No No kitty! Bad Kitty! I keep having to run neighbors cats away from the bird nests in the Bradford pear trees. Ellie, this is the third brood they've had in the house this year alone. They must like it. And I have one of those "See Rock City" birdhouses too. kay

Thanks for looking everyone! I hope that I'll be able to get many more photos as the season progresses. Mike: Agreed that the hole is a bit large. What happens is that because I leave the boxes up over the winter, woodpeckers enlarge the hole and then use the box to roost in. I have had downy woodpeckers and nuthatches use them for roosting. What I do is leave the box alone, until after the bluebird or chickadee has laid its first egg. Then I'll put on a hole reducer of appropriate size. If you look closely, you can see holes left from the screws where a hole reducer has previously been in place. I take it off after nesting is over, so the winter birds can use it again. I haven't had a problem with raccoons, but I will take your suggestion and look into putting a predator guard on the hole as well. Donna: Correct that it is a smaller baffle. I do have some ducting sheet metal that I can secure around the bottom of the post which will give it additional protection. Ann: Thanks for the info. It has been unseasonably warm here as well. So far the bluebirds seem to be sticking around, busy adding pine needles and aggressively defending the box, but if they don't then I'll keep my fingers crossed for the next wave to come through! Last time I had bluebirds nest in my yard was a few years ago, and it was later in the summer.

So sorry Judy, I know how you feel. I've been used to 3 or 4 broods of bluebirds a year to watch with my video cam boxes. Last year, there was 1 bluebird brood where only 2 of the 4 chicks survived (1 unhatched egg, 1 chick died shortly after hatching). But for some unknown reason (unknown to me), they left this box and that was it!!!! I don't have a clue as to what went on. There is some hope though...even after the blues left last year, I continued to put out some mealworms and eventually, Daddy Blue (from the 1st brood) brought the fledglings from their new nest to the mealworm feeder so I did get to see them. I think they only had this second brood because after those fledglings, that was it. Has anything changed from last year? Do you have House Sparrows or House Wrens that may have chased them away? You never know, they might be back. I hope for your sake. Maybe some other cavity nester will use that box. Good luck, Linda...

Congratulations that is great news! Keep us posted on the progress!