Protective Parents

I went out to check on the bluebird babies today.  My old cellphone took better pictures.  I'm having a hard time getting any good photos of the babies with my current cellphone.  Anyway, I had my hand (with the phone just inside the nest box to take some photos, when both parents flew at me.  The tree swallows have done this--swooping at me, but never making contact--but the bluebirds rarely bother me.  They were not as aggressive as the swallows, but I still felt badly that I scared them.  They've seen me open the box before.  I always alert them to my presence with a call and almost a clap...so, I guess I thought, over the years, I've earned their trust.  Oh well, I'd rather see them protective than not.

I was lucky to get a fairly decent shot of them in the tree where they flew off to observe my retreat.

Here is a picture I took of them earlier this week that I never got around to posting...

...and one from today: