TAP TAP TAP .... Guess who came back!

"Princess Bluebird" -- Eastern Bluebird -- Parc Perlière, Charleston, SC -- May 23, 2015

              Yes, I was once again napping on the sofa one Saturday afternoon in late May when I heard a vaguely familiar tap, tap, tap.  Could it be Princess Bluebird tapping in her familiar spot at the dining room window?  Sure enough!  She was back!  A couple of years ago, this bird nested in our nest box and learned how to use the mealworm feeder.  She became an enthusiastic user and I watched her with camera ready at an open window from the dining room.  She knew I was there and she knew who put the worms in the box.  Once when the box was empty, she flew to the dining room window where we have a seed feeder. and began peering into the house.  Then she began the tapping!  You can learn more of how this bluebird learned to use the mealworm feeder and of her ritualistic tapping in these previous blogposts from April 2013, May 2013 and July 2014.

"Princess Bluebird" -- Eastern Bluebird -- Parc Perlière, Charleston, SC -- May 23, 2015

      
                    Like last year, we opted not to respond to her "requests" for mealworms this year as we were preparing, like last year, to leave on vacation.  We did not want to start feeding mealworms to a bird who might have chicks by the time we had to leave and then not have a ready supply of mealworms.

"Princess Bluebird" -- Eastern Bluebird -- Parc Perlière, Charleston, SC -- May 23, 2015

Below are a couple more shots taken from a slightly different angle.  This angle shows her reflection in the window and caused us to wonder if she was simply attacking her own reflection as so many birds will do in car mirrors.

"Princess Bluebird" -- Eastern Bluebird -- Parc Perlière, Charleston, SC -- May 24, 2015

        After experimenting with proximity and angle with the window myself, I no longer believe this is the case.  I could see movement and people inside the house when I was close enough.  Also, she never tapped at any other window -- just the window where a bird feeder sat just inches away.  Of course, a bird's eyesight is not going to be the same as a human's.  But how they differ in terms of seeing reflections in windows at close range vs. seeing through the window to the inside, I do not know.  Previously, I had always had the impression that she was making eye contact with me through the window in her "requests" for mealworms.

"Princess Bluebird" -- Eastern Bluebird -- Parc Perlière, Charleston, SC -- May 24, 2015

         For a week, Princess continued to tap while she and her mate also considered the bluebird box as a potential nesting site.  But eventually they did move on.  Can we presume it is because she was not able to tap us into dispensing mealworms?  Will we see her next year?  I hope so.  I also hope that she comes at a time when we might be able to dish out some mealworms and watch her chicks grow up in the box as in years past!