Hi all, Again a long time passes since our last post. But we'd like to share a few current photos now to let everyone see our Family Blue as of today. :) Mr.B (Father) : Missy (Mother) : Together: The five fledglings of their 1st nest (2010-1) : The six fledglings of their 2nd nest (2010-2) : They have a 11 babies so far this season (exactly as they did at this time last year). And Missy is incubating 5 blue eggs in her 3rd nest as I type this. We couldn't have hoped for a better nesting season... Please wish us and them continued success. Kenn & Temple ps to kendra - Sorry I didn't answer before now... Missy and Mr.B have been here continuously (every day) since 2007. We know them by sight, sound, and behavior just as you would know kept indoor birds. We get to know and recognize the individual fledges over the course of the season as many of them stay until Fall and a few over-Winter here with their parents. But we don't usually name them until the last few finally depart in early Spring. Here is a link that might be useful: Bluebird Gallery

Hi Anita, Seems like the forums are slowing down a bit too huh? ;) Our Downeys like to use the Bluebird nestboxes to roost in during the colder weather, and it's common to see them checking out the empty boxes after fledging is over. They do peck around the hole as if to enlarge it, but so far they haven't really damaged it. We see them emerge from the boxes on many early Winter mornings... so I've just let them be. There's never been any real competition with the Blues about it. Sorry, you were disappointed with your Bluebird nestings this year. But be glad that you had 6 fledglings. We're fortunate to still be seeing many of our "Lucky 13" babyblues. But I'd bet that most of yours made it. :) look forward, Kenn Here is a link that might be useful: Kenn & Temple's Bluebirds

Bummer that you have to put the protectors on. My guess would be a Downy. They like to gain access. Since there's some straw in the bottom of the box, my feeling is that they are planning on using it to roost in for the winter. They've pecked at mine, but I have the wooden blocks attached to the front of the hole, so they haven't had much luck actually getting in, or destroying the original hole.

Thanks everyone for all your encouragement. We do love our birds, and we love to share them with other bird lovers. :) terrene - We're shooting with four different superzoom cameras now, and this set includes images from all of them. Each of them has its strengths in different shooting situations, but I think the results we get usually depend more on lighting, distance, opportunity, and execution (or lack thereof) on our part, than it does on which camera we used on any given shot. And yes, Missy is still with us. She successfully fledged 13 more beautiful baby Blues this year, and is now the mother of 62 over the 5 seasons she's been using our nestbox. The group shot in the last image above is of the 5 fledglings from her 4th nest of the season. Thanks again, and happy birding all. Kenn