When the Conditions Are Right

The weather has taken a turn for the worse, or should I say we've gone backwards? It is cold and rainy. This is a good news/bad news turn of events. It is good news for the "cold weather crops", such as the peas and the spinach in my garden. As the name suggests, they thrive in these cool conditions.

The bad news is that this weather is taking it's toll on the many young bluebirds along the bluebird trails. The youngsters are not old enough to leave the nest and the cold wet weather is killing them. Murph and I have been working trying to save them, but really, there is only so much you can do. I came up with the idea to use the heat packs we use during hunting season. These have worked great to warm up the nests and helped a couple of them during the frosty weekend that just passed. Murph stated that he liked the idea, but that he would not be using these heat packs. I gave him one on Sunday, just in case. He called me this morning to tell me how he used one and it seemed to have saved an nest of young fledglings. The little guys (5 of them, I think), warmed up and flew away. At any rate, many of the nests will fail and we are sure to lose many bluebird chicks. The bluebirds, however, will not give up and will lay another clutch of eggs. That is their job this time of year. This first batch of eggs were just too darn early. The warm weather fooled us all.

Murph is teaching me, and I am teaching him.