Sounds terrific blue! Your excitement is contagious! I am having heck with a pair of nasy HOSP's here and have already emptied out 3 partial nests. I am eager to set up a trap box using the Van Ert trap soon. My Bluebirds seem to have settled upon their nestbox, and I went ahead and placed the Spooker there to keep the HOSP's away from it. No nesting materials inside yet. I just checked yesterday. It'll be soon though. I can feel it!

Yesterday afternoon I discovered them making a nest in the hay loft. There is no way for me to get up to those rafters safely and my husband is away. I read on Sialis that some people have luck catching one in a small have-a-hart trap. So I set one up on the shelf in the stall that they hang out in. With any luck I will get one of them and then I can reset it. I am so frustrated by these destructive birds. There are only two right now and they seem to be running my life! I am deeply concerned about the mama Phoebe sitting on her clutch in the stall next door.

Hi Jane! Nice to see you! A lot of the old gang is not real active but they do pop in now and then, I can usually get a hold of a few of them in a crisis. There are some newer folks in here who have been great about listening, learning and helping!So where you been hiding? I feel so bad for your "Jerrys kid" gal. She's trying so hard. With all the stress she has been under we don't want an egg disapearing on her. You really don't need to remove the egg at all (especially since you don't know what will happen it it yet). I have had Blues, Dees and Tres fledge a bunch of babies only to find an egg in the bottom un hatched. Just check to be sure it has not cracked and is bringing in bugs. Remember my TRES had 2 eggs may 8th then we got that terrible weather. She began laying again on the 20th. I never removed the eggs, they are still in there. I dont know if she laid 3 more or 5 more, I just know there were 5 eggs last I looked,On Sunday there were 3 babies I can see. She has so many feathers in there I cant tell for sure from the video and it is to cold to open the box (again! uuuggg). Let it be and let poor Mom rest up and de stress, it may take a bit but she will get back to it. Did she ever accept the wren guard?

I had a lady blue get trapped in a HOSP trap house too. They were already nesting with one egg in another house so I didn't think it was a problem. After I released her, I beleive she left my area. My male called and called for three days. I don't think your lady blue will go back there. I THINK another female showed up and did some building on their nest with one egg. That egg disappeared after a few days of her reworking the nest? Now she has four new eggs and is incubating. I like the hole reducing idea.. will get one for my trap house so this doesn't happen again.