Those mini teacups are darling that 'luvs' puts in her fairy gardens! I haven't done any ...no none to share, crete...but I know you will have some beauties to share soon! Jeanne s.

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

mekales, Looks like a black-capped chickadee (one of my favorite birds). I enjoy listening to them too. Their name is based on the chickadee sound they make, and I like hearing their "fee-bay" territory sound, probably because I like the bird so much. Here's a link for you to take a look to help you decide. Lori Here is a link that might be useful: enature.com page for black-capped Chickadee

Adult female Red-winged Blackbird. Scroll down the linked page to the pictures at the bottom. This one always surprises me because it's so different from the male. Claire