Take one of these.

Add one of these.

Mix them with one of these.

And soon you might have some of these.

Which turn into these.

Which grow into these.

The few weeks punctuated by lots of these.

Ultimately resulting in the appearance of these.

If this happens early enough, the process will automatically repeat.

— — — — — — — — — —

Photos:

1. Adult female eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis)
2. Adult male eastern bluebird
3. One of several bluebird houses at the family farm in East Texas
4. Eastern bluebird eggs in the nest
5. Eastern bluebird hatchlings a few days old
6. Eastern bluebird nestlings almost two weeks old
7. Female eastern bluebird perched on the nesting box and feeding her brood
8. Eastern bluebird fledglings

Notes:

1. Although several bluebird houses exist at the family farm here in the Piney Woods of East Texas, bluebirds are not the only species who use them.  More on that in a coming post.
2. Assuming the bluebirds nest early enough in the season—here they often do just that—a second nest might be built in the newly vacated house.  That’s the case here, thus we have adult bluebirds already feeding young in the same house that birthed the five youths shown here.
3. Moving to East Texas from Dallas in February has offered plenty of nature to photograph.  I now live in the Piney Woods far from urban jungles, so things here are more wild and more abundant.  Alligators are a walk away (from the farm to the bayou), cougars are rarely seen but making a comeback, birds are plentiful and plants are everywhere.  Once again I find I’m collecting more pictures than I can share, but I promise to do my best in that regard.