Overwintering Bluebirds

Earlier in January, I discovered that some bluebirds were overwintering in our neighborhood. When I would step outside with Pepper first thing in the morning, I would hear them singing. That surprised me - I thought that they migrated.

Then, I saw something else that surprised me - a pair began spending nights in the barn swallows' nest above the arch on our front porch!

The photos aren't the best because they were taken either through a window or from the ground right underneath them.

I observed them several days before verifying that they were truly bluebirds. It just didn't seem like normal bird behavior to me for them to roost in another species of bird's nest.

But I caught them one morning as they left the nest for the day, and that brilliant blue of their feathers was unmistakable.

We do indeed have a pair of bluebirds spending the winter with us. What a treat!