I've got that book, Larry, also the one by John Vanderplank - it was these two books that really got me hooked on passis. I'd go to bed at night, read these books, look at the pictures and go right to the computer and order as many as I could. So I'd have to say these books weren't good for a plantaholic like me! :) I found another gulf frit cat on the p. mucronata. I agree that they can eat just about anything, Larry - the only limitation I know they have is they don't thrive on most red-flowering passis, but there aren't too many of them. Gulf frits are my second favorite butterfly, second only to pipevine swallowtails/battus philenor - they're both tough caterpillars, and the adults are somewhat aggressive, at least they really stand their ground in my garden against the bigger swallowtails who drop in to nectar. And I love the way these two species look flying together - the orange of the gulf frits is about the same as the orange circles on the undersides of the pipevine swallowtails, and the orange and metallic turquoise are bright to the max! I've enjoyed these beautiful passis and the beautiful butterflies they bring! Sherry

Thanks for the reminder Ray. While we never let our cat outdoors, a lot of the neighbors do. I have a good sized (8") wobbling stovepipe guard and have never had a cat, raccoon, or snake get into one of my boxes. The conduit pipe and good guard are extremely important.

First thing that comes to mind is a House wren, they can and will poke holes in other birds eggs and throw them from the nest. However they normally don't leave any left, the will poke them all and or throw them all out. Unless it got interrupted while doing so, if the Blues returned and chased it away. The Bluebird would not normally take an egg out. There are many times one egg doesn't hatch for some reason and they just leave it right there and don't ever take it out. I would keep any eye out, hopefully they don't give up on the two remaining ones but if it was a wren it will probably be back. Good luck! Donna

Could have been a predator. Was she incubating? Sometimes an egg is lost under the nest and you find it when it's cleaned out. Is there a baffle on the pole under the box to stop climbing predators like raccoons and snakes? I would like to invite you to join the bluebird nut cafe forum. It is much more active than this site and we have many veteran bluebirders that can give quick answers. Check us out! http://bluebirdnutcafe.yuku.com/ This post was edited by tmann05 on Fri, Apr 11, 14 at 11:26