A Bluebird Poem

 May 7. All is well in bluebird land today, as the babies are getting a little bolder and making attempts to climb up out of the "cup" of the nest. They are even sort of individuating, as they used to be one big mass all wrapped together, but now they are not only separating themselves, but they are even starting to peek out from under their mama when she sits on them. She seemed to go away for longer periods today and she would come back with all kinds of weird (and BIG) insects and pop them right down the babies' gullets. You can see some of their features forming in the attached pics from today.

Noticing their claws and beaks and little feathers brings to mind the beautiful short poetic thought piece that Jen Kulbeck wrote this week. Her writing group had a 10-minute free write using a prompt about street signs. She lit upon a sign message that took her to thoughts of the bluebird house. Here's what she sent:

I wrote about the bluebird family in my class tonight. The prompt was "street signs" - in 10 minutes, here's what came:

Do not enter. Do not lift the top of the birdhouse to look inside. Just run the cables from the camera you installed in the lid and leave it be. Thank you for learning how to livestream, and thank you for getting a camera with a little microphone. Eggshell blue is many different shades of blue, blue-green, dark aqua - and the awkward pink hairless nubs that have come from those five small, compelling shells - there are many romantic words in the world that could describe it all. I'll admit I've been dreaming about the barely sounds that no one can hear during the minutes when soft tissue becomes hard tissue and then beak or claw. I see the yellow color lining the little open mouths when the bluebird enters and drops food into each one. That yellow lipstick is a soft beak just starting to form. Maybe there is a crunching sound, maybe snoring or shuffling or stepping on chests, rustling the twigs around the nest, the wind on the microphone, my heart beating in my chest.

Baby Foot

Babies Venturing from the Cup

Papa Bird in the Nest

Baby Birds Individuating