I saw the first hummingbird of the season last week too! He first went to the Lonicera sempervirens, but it only has buds that are not open yet. Went out and bought a feeder over the weekend and the next day he was at it for a few moments! I had never seen this type before- think it might have been similar to the one in Aimee's pic. Last year they just loved my Scrophularia macrantha (Red Birds in a Tree), so I got four more from High Country Gardens. It is sunny and beautiful out today, so maybe he will be out again! CMK

It was raccoons that got the first failed Bluebird nest, because they were good sized nestlings and one morning they were gone. So something got them overnight. I then baffled the snag using sheet metal flashing, and that DOES work for all climbing critters, but that didn't stop the House Wrens who got the final nesting. I knew it was wrens because I found an eggshell on the ground that had a tiny hole in the shell, and the Wrens were flocking around the nest hole later in the day (poor Blues). Dante, I can't speak for Lisa, but I don't "eradicate" House Wrens as they are native birds, just don't encourage them. They like brushy, shrubby areas (as do many birds, such as Cardinals and all Sparrows), and I've removed most of that. Also you can remove their sticks from a nestbox where they start to build a nest. Goldfinch, when the Blues were nesting, I did do a little House Sparrow control. I had a nest box installed on the side of the house that had a Van Ert trap in it. There are not a lot of House Sparrows here, but that did remove a couple of males that were trying to nest in the yard and may have posed a threat to the Blues.

I had two nesting last year that were successful so I think the box is mounted fine. I guess maybe something could have spooked them. I didn't see anything funny with the box. But maybe it's the heat. I kthink they would have returned today if everything was ok.

Thanks everybody for the information. I'm really surprised the eggs can still hatch. Last year I had bluebirds incubating twice and none hatched. I have no idea why. I thought she was leaving the nest too much, but now I think she or the male were not fertile. About the red light from cameras - not all cameras have it. Originally, IR LEDs don't have any visible light but I think sometimes manufacturers add the "red glowing" option so you can see it's on. I have only one camera with the red glowing - it's an outdoor camera, used for yard monitoring. The rest of my cameras are completely invisible at night, including the camera in the bluebird nest. If the red light bothers you and you are good with electronics, you can purchase an IR board from ebay, china sellers have them very cheap - just a few dollars delivered. Then replace your "glowing" board. The only problem is that you never know if the new board will glow or not. From my experience, boards with less than 30 LEDs don't glow. The board I am using in the nest was purchased from ebay - 24 LED, $2 delivered (I purchased it because the camera was not infrared originally - I modified it :))