I've actually seen a little wasp like creature drilling down a cane I had just pruned but hadn't gotten around to sealing yet. I have also found tunnels on unpruned canes that go almost down to the bud union. These tunnels were almost always on brand new healthy basils or nice new secondary branching. They broke my heart as I continued to prune down further and further trying to see if anything was still in the cane and where the tunnel would finally stop. Perhaps I have two different types of borers (lucky, lucky, lucky). When the Raspberry Cane borer was first suggested as one of my pests I kept a sharp eye out for any damage to these new succulent canes near the tip (which is where they said the borer would make a slit in the cane and deposit her eggs). I've never seen any sign of anything, including damage to the top leaves, or slits in the cane. The only thing I've ever seen are those wasp type borers. So what do I do? I never spray insecticides for them, but I do seal the canes of any pruned area that's about the size of a pencil or even a bit smaller. This has cut down on the amount of damaged canes I encounter. At least if I have 2 different kinds of borers, I'm helping to alleviate one type of tunnel with the glue. If a person doesn't want to seal, that's up to them. Trial and error are the way we all learn what is in our own personal outdoor space. As I always say, it's your garden, so do what you think is best for you, not other people.......Maryl

Tim, it is entirely possible that he is still around. I hope so anyway...however mom is full capable of raising the nestlings on her own too. Helping her with mealworms would be good though. One year during incubation I had a male go missing for four full days..he returned on the 5th day. During that time I had trained the female to come to a mealworm feeder. After he returned she taught him how to use it. Then another year on a nestbox check I found a dead nestling. This box was at the back of our property so I couldn't observe things as much. After watching for awhile I was convinced the female was gone so I started feeding mealworms twice a day. I would put a dish on the roof of the nestbox and Dad would use them up immediately and then I would take the dish back home, didn't want to leave it and entice any other birds. Well after a couple days there was mom getting mealworms too! So she was there, I just was never seeing her when I watched. This year just last week, my male went mia for half a day and I was freaking out. Mom is incubating 7 eggs and their were four fledglings still needing to be fed. Mom seemed rather stressed too. I watched all morning and was convinced something happened to him but just after noon he returned and then started feeding the fledglings again. This box is in the back yard very visable from the house and they come to a mealworm feeder on the deck so I knew he wasn't here for that time, just mom and the fledglings were. Later that day I saw another female in the yard wingwaving with our male! I have read that males and females will mate with more than just their partner during nesting season so I am assuming my yard male was out on a fling that morning. I do know when my female was laying her second clutch there was another male around too, I am guessing she mated with both him and her normal mate. Anyway..hopefully this is what you are seeing and he isn't really gone. It does happen though sadly...hope you see him again! If not your female will probably find another mate but he wouldn't help her with these nestlings at all. Keep us updated! Donna

Katie, I replied to your other post but will reply here also..... I am so sorry about that baby Blue. You would think they would have kept feeding it unless something was wrong with it that you couldn't see but the adults could. I do have some advice though if this ever happens again. I had heard from someone that has been Bluebirding for quite a few years that he thought the adults forgot about two babies that remained in the box when the rest had fledged, so what he did was open the door of the box and propped it open. It worked for him, the adults then started feeding the ones that hadn't fledged yet. Not sure if this would always help but can't hurt. You wouldn't want to do this say at day 16 or earlier but by day 18ish, I would think it would be ok. You would think at day 20 that little one would have been a pretty good flyer! It is important not to check after day 12/13 to prevent premaure fledging but it is also important to keep track of everything. If that baby was at day 20 and the others fledged you could have checked on things cause by that time they should be able to fly well. Normally once they are about 17 days old they should be able to fly ok (not all the time though) You didn't do anything wrong though so don't feel bad that way. It is hard though if you think you could have helped and didn't but it sometimes is worse if you try to help and things go wrong cause then it does seem like your fault. kwim? Donna

awm : thank you for the sweet and supportive wishes. I sure hope your ride goes well. Two of the folks I am with have done that ride and loved it. We are indeed fortunate in the support we get from our families. tina thank you too. I will keep up the updates as it helps to clarify things in my head too :). I am glad you are enjoying it. golddust. we had flashing lights but it was just a miserable set of circumstances....hopefully not to be repeated. Glad you like my TALL tales. Sue yes it never has stormed today but we have had a fine time. We walked several miles to go to a Dollar Store and to stretch our legs. Time for a nap I think. Your trip sounds wonderful. I bet you will always cherish that time as will I this trip. Most likely won't do another as I don't want to leave DH this long again but this one time it is good. More later. c