Gonna find us a bluebird, or four

EDITOR’S NOTE: Thanks to reader Susan Durant for this photo and following article.

By SUSAN DURANT

While camping recently with our friends Brian and Lynn ( from Cherry Creek) we had an interesting experience. We were camped at Herald Provincial Park, enjoying a beer when we heard loud, incessant chirping that sounded very close to their parked truck/ fifth-wheel trailer.

Brian checked under the hollow part of the fifth trailer that hooks onto the hitch, and sure enough, there was a nest up there, and Brian got it out, and inside were four exquisite mountain bluebird chicks.

Brian said he didn’t think to check for nests before leaving Cherry Creek, but he said it’s a favourite nesting spot, but was never an issue as they hadn’t moved the trailer until later in the season. We all felt bad for these bedraggled little chicks, being hauled away from their parents (and just imagine how the parents felt).

Three of them were in bad shape, sunken eyes, looked like they were dying, and all weak and hunkered down. We realized it was one chick that was doing all the chirping. We decided right then and there to try to rescue these little guys, as we were due back home in three days.

So, we scoured the forests for moths, and dragonflies, and earthworms, and it was slim pickings, but we managed to interest the one chick to feed. Then we thawed out some hamburger and I pried open the beaks of the three other chicks, and we kind of force fed them with tweezers.

We were so happy (and it wasn’t the beer) when we realized soon that they were all chirping as soon as they saw one of our hands approach their nest. We fed them a lot and often, and at night we tucked them into a warm blanket.

They defecated over the lip of their nest (which we put into a large washbasin) and so we diligently removed the manure from the nest just like we’ve seen Bluebird parents do. This was a busy job, and they were hungry little guys and we were worried we were feeding them too much and too often. They rose early at 6 a.m. for their morning meal.

After day two, these guys looked great, no dehydration and they loved the hamburger, and thank goodness, as it was hard to find any critters. (Running around with fly swatters and plastic baggies alot).

They began to try to fly; we kept them in a tent of towels, didn’t want to lose them… and we noticed by day three that their tail feathers had really grown in that short time span. Camp over, day three, they took a ride in the cab back home to Cherry Creek, and Brian put their nest back up into the hollow part of the fifth wheel hitch assembly.

Right away, the chicks flew out! The parents were still around the area, and when Brian phoned us with the bird report, he said, “I don’t know if the parent birds are trying to feed them or kill them,” as the parents kind of jumped onto the chicks as they sat on the ground.

We think now, that the parents were probably rubbing their scent onto the chicks. Well. the chicks are happy and being fed by the parents as they flit through the sagebrush, and only one of the chicks seems to be missing.