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.

Thirty-four years ago when my husband first took me to the rundown overgrown "farm" that became our home the first bird I saw was a towhee! That sighting helped make me amenable to the task that was ahead of us and with us for the rest of our lives. It's a wonderful bird spot.

It's different here in that the towhees (western spotted towhees) spend the spring summer and fall up in the higher elevations in the forest areas and the mountain meadows where they nest and raise their young ones. In winter when the cold and snow drive them down into the foothills and valleys. where they spend the winters. only to leave again in spring for the mountains again.

Trailrunner - I have a bungalow too! A little ranch bungalow; about 1300 sq. ft. I will try to post some pics of it this week. I'm in NY, not far from NYC. I don't know if she's a gem -- maybe a semi-precious stone :) I love your marble coffee bar! I am now thinking of a marble shelf to the right of the second (big) window about a foot under the print on the wall. I am a coffee freak so I have various pots -- a french press, an espresso maker for the stove and then another small espresso machine with frother. I'd like to put them all on the marble shelf with cups -- all within reach and easy to just pick which kind of coffee and pot I want to use... Or I might put a completely different wall cabinet there with glass doors. I'm undecided and tired of making decisions and there's no rush. I just love marble though... love it to bits!