I've been beaten to the punch,lol, but I'll name an experience. I had eggs that didn't hatch during the 12-14 day period. 2 days later still nothing, and I thought they were goners. Sure enough, I open that box to find new, healthy, hatched bluebirds! I'd give it a little time. The birds may eventually figure it out too. If they abandon or re-lay, I'd examine the old eggs to find out what was wrong with them. ~Tim~

Well If you have ever seen TRES fledge theres no way a baby Blue will make it. I would almost opt to candle the eggs and if there is little to nothing there get rid of them. Is it possable to tell the difference between babies at hatching time? I would want to put them in the Blues nest but that could cause problems too. Lets think babies not eggs here. No way a blue can survive with a TRES Mom, overloading a Blue or having babies hatch days before her clutch could result in dead babies. Yikes this is one for Bet, Malinda or Cornell. Im still thinkin destroy the eggs so no babies ever suffer.

Wow sorry Linda, I hear your pain. We have HOWR here every summer and we did lose 1 egg (of four) in July 2007. But I don't think our wren situation is as difficult as yours seems to be. We see them nearby occasionally, and often hear them not too far away. But we chase them off if/when any come on our property. And our parent Blues (Missy & Mr.B) both discourage them ferociously if they ever come near Missy's box. This pair has successfully fledged 41 baby blues in the past 3 seasons (8 completed nests with a 9th underway), without a single loss of either egg or chick to the wrens. We've made our decision not to use a wren guard for reasons we are comfortable with. And frankly we've heard just too many accounts of HOWR destroying nests in boxes that had wren guards installed. We know that many bird lovers willingly allow and even encourage House Wrens to nest and breed, and this can lead to their forcing many other songbirds out of a habitat completely. (The same could be said of the House Sparrows). So, I'm not sure how to offer you specific advice or comfort. I fear it will be up to you and your Bluebirds to overcome your local HOWR problem. Best luck to you and your birds, Kenn Here is a link that might be useful: Kenn & Temple's Bluebirds

Here are my last tips for this first week of November. The tips y'all have shared are just great. Thanks for contributing. This tip for storing berries is wonderful. When get home from the grocery store, immediately rinse blueberries, strawberries and raspberries in hot water, drain and put in a glass jar when dry. Instead of a 24 hour life they can go almost a week with their flavor, texture and appearance intact. They'll keep as long as a week; it's amazing, but they last. Harold McGee To keep grapes juicy, plump, and tasty for at least twice as long do the following: As soon as you get them home from the store remove them all from the stems, wash thoroughly, and seal in a plastic container. The grapes will last for several weeks without any loss of taste or texture. Silpat Cooking Mat -use it for forming dough on, instead of a floured counter or a bread board. As long as you handle the dough with oiled hands, no bench flour is necessary and clean-up is q & e. -pour that holiday peanut brittle on it and it doesn't stick. Great for making small rounds of peanut brittle. -line a jelly roll pan with a Silpat and bake meatballs or sausage balls on it. The grease wipes off and the meatballs don't stick. Take an ear of corn and stick it into the hole of a Bundt pan, then slice the corn off into the pan. Never put tomatoes in the same drawer with your other produce. It gives off a gas that makes produce ripen too fast. If you use non-stick frying pans, never use Pam type sprays on them. The propellent eats into the coatings and ruins them. Instead, add a drop of oil and use a brush to spread it around. Microwave sliced fresh mushrooms on paper towels just until they give up their water then squeeze them just a little. Then fry them in butter and they brown nicely and quickly without that moisture you always get in the frying pan. Whenever you need oat flour, you can make your own by blending oatmeal into a fine powder in your blender or food processor. It takes approximately 1-1/2 c. of oatmeal to make about 1-cup oat flour. After buttering the bread for grilled cheese sandwiches, press the buttered side into some grated parmigiano or pecorino before grilling. It totally adds to the texture and flavor. Crispy cheesy salty bread. If you want the yolks of your deviled eggs to be perfectly centered, stir the pot a few times in the first moments they are beginning to simmer. Purchase a whole bone-in rib roast when it goes on sale the day after Thanksgiving for an obscenely cheap price. Then it can be butchered into a Christmas rib roast, several steaks, have bones for beef stock, and scraps for grinding meat. Greens - The grit problem was brilliantly solved by the Mississippi Delta Chinese families. Put greens of any kind into a net bag like stockings are washed in and put it in the washing machine for a quick rinse in cold water and a spin. Works great.