Little blue surprise

Now I know that this blog looked like it was about foods and moods. But I can't help but chronicle the little miracle that's going on in the back yard. So consider this an intermission from the food talk.

I saw the mean-and-nasty robin chasing Mr. Blue when I peeked out the window, so I decided to go chase him away. Both birds were gone, so I decided to check up on the box. A small pile of blue feathers at the base of the next box made my heart sink. I knelt down to get a closer look and I heard a clicking noise above me. It was Mr. Blue-- hovering and then flying a little closer, then a little farther--- and clicking some more. He seemed to be torn between his instinct to chase me away and his more logical reasoning that I'm a hundred times his size.

I backed away from the box and the little pile of feathers, and sat on our patio to see what he would do. He was perched on a stake about two houses down. I waited. Then peeked around the fence to see what was taking so long. Well, he was gone again.

Bracing myself for tragedy, I went back to the box. I tapped on the side to let Ms. Blue know I was coming (she wasn't there either) and unlatched the door. I'm a little bit too short to see directly in over the edge of the nest, but I could still see the pastel blue eggs. And then... something moved!

Yippy! Our first baby blue!

I ran back to the house and grabbed a step stool and my camera. Looking at the photos in the handy-dandy bluebird book that I bought, I think the baby must have just hatched. He(she?) is still all pink with a few slimy black feathers in random places. I watched for a while longer then I should have, snapped some photos, and then heard the clicking noise and took my cue to retreat back to my own nest.