Between the bluebirds and the HOSPs, it sounds like the birds are keeping you hopping! What a tumultuous spring!

Congrats on trapping the same male HOSP twice. That's quite feat--they're crafty little buggers to be sure. I've only been trapping two days now, and being new to it, of the eighteen sparrows I caught, I accidentally released four. I open the traps inside my 500 sq ft greenhouse though, so they're still contained where the cannot cause any trouble to the indigenous bird population. I managed to re-trap one--three more to go!

I hope that you get to see successful bluebird nesting and fledging soon. :)

Tim, Thanks for the story. Sounds like you're having success finally (after a lot of work on your part). Wishing you a great nesting season with your Blues.
Ralleia, How wonderful to have a greenhouse to use. I think most people lose a few when removing from the traps initially. I know I did. At least your HOSPs will not get away. Wow, eighteen in two days is a lot. I thought I was having a tough year. I've trapped 20 this year so far, but that took me three months.

Thanks so much for the responses you two!

Yes eighteen in 2 days is GREAT! I'd love to get that many every 2 days! There are simply too many! But I found a chart that depicts that the HOSP population in north America has been declining in the last 1 - 2 decades! While the bluebird population is going up (Steadily)We get more bluebirders every day and season. HOSP will continue to cause problems but you can eventually defeat them. My local population is has been dented and unfortunately Starlings are taking their place. They're only a problem in natural cavities.

More good news! I checked again today and the bluebirds at site #2 have 2 eggs! I came up with a great idea. Since there is a box on the opposite side of the post, I mounted my sparrow spooker bracket on the side. If another occupant chooses the 2nd box, the 2nd rod can go over the other box. Quite an idea, huh? Let me know what you guys think. I was worried because I saw a male HOSP perched nearby.

My backyard bluebirds are, however, still disappointing. They placed a little grass in their box a day or two ago and I saw the male perched on it today but no more building. They need to get their high horses in gear or there might not be a chance for a second brood! But after all this time 1 would be great.

Thanks and hope all goes well with your blues!

What a story, ohsoblue. I've also had a crazy season. I had a bluebird box in my backyard with no activity, so I put up another bluebird box out of sight on the side yard. Chickadees started nesting there and there was a beautifully built nest of green moss. I couldn't see inside the nest to see if there were any eggs, but soon it didn't matter. We were out working in the yard and there was a lot of commotion amongst the birds. The chickadee was trying to fight off the bluebirds for her nest and kept on trying and trying. The male bluebird actually took over the nest and built his own for his ladybird. So then by the next day when I checked there was a bluebird nest on top of the neatly built moss nest. This is the box where there are five nestling bluebirds about to fledge any day. So then the chickadee went to be bluebird box in the backyard and built another nest and laid eggs quite quickly. Another bluebird pair kept going back to this box and sitting on it, watching over it, etc. So I begged my hubby to put up another nest box in the front yard and maybe they'd find it and use it. So we got the other house up and eventually they found it and it took about a month for Mr. BB to convince the timid ladybird to take it, but I checked last week and there was 2 eggs. I checked again yesterday after getting back into town and there were 5 bb eggs and 1 chickadee egg, which I removed because I didn't want there to be any problems with the chickadees again.v The bluebirds are watching over this box and seem to be very comfortable and I haven't seen any sign of chickadees in this nest again, but I'll keep checking.

Do not give up hope because it took the bluebirds a number of weeks to decide to build in the new nest box in the front yard, but they are doing very well so far.

I'm anxious to see if there are any chickadee eggs in the first nest the bluebirds built on top of that one. I'm very surprised that the bluebirds did that.