Nice work, Tim. I don't think this would be considered breaking the law since you weren't interfering with the nesting to harm the young--you were actually making things better. I'm not 100% sure about your baffle, though. I've always used the stovepipe kind and had great success with it. I'm glad your parents found their little ones and all seems well. Fingers crossed for that baffle. Keep us posted.
Kathy

Great job!! The new house looks great!! I am so glad you took all of our advice! Your Blues are much safer now!! So glad the mom/dad found the new nestbox and their babies ok. I am sure it was quite nervewracking for all four of you!!

Donna

Yea Tim! Great job! The baffle looks like it will keep squirrels ,snakes and other not so skilled creatures out, but I am not sure about racoons. Will your dog/s alert you to a coon in the middle of the night? The combination of the baffle/slippery pole and the preditor guard that is on the hole may be enough for now. Gee we are SO pickey aren't we! LOL. Anyway your babies are MUCH safer now! A wet nest with babies that young is a real danger. I am SO glad you got them into a suitable box. The nest being on the screen and the vents will dry it out ok. You did not harm the nest or the babies in any way and you also did not remove them from a natural cavity. I don't think the bird police will be knocking on your door! Now all that is left to do is watch and count days and remember to keep the Dog/s in near fledging time!

Tim,
I think you did a fine job,At the end of this nesting,I would get the correct size clamps for your pole or drill a hole through the back of the house and the pole ,and put a nut and bolt,or you could also put a self tapping screw through the clamp into the pole,That may be easier.When the electrical tape gets hot on these Summer days it may allow the box to slid down alittle,It is possible that the box may fall to the ground,Also I would make and install the stove pipe style baffle,It looks to me like a large snake could get around your baffle without too much trouble.I try to make sure all my boxes are mounted strong and baffled before nesting,but once in a while I have to make some improvements or repairs during nesting also.I am glad to see everything when well with the switch.
Cheers,
Matt

Matt,
I made sure those brackets were good and solid. My biggest concern when I was doing it was the wind we get here when thunderstorms roll through. If it did by chance slide down the pole it would only go down as far as the baffle. It wouldn't be able to slide all the way to the ground. Never the less, thank you for the advice. As I said earlier, my wife and I are newbies at this and I sure have learned a lot from this forum in the last couple weeks. We feel blessed the the Blues have chosen our back yard to set up housekeeping because we didn't have them up in Ohio where we were. We also have a lot of hummingbirds coming to out feeder on the railing of the deck. They are great to watch.

Tim,
Congratulations on a job done well.You and your wife took on a GREAT challenge in which you had no prior experience and to do it SO successfully is not an easy task.Moving a nest is some thing that I have never done and I can imagine what anxiety it must have caused.I know that this is ALL new to you.We are all continuously learning.So, don't feel bad.I lost my second nesting to a HOWR last month.I have been a Bluebirder for the last 10yrs.I felt so bad.
michelle

That was going to be my next question Michelle. Tim do you know if you have House Wrens in the area? If there is even a chance that you do you can make a Wren guard out of heavy laminated/waxed cardboard to keep those babies safe for the next 7 days or so. HOWRs will toss babies from the nest untill they are too big to toss (around 8 days old). The are no threat to the parents.

No Lisa, I have not seen any Wrens in all the time I have been sitting out on the deck watching the blues. Tomorrow the youngsters will be seven and six days old. The only other feeders I have up are my hummingbird feeders on the railing of our deck. I don't want to encourage any other birds to the yard.

WOW, I'm so impressed! Good job! You have some lucky bluebirds, and they have a wonderful landlord.
Good idea about the seed feeders, not needed this time of year. But seed feeders can attract other predators, even hawks, as they stalk for other birds. (House wrens don't eat seed though; you will hear them before you will see them).
Others have mentioned the raccoon baffle. Here is a link to make a good one.
I have one question: What is the size of the entrance hole?
BlueBars

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.purplemartin.org/update/PredBaff.html

Blubars, the entrance is one and a half inches. We have been here eight months and I have not seen a hint of racoons. No tracks in the snow last winter or anything. The home owners association is very strict on how we keep our properties in this sub-division. Garbage cans have to be in the garage so there's no food scraps to draw them.

Tim, it is possible that you don't have raccoons, but not very likely. It's also possible that your furkid keeps any of those marauders out of your yard. However, being in a neighborhood (no matter how well-kept) doesn't restrict them from prowling--just ask forum member Janie May. She lives in a gorgeous neighborhood and had one come through her pet door one night! Not something I'd want to find in MY kitchen! I know we have them here, even though I haven't seen them, because they appear as roadkill fairly often, as do possums, etc. And almost everyone has snakes--they just don't see them. Think seriously about this or a similar predator baffle. I've had great success with this very thing and have never lost an egg, nestling or adult bird to any climbing predator. They cost less that $10 to make, are very easy to put together and are invaluable in the peace of mind they provide.
You have done a marvelous job for your blues and we thank you for taking the extra steps to put all of our hard earned advice to good use. Good luck to you and your lucky blues.
Kathy

Kathy,

My little ones are 7 and 6 days old today. I am going to put a better baffle on the pole. For right now I put a thick coating of Vasoline petroleum jelly up and down the pole to make it more slippery. I used to do that on our bird feeder for the squirrels when we were in Ohio. It was a riot to watch them little buggers try to climb the pole only to slide down on their butts. We didn't even need a baffle. You could almost read their minds as they sat on the ground looking up at the feeder trying to figure out how they could get to that food. But seriously I am going to get a different baffle on the way home from work tomorrow. Thanks again for all the great advice from everyone.

Hi, Tim. No one has mentioned this, and perhaps I'm seeing things, but... In the first photo of the nestbox interior it appears there are two dowels or pegs extending from the back wall. If these are perches, they should be removed; perhaps cut or sawed off.

Bluebirds and other cavity nesters don't need perches, either inside or outside the box. Occasionally you'll see a roosting box for sale with inside perches, but that is for shelter in extreme winter weather conditions, not for nesting.

Interesting, because other than that, your box looks exactly like two I have. They've been quite successful in providing a safe haven to raise baby birds. I really like that you can open a side door to check on the little ones.

Good luck with the 8" diameter stovepipe baffle. They really work! Best of luck.

LindaSkyview
Western NC

Poor Tim must think we are a bunch of pickey old biddies! LOL Tim I think you are good to go now. The Blues dont need those perches on the inside, but I see no harm in leaving them at this point. (WE) have disrupted them enough.
The Downies may like the perches in the winter. But we will discuss how to help roosting birds in the winter after your Blues are gone. ;D

Linda, those are dowels. I though they were there for the parents to sit on while they feed the young. They will have to stay for now because I don't want to disturb them at this point. I already "stressed" them out enough. I feel fortunate that I have kept them safe this long with as little as I knew when I first started this. As far as being pickey Lisa, that's OK because every time I read a post I learn something new.

I am guessing that those dowels are for converting the nestbox to a roosting box for winter, and might be easily removed. It will give the youngsters more room for flight practice.
Tim, you have such a great attitude! Isn't it great to have these forums!?! So many people out there ready and willing to help.
Another favorite of mine is "Name That Plant" where you can post a pic and folks tell you what it is.
BlueBars