DG: How lucky you are!! You could always put a hole reducer on the box to discourage the blues from bothering them. I have heard of people doing that and not scaring the chickadees off. Good luck to them.

Neat Dirtgirl!
I've never had chickadees in my bluebird boxes. Although last year, I had tree swallows checking it out. We had a cherry tree in our yard that died. DH cut all but about a 7' trunk out. The chickadees have been nesting in there for several years. I'm concerned it's going to fall over. I told DH to cut it down before any nests appeared........but then I saw the chickadees flying around it.......so we'll leave it alone and keep our fingers crossed!
I doubt the bluebirds would bother them. They're so gentle. But the hole reducer is a good idea. Have fun with them!

I would put a hole reducer, I have seen bluebirds build right over a nest with chickadee eggs.
Phil

Well I have to suppose that the little chickadee I saw coming out of the nest was just having a look around because there are now three blubird eggs in that little cup nest. I really thought at first glance that the nesting material was a bit finer than the stuff the blues use but maybe not. And if the blues did in fact give the chickadees the boot, at least there were no eggs laid yet so the losses were avoided. I will keep a closer eye on the other boxes and see what is going when I'm not looking.
Heard the first pileated woodpecker of the spring today, and finally spotted the bird swooping from tree to tree in the part of the woods that I burned last year. Ought to be just to its liking with so many snags and dead elms. Unfortunately I also spotted-if you can believe this- an autumn olive sprout that has survived being chopped to the ground, the stump sprayed with a systemic herbicide, and then burned over. Unbelievable resiliency!! I guess when I clear out the straw from the dog's house I should pile it there at the base of this sprout and let it burn super slowly.

DG: You lucky dog you. But then again, we have accused you of being extremely lucky before haven't we? We will have snow on the ground here. My bluebirds have already been kicked out of the box they have been roosting in all winter (by house sparrows--grrr) and have decided to move into the other house across the yard. I can't believe you have 3 eggs already. Good luck to them.

Good luck? You need to read all of that last post ...the part about the autumn olive. If we left this woods for a few years and came back to have a look, that one shrub would have become hundreds!
For all the success stories I have, it seems there are always the battles I can't seem to win.

Well, I know those are the discouraging ones, but you sure do get lucky on the animals!!

DG, My blues are building already and the snow hasn't even melted. I sure hope it doesn't get too cold. I also saw the tree swallows already!! Apparently the birds aren't aware of the late winter we are having.

Yep, the spring migrants are really streaming in now.
Hearing phoebes (the pewees can't be far behind) and several different warblers now, and if I plan on actually watching any of the newcomers I'd better get at it because once the trees get their greenery started the visibility goes downhill VERY quickly. Once the leaves get going, you have to rely on rainy cooler days to bring many of our migrants down out of the canopy. I've even had summer and scarlet tanagers checking out the feeder area during the darker rainy spring spells.
I keep listening for the parulas, which particularly interest me since I first noticed this brief visitor to our area only a few years back. It was that strange buzzy song that got my attention.
Ever notice how you can almost set your clock to the arrival of some species, and this also applies to the reappearance of certain plants. I know to start looking for morels when the mayapples, larkspur, jack-in-the-pulpit get so tall. And unfortunately this coincides pretty handily with the time the new poison ivy leaves are just popping out.
But I've already got a nice-sized patch of the stuff on my left butt cheek so it doesn't matter. I was burning off a bit of honeysuckle that escaped the burn a few years ago and sat down against a tree for a breather, and , blammo, that's all it takes.