Good Friends

About this episode

Bobbie shares her experiences observing the return of bluebirds and other wildlife around her farm.

This past week has felt like a reunion of long-lost friends. Our bluebirds moved back into the nesting box outside our dining room window, and yesterday, I watched as they defended their nest from a starling. My first impulse was to go help them, but as much as they may look like helpless eye-candy, they both very aggressively and successfully defended their nest. I cheered as the starling left, and now I know they clearly don’t need any help from me! The robin is making a halfhearted attempt to build her nest once again on the transom over our front door. So far, she’s not added any mud, so all the twigs and straw she gathers slide off the ledge and end up in a pile on the porch floor. The builder in me wants to put up a shelf to help her out, but I’m sure she’ll eventually figure it out and I just need to let her be. A finch has made a tiny teacup sized nest inside the wisteria vines that I never got around to pruning last fall. She made it with hay from our pasture and pieces of wool from the sheep shearing. It’s a fine home, and I’ll happily wait a bit longer – at least until her fledglings have left before I finally trim back the vines. On a quick venture out to look for…

People in this episode

Host: Bobbie Emery

Topics covered

• nature
• birdwatching
• friendship
• wildlife
• gardening

Keywords

• bluebirds
• nesting
• starling
• robin
• finch
• morels
• asparagus

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Clatter Ridge Farm, dining room, porch, wisteria, pasture, rocky spot, summer

More episodes of Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm

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• Weaning Time · May 28, 2026 · 2 min
• Hope Springs Eternal · May 21, 2026 · 1 min
• A Nice Place to Live · May 14, 2026 · 4 min
• Lessons Learned (or not) · May 6, 2026 · 3 min