Papa and two of the five new babies.

I posted the following text to Facebook a few days ago, and meant to post it here and didn't. While the photo bllipped here was taken about 20 minutes ago, the entire text that follows applies.

I took this picture about an hour ago, and I can't tell you how happy it makes me. A few weeks ago Mama and Papa Bluebird had their first brood of the year. Right after that Jen and I went out of town for a few days. When we got home I noticed that Mama wasn't around helping feed the babies. Something apparently had gotten her.

At this time the babies were not even a week old, and everything I read said there was no way they could survive being this young with no Mama. That wasn't acceptable to me or Papa! Papa was working his tail to the bone just trying to keep them fed. I made sure there was a steady supply of mealworms, so papa didn't have to worry about hunting food all of the time. We helped Papa remove the poop sacks from the nest as well. We also wrapped the house with insulation to make sure the babies didn't get too cold, since Mama wasn't there to keep them warm. The males don't do that.

We had to go away again the following week, so we talked the pet sitter into putting out a big pile of mealworms twice a day to make sure they got fed.

I knew we would be home one day before they usually fledge, and the first thing we did was check on them. There were five babies in there, looking big and healthy!!!!! The next day - ALL FIVE BABIES FLEDGED!!!!!!! Papa did such an awesome job of taking care of them. It was something to watch. He will only feed these a few more days, and then they will have the tools they need to survive on their own.

And Papa? He has to be very proud, plus, he already has a new woman, and she laid her first egg in the new nest this morning!! Can't wait to watch them hatch and grow!