Bluebirds Abounding!

Today  I am so pleased to join in     Eileen's   Saturday  Critters party...   This is  a great  group of  critter lovers  whose  posts are  always  a delight! 

This week  the bluebirds have really been asserting themselves.. a few years ago in an effort to  see the population grow in our area, we were part of a bluebird society  whereby  we  monitored the nesting habits and  recorded  the  numbers of hatchlings, etc...  

due to    family issues   I  fell off  with this  and  didn't really  keep up with the happenings.  Then one day I checked the  bluebird box,  the  mother bird had been  killed and I was  rather  devastated.  The culprits were the  House sparrows  that  literally took over our yard! This week the bluebirds fought back..there were kamikaze raids  all around  that  nesting box!Hubs  cleared the box out and then it started to rain and  to tell the truth  we haven't  checked it out to see what the verdict is!
Meanwhile,  bluebirds have been frequent visitors in the trees  in our yard. This  wild cherry tree  has  hosted  them in the late afternoons.. I enjoyed  trying to capture them  as the sun was going down!

I know they are bluebirds because they would fly from the maple nearby where I was sitting and saw them clearly  but   couldn't  get a shot of them.. just as I was trying to focus in .. off they'd  fly!

 as the light faded  I ended with some nice  silhouettes

Then yesterday  the robins were  playing around in the dogwood.. happily eating berries.

here  there were two on the ground foraging 

 when suddenly a chipmunk ran out from under the hedge...  I barely captured his   lovely stripe!!!

This shot was purely by accident...   one must be a keen viewer to spot  nature  in its wild state...  there and then it is gone!!!! 
However, this robin posed  for quite a while to capture  his backside!!!

This weekend it is  raining and drear..  the leaves are falling  furiously and  the   before you know it  the critters will be  really  making  their  winter plans!!!  Should be interesting  as  we  spend out time  being intentional about our studies of them!!!