Wow, it looks like she left you the mother lode there, Sherry! ;-) I think the most I ever had in a bunch was about 24. They're my very favorite caterpillar to raise. I love to put a few lengths of vine in a big storage container and watch the cats scurry along on their way to somewhere that I guess they have in mind. They always make it look like it's urgent. Ha. That's a Carolina wren for ya, building a nest in such a strange place. One year I had a pair build a nest on one of the shelves in my workshop after those little opportunists sneaked in there a few days when I had the door open and made themselves right at home. I didn't shut the door again until after the babies fledged. I have bluebird houses stacked up in our corncrib and one year the Carolina wrens made a nest in one of them even with it turned upside down. My dad had one build a nest in his fishing net one yet. Out of all of the birds that I get here, I call them the most eccentric. :) They sure are cute little things and they love the peanut butter/cornmeal/shortening mix that I put out in a log feeder for them in the winter. Cathy

I HAVE BABIES! I just got back a few minutes ago from being gone several days. Went right out to check the box, and just as I got there mom came flying up. My heart leapt! I peeked in very quickly, just long enough to see some fluff; didn't want to take the time to count. (It's a deep nest and I have to use a little dental mirror to even see down inside it.) Any luck w/ you yet sagrinin? Thanx again to everyone for your encouragement and reassurance!

Thanks for the replies! The thing is, there HAS been a nestbox available both years. Last year it was on a pole (and I've got an extra baffle for the pole if necessary), and this year I've used it as a HOSP trap and mounted it on the house and then on a tree. The blues have never shown any interest in the nest box, where ever it was. Never even seen them go in or sit on it. They nested their first brood last year in another snag that had a hole about 20 feet up, but that snag fell over last summer so they moved to the one they like now. The only birds showing interest in the nest box have been the HOSPs (trapped 1 last year, 2 this year with the Van ert) and some HOWRs last year after which I removed their sticks and left the box open. Fortunately this year the HOSPs have since stayed away more or less and no sign of any HOWRs. X my fingers they stay away. I speculate that perhaps these birds were raised in natural cavities and that is what they're most comfortable with? There must be some way to baffle the tree?

Hi Dave and all, This was the first time for us to see more than one at a time also... the 5th frame (center bottom) actually shows 4 at once. It was getting kinda crowded in there. And I'm now very happy to report that all 5 eggs had hatched afterall... and all 5 chicks have fledged successfully as of @2pm today! :) So here are some more pictures of them... The first one to leave, (@4pm yesterday) hesitated, then stumbled on his way out and hung upside down from the hole for a few seconds, flapping in panic. We were caught totally off-guard and missed getting a shot of that frantic moment... This frame was just before that happened: But he quickly recovered, and safely flew to the Magic Tree: ...where he was immediately joined by both proud parents. The rest of the crew (4 of them) spent another night in the box, and Missy and Mr.B began feeding them non-stop starting around 5:30am this morning. Until 10:43 when our second contestant (another boy) made his debut: He flew over the house and into a tree in the front yard... I couldn't see where he landed and didn't want to miss the others fledging so I didn't chase after him. Interestingly, the fledglings from the first nesting were hanging around quite alot during this whole time... On the deck: ... on the gaslight: ... and on the nest box too. They've shown quite an interest in their new siblings all along, and parents have been fairly tolerant about it. The 3rd bird out was a girl, and she made an elegantly graceful first flight straight to the top of the RedBud tree: Where she landed on a very thin willowy branch and struggled to maintain her perch swaying in the breeze: The 4th and 5th birds fledged about 10 minutes apart, around 2pm this afternoon and I didn't get very good photos of either... not sure the sex on these two: Needless to say I'll be hoping to get a LOT more shots of all these new darlings. And we are overjoyed to have another successful fledging of FIVE! Kenn :)