Hey guys... sorry to helping bring up an old thread but this might help the culprits. This just happen to me recently on my 3rd round of pods off of 2 plants this year "2 1/2 lbs so far :P , btw off my 3 year old plants". Anyways I notice 8 peppers that way and the very last one i cut open to check it it was a cockroach inside of the pepper... go figure. so around the pot i been sprinkling balls of 1/2 borax + 1/2 sugar mixture then with enough water to make it to a thick paste "like dough i guess even tho not close..." to make little balls or little white pebbles. and so far many balls/pebbles gone no roaches. just a heads up of new pepper stealers :)

Baker, I can think of two possibilities. One is that they have not started incubating yet. Bluebirds can lay up to 7 eggs. Once the eggs are in the nest, the incubation does not need to start right away. Also, the mother may leave the eggs for longer periods if it is hot out. Another possibility is that you have a wasp nest in the box. They will abandon nests where wasps have set up shop. Check on the roof for a wasp nest. To avoid this, always rub paraffin wax or soap on the roof of the house. Or you can rub a thin coat of vaseline on the roof and about 1/2 inch down on the sides. You should be sure to wipe this out well with a paper towel leaving a very thin coating. Ideally this should be done in the early spring before the nesting season, but you could still do it now.

Not sure if your egg has hatched or not. I used a hot water bottle to hatch abandoned eggs, when they hatched we fed them some wild bird feed. Get a chick waterer (you can get them at feed stores or order them from mcmurray hatchery, Jeffers pet catalog and other places. I wouldn't mist the egg by the way.

I'm new to this and I'm concerned about my bluebirds. I had a pair of birds nest in one of my houses and had seen them coming and going for days. When doing yardwork last week, I found some feathers on the ground and worry that one of the neighbor cats may've gotten at least one of them. The nest has 4 eggs in it and I haven't seen either of the birds all week. Is this normal? Should I remove the eggs from the nest?