Well it took till almost 7 PM yesterday, but Mr. HOSP is gone for good!! The horrific thing this year is seeing HOSP travel in small flocks! Never seen it before this year. I put the nest back in. Came home today and found an intact egg! The spooker has gone up! Proud of the bluebirds for not giving up! I got 1 pair incubating 5 eggs, due to hatch May 5-7. With all having spooker, wish me well with these 3 pairs!

Sounds like you really have some challenges. You have my sympathies! A tiny poked hole is more likely a house wren's thin sharp beak, sometimes taking them some distance away, or simply tossing them out. The house sparrow will toss the eggs out, but their finch-like beak would not as likely make a tiny poke hole. And the HOSP is more likely to stick around, harass, or even take over the cavity. "Do BB's destroy their own eggs" ... No "the nest possibly could have been flooded?" ... are there leaks that could be fixed? "Are the HOSP really sneaky" ... yes, but HOWR are sneakier ... "and resistant to the Sparrow Spooker?" ... yes, and house wrens will not be deterred by a sparrow spooker. House Wrens are even sneakier, faster and silent, leaving no evidence behind, only destroying eggs or young. You might hear them singing, but might never, ever see them! There are some links to sound files of house wren song and chatter on Bet's web pages, so you can learn to hear the unwelcome sounds of house wrens. Visit Bet's web page for more info. And by the way, the Carolina Wren is a very different bird, welcome almost anywhere; not a threat to other birds. BlueBars Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.sialis.org/index.html

Donna I just had new wrens start singing and putting sticks in a box today. There are 2 boxes up the road in the neighbors yards with wrens and 1 across the street that already have nests and I thought I was in the clear and then more showed up today. What time did you put it on? Usually I put it on in the morning so they have all day to get used to it and figure it out. (which they do) If it is just a piece of wood or cardboard in the front only I would leave it. That is easier to figure out that with the sides on like I use. I myself would have put the guard on first b/c the hosp have never gotten around the guard yet. Sometimes I don't even use a spooker until fledging is near if I have a guard up. Gees that is a tough call. I don't think you can ever say you are safe from the wrens. Wish I had better advice. Cathy

I am confused why you would NOT put the DW next to the sink. Does the corner sink not let you have the DW next to the sink? I like working with garbage bowl (in my case compost bin) on the counter better than having a pull out. I have a pull out and tried to have compost there but the receptacle on the counter makes less mess on the floor and is more efficient for me. I know someone that works with a compost receptable on the floor (out of the pullout) while working. I find that having a pull out that is pulled out while working in the kitchen is a hazard. Therefore, one has to pull it out and close it constantly while working, which I find inefficient and requires steps that can be avoided if the receptacles were out on the counter while working. We do not use garbage disposal and have a compost plus city food waste pick up bin. Our garbage is the smallest volume that goes out. We have recycle, compost then garbage in the order of volume going out. If you have a second pull out, you can then use it for recycle or compost even if you end up not using it for garbage. If you have enough storage for everything else, I would get the second trash pull out. If this is coming from really needed storage, I would NOT. I also find that trash/compost is well stored under the sink contrarary to what others say in the GW forum. It is a wasted space unless you plan for it well. Since I work with the compost bins on the counter, under the sink is a good storage for these compost bins. I don't have that much cleaning supply that can go under the sink.... I have a pull out for under the sink and I put two compost bins, DW detergent AND cleaning supplies under there....