches and attached them to the post on my patio cover. That way I could take the pictures from my craft room without the screen on and get some fair shots.
Until the winter of 2011 I did not know bluebirds stayed in flocks until they pair off to mate. I could not believe it when I saw over 50 bluebirds at one time in my brother's yard.
I hope this has help some. Try some of the hints out when you have time. If you only have a point and shot camera you can still make good pictures. Most have good zooms and take the pictures faster than they did years ago.

Redbird on habitat I added to patio during snow storm.

annie blossum Loc: USA

Sorry about the picture post. My laptop has been sent in for repairs 3 times and I've had to delete all of my photos. My time ran out before I could locate my bluebird pictures in my bradford pears. I'll post them later. Keep sending those pictures and bird tips.