Jane, if you only have one feeder out, you might try a good mixture with black oil sunflower seeds stirred into it. Don't get the cheapie kind with those little reddish-brown "BB's" in it. I have never seen ANYTHING actually eat those. I get mine at PetSmart, and I really love the Stokes mixture that has no hulls in it. I feed it, black oiler sunflowers and safflower seed. Safflower seed goes into a feeder that doesn't have squirrel protection, because they don't really like it, but cardinals and titmice do. HOWEVER, no matter what you are feeding, there will be times when birds are not around for various reasons. I have hardly any right now, mostly due to a pair of hawks hanging about our neighborhood. And even without the hawks, birds often disappear for a few weeks now and then. One more thing...don't forget that WATER is probably even more important than seed in luring birds to your yard. You'll notice that most of Maureen's pictures feature her great birdbath. Be sure to provide several "baths" around the yard. They can be anything from decorative features to trashcan lids on the ground with 2" of water in them. I often turn clay pots upside down and put a clay saucer on top for water. Keep the water CLEAN and shallow, maybe even adding a rock in the center for birds to stand on. Good luck! Marcia

I grew up in a neighboring town and we had a sour cherry tree. My mother made delicious cherry pies. Everyone had a least one fruit tree; sweet cherry, apple, crab apple, peaches and/or pears. Some how we lost all that and fruit trees were considered 'dirty' because the fruit fell to the ground. Most garden centers sell only flowering fruit trees and many sell none at all. Two nurseries which come to mind that might help are Springfield Nursery on Mountain Avenue in Springfield which is a wholesale business but might have some ideas and Williams Nursery on Springfield Avenue in Westfield. I have seen trees at both places. Gurney's Nursery mailorder in Indiana offers bare rooted fruit bearing trees. I am sure there are many nurseries in the area and mailorder companys that have what you are looking for. Good luck.

I feed leftover white rice (or brown) to our chickens. I don't let it dry--just give it to them as it comes off our plates. I don't think it would be harmful to birds since the chickens love it and it does them no harm. It will attract ants, etc. if left out very long, so perhaps you might want to put out a little bit to get eaten up before the pests find it.

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