This is a true story as told by Velma McMahan--Nashville, Tennessee

Fifteen years ago, when my husband, Mac, retired from being employed in West Virginia, we moved back to my hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. The place we left in West Virginia was so beautiful with a pond out back, so it attracted all kinds of wildlife--white tailed deer, Canadian geese, all kinds of birds and other small animals. It was there that we had a couple pairs of bluebirds that nested every year. When we came to Nashville, one of the first things I did in the spring, was to go out and purchase a couple of blue bird boxes. We waited two summers, and still no bluebirds, and I was about ready to give up. How thrilled I was to finally see that brilliant blue streak go past my window. We waited with abated breath, watching very closely to every move they made, until their nest was completed and three eggs were layed and hatched. We watched the parent birds as they fed the young ones. One Friday morning, I said to Mac, "You know I haven't seen any activity this morning of the blue birds feeding the little ones." We went out to check the box, and there were only two babies in there, and then we saw a dead one on the ground. We don't know whether it was a snake or something else that spoofed the parents so badly to make them desert their babies. What should we do, what could we do. We finally decided to go to the feed store and get some meal worms. At out first try at trying to feed them, we though it was no use. They were so weak that 'chucking' them under their beak didn't arouse them at all. With one holding a baby, and the other forcing it's beak open and putting a worm in its mouth, and it did swallow it, we were somewhat encouraged, so we hand fed them the rest of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We could hardly believe our eyes, when on Monday morning, the parent birds came back, and started feeding them again, so with our help, they fledged two baby blue birds. This year we had two pairs nesting in our yard, and one pair just fledged their second brood last week--what a thrill it was. If you live in an area where you have a fairly large mowed grassy spot, you will probably only need to put up a couple of boxes to have bluebirds, too. The female, as most females, is very particular as to where she is going to build her nest--she likes to have a choice. Whichever one she doesn't choose, another kind of bird will take.

Happy birding, Velma