Thanks, tony. Sorry I disappeared. Massive storms through here knocked us out of commission for a time. I will try and leave them be. The nest under the board, especially, should be no problem. As for the other theoretical nest, that I may or may not have disturbed, I will lay it by ear and look carefully to note any potential goings-on.

Poor little thing. Seems to be missing some hummingbird nous about nest building. Or maybe she's just a low-ranking bird and can't find anything better. Must have been horrible for you seeing that happen last year. Do you have trees or bushes in your yard she could use? If not, maybe you could strap or tape some kind of shelter on for her. But it will be hard to make sure it won't blow away in a strong wind. Hope you find a solution.

Twice in past houses I've lived in, I've found a yellowjacket nest entry hole beneath the bottommost board of the siding. One was right next to the back door of the house and if closed the door too hard they would come out to defend the nest. I tried one store brand of wasp/hornet killer on them, but it didn't seem to have any effect. The force of the spray would knock them to the ground, but they would shake off, and fly away, seemingly unharmed. I tried a stronger name-brand wasp/hornet spray, that killed the wasps on contact, but those in the nest stopped using the poisined entrance, and found another way out of the nest directly into the basement. Another time I had a yellowjacket nest (which is probably what pennysworth son found) in the ground in our yard 3 feet from the corner of where we would set up the volleyball net. (Bump. Set. Sting. :-) Based on a suggestion from a friend, I ran an extension cord out into the yard and set the shop-vac there, with its snout right next to the hive entrance, sucking up the wasps as they left or came back, for several hours. The next morning when I crept out to check on the nest, I discovered that something had come by in the night, dug open the entrance to the nest, and pulled out and munched on the remaining larva filled nest pieces, leaving a hole 6 inches across and about 2 feet deep.

Hi Dave, That's an excellent action series with many fabulous open-wing shots. I love the way you capture them frozen in air like that! :) We could tell pretty much the same story here... with our Blues visiting their nestbox everyday (mostly in the mornings) and defending it as necessary. Fortunately, we still have a relatively low HOSP population here, so we don't have to watch the aerial battles you show here that often. But woe be it to ANY bird lands on or peeks into "their" box. :) Oh and btw, we've noticed Mr.B and Missy have begun discouraging their kids lately, (we've had 4 fledges from last season over-wintering with their parents here). Until now, it's been a calm and cohesive family of 6 everyday. But I think we will soon be missing the youngin's, as each day it seems more clear that we'll have the same pair nesting in the same box that fledged 13 chicks last year. Spring's a comin' y'all! Kenn Here is a link that might be useful: Kenn & Temple's Bluebird Family