My family fledged today too! They were there yesterday, and gone this evening. Not quite sure how many I had as I was too afraid to open the door, but often saw there tiny beeks peeking out and Mom and Dad going back and forth feeding them. Cleaning out the nest, and hoping for another visit!

I have almost the same thing on one of my trails now,To give you some backround,Box"A" was up ,dees moved in and layed eggs,Then I saw a Tree swallow checking the box,so I put up Box "B" 10-15 feet away for the Tree Swallow knowing that they will nest in a paired box.Well the Tree Swallow does not show up again.The dees eggs hatch,5 nestlings.We get some wind a rain for a few days after.I monitor the dees box,only 3 nestlings,not sure what happened(bad weather or Wren) I let things be.2-3 days later only 2 chicks.About 1 week later I see a House Wren on Box "B" singing,adding sticks,I remove sticks every day for 4-5 days.The whole time the dees are defending Box "A" very good.Well today was fledge day for the dees.I go monitor the boxes from a distance,I see dees and House Wren hanging around,As I look closer I see a Tree Swallow peeking out of Box "B" and he is not budging.The Wrens are going nuts.A few hours later ,I again monitor from a distance,I do not see the dees ,today is day 16 (Fledged) for them.Now the the Wren have moved over to Box "A".The Tree Swallows remained in the entrance of Box"B" for the rest of the day,only leaving for very short times.So,Should I continue to deter the wrens,or should I expect these two to get along OK since the boxes are so close. Matt

Ken, I had a dead TRES baby in a box with one live one too. I had thought they fledged and I smelled something so I opened it up to find a fully developed baby looking at me and then one dead one. I knew the one would be leaving very soon and I didn't want to make it fledge by removing the dead one so I left it. The other one fledged fine. Down at the park four TRES fledged just fine with one dead one in the box. Last year I did have three fledge to find two dead in the box, very gross box but the other three were just fine. I know it would be best to remove the dead one but since you really don't want the other ones to fledge before they are ready maybe it would be best to leave it unless you can easily get it out without touching the other babies. Good luck. Donna

Not a problem and thanks Kendra and Donna. Kendra that's a good point and something that I didn't realize. I've noticed too that this Female is very friendly. I clapped from afar before checking on her eggs and she stood in the hole for a while then flew into a tree behind it. She sat there when I was at the box and watched. I got to see the fledglings again today! They are flying very well! They fledged on day 19 and they always seem to around here, regardless of whether it's early or late in the season. However their landings are the weaker side. they flutter then land. They are moving around more and showing themselves more. Also they're getting louder and easier to find. The 1st day is always a challenge to locate them...But I've witnessed them fledge AT LEAST 3 times! Got to see at least 2 - 4 take their 1st flight in these past 4-5 seasons. I still have to get 4 more conduit pipes for the boxes here at home! The main reason I am using PVC is because I started with it non-wobling and have plenty for 2 ft baffles. I just need more pipe and hose clamps. I already have the 4 PVC caps. BTW Kendra at site #2 2-3 neighbors have cats. One was at the bottom of the post one evening but I chased it off. I found 2 Robin Fledgings dead in the neighborhood. Thank goodness our blues are so good about keeping their young HIGH in the trees! What's wrong with these robins? They aren't so smart about the youngin like the blues. I've even had my blues outwit a hawk when it was in the same tree as the fledglings! Thanks for the input you two! Hope things are going well in your neck of the woods!