Last of the Bluebird Babies

This is a juvenile bluebird.  Most likely from the first brood from earlier this summer.  They do hang around with the adults and will help, or attempt to help with feeding nestlings.

This is the last nestling.  How do I know that it was the last one?  Well, from the camera on the inside.  We knew that it was about time that the last clutch would be fledging and I had become so accustomed to their chattering that I didn't notice they were leaving the box until I heard that one plaintive cheeping going on and looked over and only saw the one still in the nest.  I watched from the house for a bit thinking that it would fledge at any moment and then thought I should grab the camera and try to get closer to try to capture the moment.  

The parents and a couple of the siblings from an earlier brood were trying to coax this one out.  The juvenile even attempted to feed it.  But this little one was not ready.  I was up on the deck by the pool to get a "bird's eye view" of the nesting box which enabled me to get closer to take some pictures.  This little one just did not want to budge.  I think if it had had another one in the box to push it, it would have taken off no problem.  Instead, I made myself comfortable in one of the deck chairs and whilst I was watching I also deadheaded the portulaca in the 4 large planters (which will be planted with something else next year because this deadheading is a chore on those small flower heads).  I watched for over an hour, periodically taking pictures. 

The parents were back and forth trying to keep track of the three who had already left the box while keeping an eye on this one.  Unfortunately this one lost it's balance and tumbled out to the ground while they were away.  I could hear it calling the parents and they came back to the box but were having a hard time finding it on the ground.  I'm hoping they eventually did.  

So for this summer we had a total of 13 baby bluebirds that survived.  There were 6 eggs in the first brood and one egg mysteriously disappeared the day before the others hatched.  The mother may have accidently broken it - we'll never know.  The second clutch had 5 eggs of which 4 hatched and the unhatched egg was visible in the box for a couple of days and then that one mysteriously disappeared.  The last clutch was the smallest in the amount of eggs laid - 4, but with the summer coming to an end and the hot weather that we were experiencing I'm sure that momma blue was tired out and knew what she could handle.  

The camera is turned off now and in a couple of days HWNSNBP will clean out the box for the season.  We'll keep feeding them the live mealworms until we run out and then switch over to the dried ones.

There is a period of days after the chicks fledge when you don't see hide nor hair of them except the parents and older juveniles at the feeder for worms.  We know their calls and can hear them in the trees but they're teaching the young ones how to stay out of vew while they're still at their most vulnerable.