I wish you the best of luck. I sure hope that Wren doesn't come back! Those things can be very sneaky. Two years ago I had a nest of BCCH with six eggs. By the time I heard a Wren, the nest had already been destroyed. So keep a careful watch and listen. You may want to try a Wren guard this time, though I'm not sure if it will work since the Wren already knows where the hole is. Let's hope that Wren is nesting far away.

I spotted my first one of the year here in Atlanta yesterday. He was here again this afternoon. He likes a large pine island in my back yard as a hunting place for food. Sometimes he 'vacuums' under my feeders too.

Readers Digest Book of North American Birds; ISBN 0895773511; 1990. A Fufous-sided Towhee: Pipilo erythrophthalmus: "Scratching about with one foot at a time, like barnyard poultry, rufous-sided towhees gather their food from the very bosom of the earth. It is little wonder, then, that these active birds used to be called ground robins, especially since their well-hidden nests of stems and leaves are nestled so close to the ground. Today they are named towhees because that is the sound most people hear in their song. But they were once known as chewinks, from the call they make when alarmed. In some parts of the West that call is phonetically transcribed as shrenk, while in others it sounds more like the meowing of catbirds. In sections of the Southeast they unquestionably call Louise! And although their song is translated into English in most parts of the country as "chip towhee" or "drink your tea," the birds seem to drawl it in the South, and are apt to sing chip chup chup zeeeeeee, or just a buzzy zeeeeee, in the West. Their visual field marks too are almost as varied as their vocal ones. Rusous-sided towhees in Florida have white eyes instead of red ones, and those in the West have two white wing bars plus numerous white spots on their wings and backs. But no matter where they live, all rufous-sided towhees come flying in low to the ground with the side patches in their tails looking like white chiffon streamers trailing dramatically behind them."

Ah yes, the Rufous Sided Towhee. Love 'em. They do scratch around like chickens and make a lot of noise. I have mostly the California Towhee here but occasionally a Rufous (Spotted) towhee will show up.