Thanks to Alfie for clarifying the difference between catmint and catnip; saved me the trouble! Since I have to fence my catnip to allow it to survive the depredations of my own and the neighborhood cats, I have but one plant. However, since the cats care nothing for lemon catnip, and because it self-sows with the same gleeful abandon as the regular sort, and because I much prefer its aroma and taste in tea to the standard (which to me smells like skunk, although I confess I do not find that scent--at a reasonable distance!--terribly off-putting), I have masses of that around, duking it out in one wild corner with the lemon balm, equally enthusiastically self-sowing calendula, and several mullein plants that I encourage for their medicinal properties as well. ANYhow--my point is this: if plain ol' catnip is a good 'skeeter repellent, seems my lemon catnip would be even better, as it has that citronella-like scent, same as lemon balm. We, happily, have not too many mosquitoes this year, but I will sure give it a try tomorrow for the ravenous black flies that have plagued our area the last couple of summers. I have little hope, though, since the lemon balm did not faze them...CK

OH NO, please go over to the birdwatching forum and read my post about the flufed up birds. What you have there is salmenilla. I had two that I cought and brough in two days ago. They rooseted together through the night, then died the next day. You must take all your feeders down and wash them with a bleach solution. You know the drill I am sure. Clean under the feeders and any bird baths too.There has been a outbreak in our reigon. It is highly contageous and can be transmited to humans and domestic pets. There are several good links in the post over there. This is NOT one of those things that you want to let nature take it's course with. This affects birds in the finch family the most, including pine siskins. I know how badly you felt, I go through the same dilema myself and it was so sad to watch those little birdies die, I was going to take them to the rehabber to be put to sleep, there is nothing to cure it, I am glad they had each other in a warm place to die. So WARNING to anybody in this region, pleas please keep your feeders EXTRA CLEAN especially UNDER them , this is spread by fecies. I am so sorry dirtgirl. Lisa

BOSS = Black oil sunflower seed I don't feed nyjer, just BOSS, home-made suet and raw suet. There seems to be something for everyone this way. The Goldfinches and other finches don't care for suet, but like the BOSS just fine. Last week's ProjectFeederwatch count was 18 Goldfinches, 18 Pine Siskins, and 6 House Finches. Last year, I let some of the BOSS sprout and grow, also grew enormous Mammoth Grey stripe Sunflowers. I observed Goldfinches, Warblers, and Chickadees on the BOSS seedheads, and many different types of birds and squirrels/chipmunks loved the Mammoth grey stripe. It is a lot cheaper to grow these, vs. purchase the seed. Btw, Niger/Nyjer or whatever it's called is NOT thistle (Cirsium species). It is Guizotia abyssinica, an herb grown in Africa and India and imported to the US from these countries. Goldfinches do love the actual Thistle, but care should be taken if growing these plants - they are very prickly and quite a few are classified as noxious weeds.

I have the same problem with a tube feeder filled with safflower. The chickadees and house finches will toss out several pieces before deciding on one while the cardinals will land, take one seed, and eat it. Much like you, I've yet to figure out what's going on. I was using the tray that came with the feeder but that allowed the mourning doves to perch and eat. They would clean out the feeder in a day. Now without the tray in place, I'm going 3 or 4 days between refills. The downside is the seed getting tossed to the ground, which the doves end up eating anyway. So I guess it's a trade-off.