It has be some months since our last Family Blue post... and quite a lot has happened with them here. But I will try to make this quite summary, and apologize for any cross-posting of these images, links, and info in other fora.
Missy was attacked by a House Sparrow inside her nestbox last October. She was nearly killed. This somewhat graphic annotated slideshow records her slow recovery from this vicious attack.
http://kenn3d.smugmug.com …=26202983&AlbumKey=Sphknb
But she did survive, and 4 months later she had helped Ben run-off the remaining yearlings, built a first nest, and was preparing to give us another lovely blue 1st egg of the season for Easter.
But that was not to be. Missy did not come for evening worms on that Good Friday. Nor did we see her at all on Saturday. Ben was beside himself looking for her, calling for her, carrying food from perch to perch in hopes to feed her. 
Missy is gone and sorely missed... but she had a long and prosperous life in our yard. She was the beginning and center of our Bluebirding experience every day since she arrived here in 2007. And this is how she'll be remembered.
And in the following recent weeks of early Spring, the birds renew their pairing as they are wont to do... and Ben now has found a new mate.
This is Faith. Temple has named her.
She is not one of Ben's daughters. She was unaware of the worms and other treats we provide, and it took her about 10 days to be convinced to enter the box. A bit longer still being fed by Ben regularly before she began eating with him at the dish. But now they have been mating and she spent several days completing Missy's unused nest, in which she laid her first blue egg this morning.
And so we actually do have Faith in another season now. 
[This story may also appear in the form of an article on the blog]
[A complete weblog of Missy's bountiful life with us can also be found at the Bluebird Nut Cafe]
Kenn
