I took Black Swallowtails for granted. They've been so common every year, I assumed they would always be plentiful, but they're somewhat rare in my garden this year. I have seven cats and one chrysalis right now and I had to look pretty hard to find them. Something must've happened to hurt their numbers. Maybe just the weird weather. Glad you're helping them along Weed.

Congrats, Mary, on your grandbaby and your eggs and cats! I love that name, too - surnames make good first names for boys/men, and Asher sounds like a surname. My grandson's name is Carter Brantley, with Carter being my father-in-law's name (his mother was a Carter) - if my daughter had had another boy, I was hoping she'd name it Sawyer after my Daddy - his mother was a Sawyer. I'm especially glad to hear you're getting those zebra longwing eggs - it IS the state butterfly of Florida! Sherry

As far as I know, there have never been reports of bluebirds abandoning the nest if the spooker is installed AFTER the first egg is laid. Some take to it right away while others take longer. Eventually, both accept it and will even perch on it. Please keep in mind, if you have house WRENS (HOWR) the spooker will not deter them from sneaking in and destroying eggs. If you also have HOWR you will need a wren guard in addition to the spooker. Sialis.org has plenty of information on Sparrow Spookers and Wren Guards. Good luck! Here is a link that might be useful: Sialis

I've thought about this some more. I usually don't check the eggs to see how many she lays. Then, after the final egg has been documented, I check the box again in 9-10 days for signs of hatching. I started looking after ten days this time. But because its so hard to get up to the box, and then look down in the nest, I probably didn't notice the increasing number of eggs. I would just see all eggs, and climb back down from the mini ladder. This past Sunday, I noticed one baby coming out of it's shell. I saw no other hatched eggs. So today (Monday) when I discovered the hatch ling gone, I observed that they were six eggs. A couple hours later, their were Seven. I looked around the nest. Whatever they did with the hatch ling, they did it somewhere away from the nest. I have a VERY small backyard. It's fenced, with no neighbors behind me. It's very unlikely anyone tampered with the nest. I'm wondering if the original nest makers and parents decided the eggs were duds? Or maybe some trouble befell them? I hadn't noticed the parents sitting on the nest. I just thought with the extreme NC heat, they didn't need to? About a week ago, I started seeing a bluebird couple eyeballing the nest. I thought they were Mom and Pop? All day I worried that another of the original eggs would hatch. The foster parents would probably dispose of them as well? Thanks for the replies friends. This has sure been a surprising twist for me.