Any feeder in a storm, eh? I have had feeders out for many a year, and I have seen a lot of things come and go, some of which aren't classified as seed eaters (Carolina wrens VERY often, mockers from time to time, etc) but I would be thrilled to have warblers stop by my feeders. It would make it SO much easier to see and enjoy them than the way I have to do it now...craning my head back so far it feels like my neck will break just to catch a passing glimpse of them WAY up in the trees. Of course, sometimes I will get lucky and they will show up at my birdbaths for a few weeks. That's always fun. My favorite was a pair of parulas who both would jump into the deepest part of the bath, and pop straight up out again. They looked to be completely submerging themselves in a fast dunk and then rocketing straight up again! Normally the little guys don't care for the deep water and will stand on the edge or on a rock and just lean forward to dip their chests in, but this pair were like Olympic divers! (I gave them 10's consistently.) The wonderful thing about nature is no matter how much you learn, there are still so many surprises out there. *going to get up tomorrow HOPING for a black throated blue or an ORIOLE...better yet!...at my feeder!!* Marcia

I have a lot of a Symphoricarpos that has violet berries. It's pretty but I have never seen a bird eating the berries. They just dry up and fall off. The best berry I have is a Silky Dogwood. I don't remember the scientific name right now. It has attractive, blue berries with a greenish overtone. The leaves turn red in the fall. The only drawback for me is that it's branches lean over and root where ever it touches the ground so we have to keep it trimmed back. But, it's worth every minute of the time we spend on it. So far, these are the birds I've seen eating the berries: Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Scarlet Tanager, Brown Thrasher, Catbird, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, House Finch, Song Sparrow, Swainson's Thrush, Wood Thrush, Robin and probably some I'm not remembering. These shrubs grow along the creek and to think, we almost got rid of them all when we first moved here!! I am SO glad we didn't! VG

How nice this thread got bumped! I enjoyed re-reading it and thinking about how much the yard has changed in a year. My bird-friendly yard is evolving. Have made great progress removing invasives, particularly Bittersweet, Buckthorn, and Norway Maples (treework cost me $2000 last year and there's still one GINORMOUS Norway maple left). There was a lot of brush created by all this tree/shrub work. Some was burned this Spring, right smack in the middle of the Oriental bittersweet patch, but the rest is in piles. The brush piles attract a lot of birds, particularly Sparrows, Cardinals, Juncos, and Wrens. The birds also love the back half-acre, which is wild and full of Crabapples, Choke Cherries, White Pine, and still some invasives like Honeysuckle and Autumn olive. Also making great progress on growing bird-friendly natives. Purchased another 50 native tree/shrub seedlings from the NH Nursery. That makes 130 total between this year and last - all of which ultimately make berries/nuts for the birds and wildlife. Most of them are in holding beds and haven't flowered yet, too little, but I've given away some and started to plant out a few. I winter-sowed many native species of perennials, annuals, and vines. Exactly where all this stuff is going, is not completely clear at this point, but I'm creating lasagne beds like crazy! The birds are always flitting around the yard and it's only going to get more interesting and fruitful for them (hopefully). It's great!

Thanks for the reply. None of the other birds were making any sounds. That's why I didn't really think it was a danger sort of deal. Like you said without a translator I'll never know. I don't know about many,many birds but I have observed "my" backyard birds for the last 27 years & never seen anything quite like this. All the birds except the blues were quiet & seemed to be watching & listening to the blues.Whatever the blues were chattering about, the others found it fascinating!