Here it is the first of December and it was warmer out this morning than it has been for days.  Belle and I spent a long while on the patio while I had my morning tea.

I have a bird bath sitting on the corner of my patio.  The birds were taking turns coming for a drink.  There are several gutsy mockingbirds that hang out in my back yard.  They don’t worry if I move around a bit.  I have watched them tease my cat and dog, chase squirrels and pick on other birds.  Robins aren’t far behind mockingbirds at being fearless.  They allow me to move arms and head without worry.  There were wrens, cardinals and jays that came this morning.  I was thrilled to have a pair of blue birds come.  They are really shy so I had to be very still.

I love bluebirds.  They are so pretty and their song is so melodious.  It appears they talk to each other.  One year I hung a decorative birdhouse on a limb of my pecan tree.  It was not appropriate for a birdhouse although a couple of sparrows used it later.  The male bluebird flew in and checked it out, then the hen came and looked it over.  They sat for a couple of minutes in the tree warbling back and forth and then flew away.  I took it that she did not approve of his find.  I went right out and purchased a bluebird house and put it up in the back yard. Soon, in flew a male bluebird and looked it over and then came the hen.  She approved and they set to work building the nest.  I even got to see the babies fledging a few weeks later.

It has not always been so wonderful for the bluebirds in my back yard.  One year the female didn’t come home.  The male sat on the fence for days calling for her.  That year the babies died.  Another year a neighbor’s marauding cat killed the hen during the night.  After that it was several years before I had a pair choose that nesting box.  I was thrilled last year when a pair came and stayed.  I don’t know if it is the same pair but one has been hanging out in the back yard.  They are staying near the birdhouse.  They came for a drink this morning.