Each year in April, a pair of bluebirds occupies the birdhouse outside my kitchen window. They are good at their job and always manage to bring off a brood of 4 to 5.
More than a month ago I noticed that the roof was in need of repair, but I never got around to doing this. The bluebirds showed up a few days ago. Two night ago we had a rainstorm with high winds, and yesterday I noticed that the roof had entirely blown off. Inspecting, I found a neat nest with two eggs, well soaked by the rain, and no bluebirds in sight (I imagined they had gone off in search of a better landlord). I let the nest dry out while I made a new roof.
Before installing this, I debated whether to leave or take the eggs. Pro: The eggs are probably now dead; taking them may induce the female to lay replacements. Con: The eggs might still be viable; finding them gone might be the additional evidence needed to abandon this nest. The pro argument won, and I replaced the roof over a dry but empty nest, wondering if I’d again see the birds.
Well, in less than 15 minutes they were back. Today they are very much in residence, and the nest contains a new egg with (I expect) more on the way. Clearly, these are intrepid birds - but I’ve resolved to do a better job of off-season maintenance,
