House Finch

Question
I have a pair of house finches nesting in a small pine tree next to my patio. They have a nest with 4 eggs. Last night we had a terrible storm roll through with high winds and rain. This morning I checked the nest that is placed inside the tree. Due to the storm the nest was turned almost completely upside down. I put a pair of gloves on and returned the nest to the right position. Luckily all the eggs were still in the nest (none had fallen out). I haven't seen the mama bird at all this morning. Will she come back? And how long to wait? Please help.

Answer
I really don't know if the mother will come back. Something might have happened to her; otherwise she will come back. However, if the eggs have been incubated and then they were left alone for several hours, they most likely have gone bad. They will not hatch.
Are you asking how long to wait before you take over incubating the eggs? If the mother had NOT started incubating the eggs, then they might still be viable, but hatching and raising baby birds is only for the experienced, so see your local wildlife rehab center. But, as I said, if incubation had begun, the eggs are probably bad.
By the way, it's a myth that birds won't return to their eggs or nest if you touch them, so rubber gloves were not necessary.