Sounds like you really have some challenges. You have my sympathies! A tiny poked hole is more likely a house wren's thin sharp beak, sometimes taking them some distance away, or simply tossing them out. The house sparrow will toss the eggs out, but their finch-like beak would not as likely make a tiny poke hole. And the HOSP is more likely to stick around, harass, or even take over the cavity. "Do BB's destroy their own eggs" ... No "the nest possibly could have been flooded?" ... are there leaks that could be fixed? "Are the HOSP really sneaky" ... yes, but HOWR are sneakier ... "and resistant to the Sparrow Spooker?" ... yes, and house wrens will not be deterred by a sparrow spooker. House Wrens are even sneakier, faster and silent, leaving no evidence behind, only destroying eggs or young. You might hear them singing, but might never, ever see them! There are some links to sound files of house wren song and chatter on Bet's web pages, so you can learn to hear the unwelcome sounds of house wrens. Visit Bet's web page for more info. And by the way, the Carolina Wren is a very different bird, welcome almost anywhere; not a threat to other birds. BlueBars Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.sialis.org/index.html

It's good to hear that you have properly mounted your nestboxes with baffles. Your Blues will be much safer in their future nestings. Good luck in the return of your Blues. Also, you may want to think about either making or buying a sparrow spooker if you have house sparrows around.

You can purchase a rotary hammer (the heavier duty version of a hammer drill) for around $180. A hammer drill is less than $100. A hammer drill is more likely to be useful for other work, since the hammer can be turned off (not possible with all rotary hammers).

Agreed. It wouldn't bother me either and I think the old look is neat. I have a cross handle faucet (mixes hot and cold with separate controls)) and in the last year I don't believe that I've ever actually mixed the water. Either I'm getting cold water for a drink or hot to wash my hands. And our water heater is set low so it doesn't scald on full blast hot.