Awwwwww!

They flew away yesterday, and I miss them! But it's nice to know that we had 12 new babies added to the bluebird population from our birdhouse this summer. These last four babies fledged on two consecutive days, Sept. 10th and 11th. Fitting that they hatched on my birtday, August 24, and fledged on our national day of mourning, Sept. 11. I was fortunate (and determined enough) to see all four of these sweeties make their first flights, and it was delightful. They flew off in several different directions, two into the trees, one over the garage, and one up on the roof top! So I'm hoping that Mom and Pop were able to gather them all together eventually....I'm sure they did.
I cleaned the house thoroughly for next season, although the parent birds kept the nest pretty clean this time. All that was left in it were remnants of a green insect of some sort and a small grasshopper or katydid that didn't appeal to the babies palates I guess. They did apparently devour the large slug that Pop wrestled on the deck railing trying either to kill it or bite it into smaller pieces to give to the babies. I watched and chuckled at him for at least five minutes during that struggle. He finally gave up and gave it to them whole and they must have liked it because there was nothing left of it in the nest!
I'm sad that they're gone, but very happy that all went off successfully! I tried to get pictures, but they just popped out too quickly for me to catch them.....must get a bird cam!