It looks like y'all had such fun! Isn't it fun to meet people in "real life?" I haven't met any Garden Junkers but I have met other friends from the internet. Some are my best friends now. I loved seeing the Barton & Leire gardens and calamity_j's wonderful mosaic creations! I think purplemoon and I would have been fighting over that bunny! he-he Hopefully we will have many more junker meets in the future!

We had a bad problem downtown, but the city did something about it. Before that, I had 3 hanging around, always kind of spooked me out, but I wanted to get along with them, started feeding them along with the carnivore woodpeckers, dry cat food and meat scraps cut up and no bones to drop on a roof. That went on awhile, watched one eat a piece of apple one day, interesting birds. But then a sick one showed up on my front porch at the water dish I set out, and I found 2 dead in the gutter a half block down, laid there for 2 or more weeks weeks, ick. We have a problem with West Nile, they had already done their sampling, confirmed its presence in the area, so wouldn't come pick them up. I thought they were a health hazard and if it had been in front of my house, would have disposed of them. So West Nile took its toll on them, now we have a fair amount of owls, that may help keep them away. Haven't been bothered by them for a couple years now, same with the larger brown woodpeckers, large flock of them. So nature has its ways, but you don't want West Nile in your area if you don't have it already. People in the two-state area have died from it (mosquitoes the carrier), usually elderly or with compromised immune systems.

Hi y'all! I'm in Hermitage...just outside Nashville. We've got all the birds mentioned above plus a few more. We've had a male & female Tanager here the last couple years. They are pesky birds...continually attacking their own reflections on the mirrors of our parked cars. Cedar Waxwing are just gorgeous. I love it when they visit. I have seen an Indigo Bunting once in a neighboring pasture... oh how I'd love to have one visit my feeder or birdbath! We usually can count on a visit by the hummingbirds around Tax time (April 15th) or as we like to refer to the day... "Tomato planting day!" :) And finally, we have a pair of bluebirds nesting in our bluebird house. I think it has been up for about 4 years... maybe longer. Just God's way of teaching me to be more patient! Tonight we saw a large bird carrying something to it's nest high atop a cellphone tower. I don't know what it was, maybe a falcon? Didn't fly much like a Hawk. I'll keep an eye out for a better view. Y'all have fun birding!

According to the Migratory Bird Act, it is illegal to remove nests of any native migratory birds. "Unless permitted by regulations, the Act provides that it is unlawful to pursue, hunt, take, capture or kill; attempt to take, capture or kill; possess, offer to or sell, barter, purchase, deliver or cause to be shipped, exported, imported, transported, carried or received any migratory bird, part, nest, egg or product, manufactured or not." "Birds protected under the act include all common songbirds, waterfowl, shorebirds, hawks, owls, eagles, ravens, crows, native doves and pigeons, swifts, martins, swallows and others, including their body parts (feathers, plumes etc), nests, and eggs." There are over 800 species of bird protected by this act. My understanding is that the only birds whose nests it is legal to destroy are House Sparrows, European Starlings, pigeons, and a few odd others (escaped parakeets, e.g.). Even house wrens are protected. http://www.sialis.org/mbta.htm Here is a link that might be useful: Migratory Bird Treaty