Donna is right the guard may not work since the Wren knows it's there. One other thought is (when the first egg is laid) to turn the box 1/4 turn, you will have to watch to be sure mom finds the hole and not the Wren. As soon as Mom finds it put the guard up making sure there are sides on the guard so the hole can not be seen from the top of the box. Again make sure Mom finds it. Last ditch effort would be to move the box entirley in plain view of the Blues. If none of this is successful the worst that will happen is you will lose the eggs and the Blues will nest again. Also get a high powered water gun and attack the Wren whenever you see it near the box. Good Luck!

Thanks for the replies! The thing is, there HAS been a nestbox available both years. Last year it was on a pole (and I've got an extra baffle for the pole if necessary), and this year I've used it as a HOSP trap and mounted it on the house and then on a tree. The blues have never shown any interest in the nest box, where ever it was. Never even seen them go in or sit on it. They nested their first brood last year in another snag that had a hole about 20 feet up, but that snag fell over last summer so they moved to the one they like now. The only birds showing interest in the nest box have been the HOSPs (trapped 1 last year, 2 this year with the Van ert) and some HOWRs last year after which I removed their sticks and left the box open. Fortunately this year the HOSPs have since stayed away more or less and no sign of any HOWRs. X my fingers they stay away. I speculate that perhaps these birds were raised in natural cavities and that is what they're most comfortable with? There must be some way to baffle the tree?

Hello - Not sure if anyone can help me, but I have a nest of chickadees in a yard light pole in front of our house. The nest is about 8-12" below the hole where the cross bar used to be. My concern is that the babies will not be able to get up the smooth pole to get out. Parents are still feeding them, and when we peeked, they appear to have some feathers. Should we just leave them alone and see if they get out?

I agree with almost all of what has been written above. YOU need to fix it NOW. You're 3.9 years overdue, plus your girls are at a particularly nasty age. It'll be ten times as hard now as it would have been 4 years ago. Sit them both down in a place with no distractions and lay down the law. I'd try it with both together, but if that won't work, divide and conquer. Maybe talk to them in the car at the side of the road or in a parking lot (stomping distance from home?) -- whatever it takes to get them to listen. Keep your rules simple and short, and set the bar realistically low. In other words, they are not required to be nice, but are absolutely required to be civil. Dinner will be eaten together at the family table, and anyone who doesn't want to eat, doesn't eat. (Period. Get a cheap plastic locker and padlock if needed.) All questions will be answered in a polite manner. (Ask Hubby to keep them minimal at first.) Make a written list of your rules and post them on the wall. Also pre-determine consequences for breaking the rules -- loss of computer, phone, gaming, TV, iPod, piano, activities -- and FOLLOW THROUGH. Make your punishments short but severe. Since their behavior has become habitual, maybe come up with a 'warning' signal you can give them so that they can turn it around before losing a privilege. Now on the BioDad. He needs to understand that by encouraging them to behave that way, he is turning his children into little monsters. They are already disrespecting you; it won't be long before they turn their disrespect on HIM. And on anyone else who displeases them -- teachers, friends, coworkers and bosses. He is doing them NO FAVOR and actually causing them quite a bit of damage. You may want to gather some hard evidence of Dad's support before launching your 'fix' campaign. Why? Because I'm guessing YOU will not be able to change Dad's mind, no matter how persuasive your speech, because a Dad who does that isn't thinking clearly. But try to persuade him. Give him a chance and ask for his help in turning the girls' behavior around. Maybe write him an email? Several? And if he refuses, drag his butt into court because a judge will straighten him out pretty quick. Family court judges see this kind of thing a lot and have very little tolerance for this kind of carp. Maybe ask for court-ordered counselling and compliance monitoring? Or ask that if Dad won't comply, that he lose unsupervised contact with the girls? Frankly, I'm surprised your husband has put up with this as long as he has.