itrom.......Last year when chickadees took over our fave BB box after so many year of having only BBs in the box there were reclaim fights but the BBs did not win and we never saw any all summer and that was sad. That particular box is the one we can see easily and we love to watch them and take photos. There are two other boxes nearby so I kept asking myself why can't the cute chickadees just use those...lol. BBs have moved into the fave box and I hope there is peace! Good luck and enjoy whatever nests ...or...put up another box and if you do make sure you follow instructions as to how far from the fist one.

cindy.holiman2511 I have just found this forum, but wanted to respond to your post. Please get bluebird boxes that you can open and monitor. The blues are people friendly and will not abandon the nest even if you check it daily. That way you can head off some problems like wasps and ants in the box. Last summer I found a dead baby bird in one of my boxes and was able to remove it so the parents could continue to raise the others to fledge. In addition, the blues will nest up to 3 times per season, so you need to clean the old nests out of the boxes as soon as the babies fledge. Snakes are one of the worst predators so you need a snake baffle or do as I do. I twist deer netting around the base of the pole up about 2'. The snakes get caught and I cut them out and release them miles away in the woods.

Bluebirds lay one egg per day until the clutch is complete. Did she start laying eggs on May 28th or was she done laying all six eggs on the 29th? If she started laying on the 28th then the last egg would have been laid on the 2nd of June which would make this 15 days since incubation started. They start incubating normally the day the last egg was laid and incubation is typically 12-14 days but can be as long as 20 days. If she was done laying eggs on the 29th then this would be day 19 of incubation. Either way I would keep waiting to see what happens. It is too early to say they won't be hatching and I would definately not be removing those eggs. If you want to know if the female is incubating them you could put a small dot with a marker on one of the eggs, look the next day to see if it has been moved as the female will rotate the eggs during incubation. You should not touch eggs with your bare hands as the oils from your hands can clog the pores on the eggs and cause them to not develop. These should be close to hatching though so I "think" it will be ok. Good luck and just be patient. Donna

Meant to tell you that I love Fairhope- such a charming little town. I would think that if the female isn't going in to lay anymore eggs or to incubate them, that they're not going to move forward at that location for right now. Are you sure she's not going in there? It could be that the Chickadees are hesitant to move forward wondering if the bluebirds are going to come back. If you know that the bluebirds aren't entering the box, my sense would be to remove the eggs & nest. If you don't have any continued activity or new activity, I would definitely get the box out of the tree & on that pole you purchased. I guess you could wait until your pole & baffle arrive- & if no changes, remove material & put the box on the pole with baffle at least 15 feet from tree, but close to it since it's a location they seem to like. I would put any houses that you have on a pole. You could actually move the baffle around according to where you have activity. The golf course side could be another desired location, since it sounds like it may be more open, which is what bluebirds seem to like. How awesome would that be if you had Chickadees in one location & bluebirds in another! As far as the snake repellant, maybe it is ok if it's herbal (& powder at that). I thought that what I sprayed last year should be harmless, but 2 of the fledgelings couldn't yet fly, so they were hopping around in my courtyard for 2-3 days until they died. They were so adorable! I actually took the last one to a rehabber when I realized that it seemed stressed & wasn't accepting food from the parents. As soon as we pulled up to the location, the baby died. It took me about a month to get over losing them. One died in the box, too. Again, wondered if was due to the spray that I used. My neighbor saw the one that flew out into my front yard a few days after it fledged & it seemed fine. Just not going to chance using that spray again during nesting season. You're right though- it's so hard to know exactly what to do because all we want to do is help them, not harm them. If you get a chance, would love to hear what happens. Again, great experts on bluebird nut.com. Nicole