um, could y'all explain to me "the finest in fieldstones" comment? I am guessin' there are rocks in Minnesota gettin' uppity?

House sparrows are extremely prolific and a single pair will lay several clutches of eggs throughout a season. They will nest in just about any nook or cranny they can find, even if it belongs to another bird to begin with. They're an absolute terror at feeding stations. They'll chase away and even attack other birds at feeders. I once saw a goldfinch in my yard get brutally mobbed by three of them. Luckily he escaped with only some missing feathers. The saddest part about it was that they never really used the feeder he happened to be feeding from.

Dax, Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but if you don't intend to properly mount the boxes, monitor them all once or twice a week, and control invasive species like house sparrows and european starlings in your area, then you won't get bluebirds in your boxes. If you do and don't control house sparrows in your area, one day your bluebirds or any other cavity nester you get will be attacked by sparrows. It sounds like you are willing to learn and we all have to start somewhere. I would like to invite you to join the bluebird nut cafe and post your question there for much more professional help and advice as to what you should do. Hope to see you there. http://bluebirdnutcafe.yuku.com/forums

Until those little birdies fledge, I suppose you are stuck with taking your wet wash to a laundromat for drying. The alternative is to evict the bird family and that most likely would be a death sentence for the little ones. If you know the species of bird, you could look up their nest time. About bird proofing after the nestlings leave, do not cover the vent with mesh or netting of any kind. In a short time, that will collect lint and greatly restrict the vent leading to other bad troubles especially if it a gas fired drier. When the vent is restricted, and if everything is working right in the dryer, a reduced air flow will cause the fire tube to overheat and the overheat switch should shut off the flame. However, this overheat switch is all that is between you and a drier fire. When the tunnel and overheat switch cools, the burner will again operate. This cycle continues until the dryer cycle is complete and that will take longer than normal due to another quirk. On many gas dryers, the cycle timer does not start until the air around the clothes exceeds a set temperature. (This is how the dryer detects that the clothes are getting dry. This sensor is nothing more than a temperature switch somewhere in the exit air stream and may be called a humidity detector.) The best bet is to insure that the flap valve on the exit vent is in good working order.