Don't worry, at this time of the year bumbles are done, most are dead now, some Queen bumbles who start the whole cycle again next year already have appropriate shelter in holes in the ground, buildings, sheds, walls etc. Konrad

shade is impossible to describe by words .... some shade will make your glasses dark .. other shade is like a grotto ... every conifer has an annual growth rate ... e.g. a juniper that will grow 6 inches per year ... which would be in full sun .... as you decrease the intensity of the sunlight thru shade... you will reduce vigor .. which means the growth rate ... you will also.. most likely end up with a sparser plant.. rather than full and robust ... nothing will really die in shade [leaving out the dark grotto] .. it just might not perform to your expectations .. sooooo .... find something you like.. that fits the spot.. and give it a try .... and if it works it works.. and if it doesnt.. move it ...you will know within a few years ... ken

OMG, Evelyn! If you knew how many baby mockingbirds I hand fed while working at Audubon, you'd die! People would bring in baby birds all day long, and you couldn't convince them to leave them alone, so my job was to take care of them and get them prepared to be released back into the wild later on. One of the reasons we do not encourage people "rescuing" the baby birds is that there comes a time when the bird has imprinted so strongly on the parent bird, it will not take food from a person. You can cram it down their throats, but it will just sit in the crop area and not be digested. So removing them from the parent's care is often a death sentence. Now if a whole nest comes down (like during a storm) sometimes there is no recourse but to rescue them and try to feed them. And I know techniques have improved GREATLY from the days I was involved in bird rescue. So the odds might be better now. But lordy, lordy...I must have handraised at least 200 baby mockingbirds in a couple years time. Not to mention jays, grackles, thrashers, titmice, and maybe 1,000 mourning doves! (My least favorite baby birds of all time.) Anyway, your picture is a trip down memory lane for sure. Saintp, the length of time it takes an egg to hatch varies from species to species, but usually it is not very long. A week or ten days, often. I'll see if I can find out about bluejays. I don't remember. Maybe I never even knew. But the info is probably out there somewhere. Will get back to you later. Marcia

Awwww..so sorry to hear of this. That storm came through my yard too, and took one of my Bradford Pears down. It landed across my driveway, and luckily did not hit the house or our basketball goal. Gosh, it came through really fast. If you are not seeing them back at the house at all, then they have abandoned the nest. You don't need to wait the 2 weeks to remove the nest. Give it a few days, and when you are sure that they have abandoned, go ahead and remove the nest. Maybe they will build there again. There is still plenty of time.~~Angie