School of Hard Knocks

Baby Blue, our Eastern Bluebird juvenile, is getting a rough education in the folkways of the feeder station. Photographs taken at the "woodpecker" suet feeder (a misnomer, since practically every suet eater uses it!) shows poor little Baby Blue being scolded or harrassed by other birds. The primary antagonists are the bad-tempered Gray Catbirds (no surprise there) who have established themselves as Lords of the Suet this summer. In spite of what many people may think, it isn't peaches and cream for the wild birds. Every day is a struggle to find food, water, and cover---even to stay alive. I'm sure Baby Blue will come out okay, but it will learn many more hard lessons on the way.