So sad, the nest is gone :(

Well, I was really hoping the rain would hold off until the nestlings fledged but no such luck. We had a fairly heavy rainstorm Saturday night while I wasn't home and I was worried how the nest would hold up. To my surprise, she was still sitting up there the next day. This picture was taken to show how her nest is damming up our downspout and all the water is spilling over the edge.
Unfortunately later in the afternoon we had extremely heavy thunderstorms move across the state. Again, I wasn't home but was very concerned about how the nest was holding up. When I got home late that evening, I shined a flashlight up there and there was no mama bird so I knew it wasn't a good sign. I didn't see her at all the next day, either. At one point I saw the male finch land on the gutter about a foot away and look around as if he were wondering what had happened (maybe he knew) and it was sad. That evening we got more heavy rain and since we were sure the nest had been abandoned, we had no choice but to clean the nest out of our gutter before damage was done to our roof (if it hadn't already). Sure enough, 2 nestlings and one egg had perished. It is so heartbreaking and I'm hoping mama has found a safer place to build her next nest. :(