I'm sure your landscape lures more birds into your yard and makes them feel safer when they are visiting your feeders, Gary-. It's great to hear that you have so many wonderful species coming by. I get quite a few goldfinches at a time, too. They seem happiest in flocks, like the chipping sparrows do. But mine LOVE the thistle sock. They will eat sunflower seeds, etc, from the tray feeder, too, but the sock will sometimes be completely covered by clinging birds. Last year they emptied several completely. And they stayed until they were almost in full breeding plumage. It was fun to watch them go from grayish brown and black to brilliant yellow and black. Yep, they are cheerful little birds that brighten the yard, and I'm always sorry to see them go. But when they have buntings with them, both painted and indigo, it's even better. I noticed last year, btw, that the indigo buntings spent as much time picking through the grass as they did on the feeder tray. They were down there with the chipping sparrows an awful lot. Have you seen that, too? Marcia

I have dug down 18 inches to get after the roots of a well-established poke weed plant. The remaining five (!) roots from the single plant are 3/4" to 1 1/4" in diameter. I have removed the large crown of the root system. If i fill in the hole at this depth is the plant likely to grow back? If I brush Round-Up on the root stubs at the bottom of the hole to kill the remainder of the roots and then put a 4" wide stone on top of each poisoned stub before filling in the hole, will the Round-Up be toxic to dahlias that I later plant 5" deep on the siite? (Dahlia tubers are planted ony 5" deep and don't send down significant roots.)

We just had our first grosbeak in three Springs, too! A fine, fat male sat right on the Droll Yankee feeder next to the French doors for a good ten minutes... We've also seen lots of goldfinches, house finches, the usual downy, hairy, red-bellied woodpeckers and flickers, but we're noticing rather unusual sparrows (chipping, song, black-throated...)and some great blue herons are using us as a flyway, too. Oh, and a pair of wood ducks visited the silver maples a while back--it was funny watching them wobble on the branches, trying to perch! Dh thinks he saw bluebirds in the fields over the weekend, too. The STRANGEST thing we've seen since moving here was last year, when a flock of what turned out to be AFRICAN CATTLE EGRETS (!!!!) grazed the fields for a few days. Becky

I have really enjoyed reading some of these older threads, there is a lot of good information in them. I really enjoy gardening for wildlife but my gardens are a little behind some of the other posters here. I would love to see pictures of how your gardens have turned out Rita (and anybody else), if you ever get around to it. Re the catbirds - they have always hung around in my yard, because of the plantings and the birdbaths. They seem to take a LOT of baths! This winter I put up a Suet Log right outside a window and the catbirds love the homemade suet mixture, so I get to see them up close and personal. They do seem to be curious about what I'm doing in the yard sometimes, kind of like the Chickadees. I also enjoy their pretty songs when they aren't making that whiny cat sound. Also I dug out an old Burning Bush and replaced it with a 6 foot Serviceberry this Spring (BIG improvement). The berries are ripening and the Catbirds are on the Serviceberry every day. They are fun birds to have around!