Ok, that is good! I remember now. You can take it off after the blues are 7 days old but you can leave it up a bit longer if you would like. I would have it off by day 10 though. I have a wren guard on my Blues nest this year as they chose a box more in the wren territory (don't have a wren but they can show up at any time) and I wanted to be safe about it. I did it in steps...first just the front, then a short side, then a longer side...she accepted it no problem and laid six beautiful blue eggs... a first for me, never had six before, always 4 or 5. Glad that last egg hatched! Donna

What a bunch of cuties!! Lucky you to get three nestings!! We have one box of TRES that fledged 5 here in the yard, a box of 2 Blues at the park that fledged and my 4 Dees here in my yard should be going any day now. Have four Blues babies in the box that are six days old today. Two more boxes of TRES in the yard with babies and two at the park with babies then I have two pairs of TRES nestbuilding yet after loosing their first brood to the cold weather we had a week+ ago. Weather has now been nice and warm. Donna Donna

I think you did the best thing, Chris, but I must comment regarding your mentioning that bluebirds are portrayed as timid and lacking in skills to defend their territory. In the past, bluebird territory differed from that of house wrens. As someone who has been a bluebird enthusiast and monitor for many years, I must say that wrens are no longer reading the manual and are not following the rules on where they are supposed to nest! Bluebirds can and do defend themselves and their nests (Dave, you need to repost your bluebird/hosp battle photos), but house wrens are the sneakiest of birds. They are quick and can be in and out of a nestbox in a matter of seconds. BlueBars can tell you of the battle between a bluebird and a house wren inside a nestbox and I'll simply say that the wren left minus some feathers. Unfortunately, even an incubating female bluebird must leave the nestbox occasionally and that is when the wren seems to appear. House sparrows are another thing entirely. They are non-native and are extremely aggressive towards not only bluebirds but towards all other native cavity nesters. A bluebird, tree swallow, chickadee or titmouse is simply not equipped to battle a house sparrow inside a nestbox. I have witnessed the result of such attacks too many times and hope it is something you never experience. Since man, in his great wisdom, brought house sparrows to America to "help", house sparrows have wreaked havoc not only on crops they were supposed to protect (from insects), but on native bird species as well. House sparrows do not need cavities (nestboxes) to nest in but studies show that if a house sparrow is allowed to fledge from a nestbox, it will look for one when it is time for it to breed. That is why it is so important for people to monitor nestboxes when they put them up. In all my years of monitoring bluebird trails, I must say that the word timid is not a word I would associate with this beautiful, brave, determined bird. You will come to see this for yourself if you monitor your nestbox closely and let them teach you about their battle to survive. I promise that your heart will be broken now and then--Mother Nature will have her way--but you will also come to know just how precious their lives are and why we all work so hard to protect them. Kathy

Covering vents is a bad idea with regard to air flow and noise and overheating your furnace.