Nature Taking its Course, I Guess...

We have been busy and away too many weekends in a row lately.  I have not been able to keep as much of an eye on things as I'd like--not that I think I could've done much to change what appears to have happened.

I knew the bluebirds were back and had been feeding their young.  They were the first cavity nester to begin nesting in the meadow where I have several nest boxes.  Later, the tree swallows appeared--in bigger numbers than I've had before...although the last two years, I've found their nests and eggs abandoned.   I also had--what I thought was a Carolina wren.  I'd seen a pair late this winter/early spring, so, when I saw a wren at a distance, I assumed it was the Carolina; however, it was a house wren.  House wrens are notorious for piercing the eggs of other cavity nesters--and apparently open-nesting birds as well.

With that said, house wrens are native birds--I don't like their behavior, but I have welcomed nature to my yard.  It appears that only two of my bluebirds brood survived to fledge.  I always seem to miss them actually leaving the nest, but maybe some day I'll get it on video.

For now, here is the footage I got that shows the two babies getting fed by dad: