You nailed it Mrs. G. Those catbirds are pretty, but they are really tough on fruit patches. They have been the leading cause of the need for netting on my blueberries and the few cherries that I get. Catbirds are kinder with my raspberries. They, and the brown thrashers, seem to only eat the raspberries that don't get picked and fall to the ground. They like my fruit patch some much, they usually nest nearby in the thicker brush. I just planted strawberries this year. I guess that means that I will need more netting. Also new this year are gooseberry and currants. Do they eat those as well?

I have found 9-pound bags of a mix of mostly millet with some sunflower seed and, I think, safflower seed, at a dollar-type store here called Big Lots. $7 per bag. Birds gobble it up in winter, but in the winter they'll eat anything; in the spring they are picky, kicking out the milo for the pigeons and doves, so I stop feeding them and concentrate on hummingbirds and, this year, suet for Ladderback and Downy woodpeckers. Also I have nyger thistle feeders (both metal mesh feeder and sock feeder) out for our sweet, tiny lesser goldfinches. To complete my first post in this forum, I spotted and got pictures of a male Northern Cardinal this morning, a rare sighting for our area (Albuquerque). A similar male bird (the same one??) was reported a few miles further north back in February. I also photographed a rare Vermillion Flycatcher in April. Maybe more birds are moving into my state -- and I'll have figure out how to feed them if they visit my apartment complex :)

Thanks! We've been going up there almost every day to pick blackberries and swim until I have piles of bird photos I've not even posted yet. Every day I get more, so I keep falling behind, but I suppose that's the way it is in summer. 7-24-09, Poppy Mnt, 1rst yr male Blue-winged Warbler From 7-6-09 Poppy Mnt, farm 7-25-09, Poppy Mnt pay lake, fledgling Green Heron From 7-6-09 Poppy Mnt, farm I'll have to get busy and post them because yesterday at the fish hatchery, we were already seeing migrants coming through! 7-26-09, Migrating Forster's Tern at fish hatchery From late summer birds, 2009

Bird pics in the nook. The foyer begs for a mirror. Even when you’re leaving the house, if you’re putting on a hat or coat or adjusting a scarf or making sure you dont have a piece of spinach wedged between your teeth, you need a mirror. It will also add some sparkle to the foyer which appears dreary with the pictures hung there.