I've tried orange peels and rose cuttings at the same time(chopped up and spread around the garden) and that seems to keep them from using it as a litter box, they still come by and chase birds and squirrels! Next year I would like to add some gardens to attract song birds so if the neighbors don't take them in, we'll have them trapped and call "Animal Control" to pick them up... it's sad to think they'll be outdoors in the bitter cold all winter. :( *Bee*

Welcome! First, nestboxes should never be mounted on fences, wooden posts, trees or anything else a predator can easily climb up. They should be mounted on slick metal poles (conduit) with predator baffles (wobbling stovepipe) and put up at least 15 feet away from any fence/tree or anything a predator can jump from. Your raccoon you relocated could be back anytime and or another raccoon could come by and see its happy meal sitting waiting on the fence for it. Please visit sialis.org for helpful information on properly mounting nestboxes and info on sparrow spookers/wren guards etc. If you see birds sitting with the Blues and not being chased away they are not wrens or HOSP. They are most likey House Finches which like to hang with Blues for some reason. However being you are on a farm with other farms around you probably most likely have HOSP around. A sparrow spooker will not scare the Blues away from their nesting and I would put one up asap, right after you move that box off that fence and to a safer spot about 15 feet away from the fence. Yes you can move an active nesting like this, the Blues won't abandon it because of moving it. As far as the TRES you can do the same with that box but you will need to be much more careful if there are eggs. It is really hard to see in their nests because of all the feathers but usually when it is loaded with feathers that means there are eggs in there. I just did a nestbox switch on an active Blues nesting because the momma blue laid seven eggs (which all hatched)in a smaller Gilwood style box, it has a 3 1/2" x 4 1/4" floor. I switched the nest to a larger box mounted on the same pole and had no problems with the adults accepting it. The nestlings were five days old. Good luck! Donna

I have a HP laptop with windows 7 so it may not be the same but if I click on the start button and type webcam in the search programs and files box my webcam is the first thing listed in the search result. I can right click on the name of the webcam and select send to and choose desktop. it will make a shortcut on the desktop. Or I can choose pin to taskbar or pin to start menu from the drop down list. This may not help you at all but thought I would suggest trying.

Hi Cattyles - Like all our non-native pests, they were transported here. Some species by accident; some on purpose. English House Sparrows (HoSP) were introduced from England in the late 1800s by a Shakespearian group that performed plays in NYC's central park. Someone got the wild idea it would be great to have all the birds mentioned in the Bard's plays flying around the park. They imported them and released them in the park. All the species, except two - the European Starling - and the English House sparrows - died out quickly. These two aggressive species took off like wildfire. With the explosion of fast food places and shopping malls toward the late 1950s, the HoSP came into their own. Now every fast food place and big box garden center is literally crawling with them. Pink Mountain - I don't want to sound contrary, but my chickadees nest in a wooden box, set on a metal pole, 5' from my neighbor's busy garage. While it's not ideal, it is for them because of the safety. I keep clean bird houses and have illuminated the house sparrows in this little corner of town. They, like all cavity nesters, would prefer an old dead tree full of abandoned woodpecker holes, but that's not always possible. I wanted to bring one in, too, but there's just not room. HoSPs will nest anywhere, in bird houses, drain pipes, under roof eaves, trees, any sort of place at all. They will enter a cavity nesters "home" (they wrecked havoc on the woodpecker population, too) smash eggs or kill the young and pull their nesting material in right over the bodies. This picture doesn't show the birds, but this garage is on our property line. I have the bird house about 5' away from it. The neighbors are siding their garage, while a tree swallow is in the nest incubating her eggs. This is the box the chickadees use in the early spring. I've had a pair checking it out all week right now. After they leave the tree swallows arrive and take over. About 40 feet to the left I have another nest box attached to their privacy fence. It alternates each year between wrens or more tree swallows.