I still get excited about getting a good look at any kind of woodpecker, but your photo is great! I have never gotten a picture of any of my woodpeckers. We only rarely see the Pileated (it's a big favorite for me, too!!), but our Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers call all day long, every day in the Black Gum Swamp. We also get Red-headed Woodpeckers, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and Northern Flickers in there. Our very oldest, tallest Slash Pine is dying and I guess it will become a popular tree with the woodpeckers. It was struck by lightning at least twice since we moved to the property in 1997! Since we dug a new pond near our house we get to see a Belted Kingfisher and various enormous herons and egrets pretty often. Let's see, I guess my butterfly-related comment is that I wonder if there are any tricks to getting Red Admirals. Any suggestions on where I should plant my False Nettle seed? I already planted a lot in wet soil along the new pond where it's still bare. This forum is so tempting once spring comes along... but I need to go outside!

If I were you once your female starts laying eggs, add a wren guard to the box just to be on the safe side. A wren will go into any nestbox that they see a hole in, not to nest but to evict anything that is in there. A wren will peck the eggs and throw them or baby birds from nestboxes. I have attached a link (below) for helpful info on wrens and wren guards. Look at the guard about 2/3 of the way down the page where it says Drawing of Wren Guard. I believe it shows it made out of wood but you can easily make it out of cardboard and just duct tape it to the box. That is what I do, lots of people use cheezit boxes. You definately want to do this after you see the first egg and not before or they may abandon the nest. Start out simple with like the picture shows but once you know they have accepted it you can add sides to prevent a wren from looking over the side of the box from the top and seeing the hole. I have had Blues accept a wren guard but one year I had a pair that wouldn't and we had to go without. Good luck! Oh and I have a female Blue hanging around now and as it turns out it must be one from either last year or a different year cause when I put the mealworm feeder out it came right to it. I have never had that happed before, I have always had to train them once they started nesting. Sure hope a male turns up soon! Donna Here is a link that might be useful: wren guard

My bird book says blue grosbeaks breed well south of Canada, but it is a "casual straggler north to the Great Lakes and Maritimes".

Congratulations to you! That is a terrific new bird to have. It's so interesting that the females are so very different. Those birds sure do LOVE the grape jelly. They also enjoy oranges. You can slice some up and put them out on a plate for them, or you can buy a fruit feeder and hang it up for them. Here is a link that might be useful: Fruit feeder examples