I am so sorry for you. My family thinks I am obsessed with my one bluebird box. I have had 3 nesting this year. The first nesting the Hosp distroyed the eggs. The second was a success with 4 fledging and right now I have 4 eggs in the nest and no signs of the female. I was able to scare off the Hosp with a BB gun and spookers but I now dont know what happen to the female. The male sings daily but no female. I don't know what to do with the eggs.

Aloemem,
I am sorry for you as well. It may be some comfort to know you had a successful brood at least once this year. It's hard to know what happened to your female. Perhaps the HOSP have harrassed her so much she is simply waiting it out for awhile. I hope she comes back. I was told there is nothing to do with the eggs. After making absolute certain the female is gone they should be removed along with the best and the male may find another female to start over again with. Our poor blues seem to have so many odds against them. It's so very sad but we must continue to help them even when things like this get us down. The male here also continues to check the box and it is heartbreaking.

When we put up a nestbox we are inviting BB in. Its our responsibility to make sure the BB boxes are situated in a safe place away from danger. I'd suggest you take the BB box down unless you can mount it on a pole high enough so a cat cannot reach the box from the ground or jump on the box from a tree or fence. There are also nestboxes that prevent animals from reaching inside the nest to grab the birds.

Myblueheaven,
My box entrance hole is 60 inches off the ground. That is a standard height of a bluebird box as stated on sialus.org. It is in an open area w no trees or shrubs or fences. I will be getting a taller pole to mount a new box on with a larger overhanging roof as well as other measures such as a baffle. I'm sorry to say your post was not helpful nor sympathetic and I can only hope for the bluebirds sake that your perfect world of no mistakes continues on. I wish I had that amazing view from way up there as you seem to. This was my first post on this forum on one of the saddest days of my life and will also be my last.

Natrgrl33,
I completely understand your sadness, as well as your need for support. Just this morning, I found a snake in a box that had three healthy babies last night. Today, all three are dead, and oddly enough, not eaten by the snake. So while I don't know exactly what happened, I do know that it breaks my heart. Were I to try to explain my feelings to some people, they just wouldn't get it.

It sounds to me like you went above and beyond trying to protect the mother- losing sleep to protect the nest from the cat. Years ago I witnessed a cat who managed to get on top of the box (also 5' off the ground) and kill the mother. We then created a baffle out of wire fencing and electrified it. That cat was never successful again with that nest box.

As I walked away from the box with the dead babies this morning, I simply said "God, I don't know what happened here and why these babies had to die, but my trust remains in You." I have taken the box down and it will remain down until I rethink what I can do (if anything) to make it safer for the bluebirds. Sometimes, bad things just happen, and it's no ones' fault.

Focus on the joy the bluebirds have given you in the past three years. I have maintained a bluebird trail for over 25 years, and have had so many wonderful moments observing them. I'll never forget the time I sat in a chair for three hours and was rewarded with witnessing the fledging of a box full of babies. Happier and successful times will come for you, too.

Hugs!

Natrgrl33,
I completely understand your sadness, as well as your need for support. Just this morning, I found a snake in a box that had three healthy babies last night. Today, all three are dead, and oddly enough, not eaten by the snake. So while I don't know exactly what happened, I do know that it breaks my heart. Were I to try to explain my feelings to some people, they just wouldn't get it.

It sounds to me like you went above and beyond trying to protect the mother- losing sleep to protect the nest from the cat. Years ago I witnessed a cat who managed to get on top of the box (also 5' off the ground) and kill the mother. We then created a baffle out of wire fencing and electrified it. That cat was never successful again with that nest box.

As I walked away from the box with the dead babies this morning, I simply said "God, I don't know what happened here and why these babies had to die, but my trust remains in You." I have taken the box down and it will remain down until I rethink what I can do (if anything) to make it safer for the bluebirds. Sometimes, bad things just happen, and it's no ones' fault.

Focus on the joy the bluebirds have given you in the past three years. I have maintained a bluebird trail for over 25 years, and have had so many wonderful moments observing them. I'll never forget the time I sat in a chair for three hours and was rewarded with witnessing the fledging of a box full of babies. Happier and successful times will come for you, too.

Hugs!

Sjharris- thank you for the kind words and encouragement. I have a whole new setup now, we worked on it over the wknd and I'm happy to report Mr blue has already brought back another potential mate! What a blessing. The box is higher now at 6.5 ft and I have added a predator baffle too. Here's to success!

I am so sorry. No one gets our love of these birds. My pair lost 2 nests this year to raccoons. They thankfully have made a 3rd nest but I dream about them every night and rush out each morning to see if they are still there. My family thinks I am crazy. I didn't have a baffle on the pole initially, despite it being 8 feet off the ground, but I do now. I even went as far as to put out mothballs in case a snake is around. It will be a long 15 days until they fledge but I am hopeful this time. It is my first year monitoring them.
There is a great link to a Sialis page: http://www.sialis.org/downside.htm

Here is a link that might be useful: Bluebirding Blues