I still have some, just not as many as usual. Yesterday at work I was talking to a friend and we were discussing our flowers and tomatoes. I live on the west side of town while she lives on the east side. We weren't talking about birds at all and out of the blue she said "I've never seen as many goldfinches as this year". I guess she got my birds this year. As long as my hummingbirds don't leave me, I'll be happy. Karen

Well, having an absent father turned out to be the least of Mrs. Blue's worries. A few nights ago something got into the box and removed the eggs ... clean as a whistle. They were probably a week from hatching. One morning the latch on the door was turned, when I opened the box to check it out, the nest was tilted slightly forward, eggs gone. No evidence anywhere of anything. It was just like Scottie had "beamed them up". A little later the male was there checking it all out. It just breaks my heart. It had to be something with hands to turn the latch, remove the eggs, and close the door back. The only thing it could have been is a raccoon or a human. In this new neighborhood, I just cannot believe a raccoon is anywhere around. The male and the female come back to eat every morning, but I guess they're both off raising the previous brood now. They never have brought them back to feed. I removed the nest, even though it looks like it's never been touched ... since there were no babies trampling it down. It's actually in good enough shape that if I put it back she might use it, IF she gets the urge to raise another family this season. What do you think? Do you think that this was probably her last brood for the season?

At 8-9 days old Dad can do it no problem, especially with only 3. As Michelle said get some meal worms out there for him to help. www.sialis.org has some information about losing a parent. You should both read up if you have nestboxes. Im sorry to hear about the loss. What happened?

Oh man! That's not something you'd want to see now. I sure hope Mom and the babies fatten up and fly off soon. As long as you're providing food and water, hopefully they'll gorge themselves and be able to fly off in time. Keep us posted.