well, Zyperiris, heheh I think I was definitely "wearing my brains" on backwards; I can't believe I missed out on that important descriptor-- prehistoric and wild and rough! I never thought of a bird being wild and rough except for a parrot that doesn't get enough attention from its owner, lol! So that descriptor should have caught my eye. I think I just saw the first 2 responses and jumped to the gun with mine, ridiculous me! Anyway, I am hoping one of these days we'll be able to enjoy a photo of your Pileated woodpeckers and your wood beaver! But again, it's so difficult to catch a real-live photo of wildlife and who cares about the photo compared to just the joy of seeing the real thing in person! You must have some really tall massive trees on your property. I would imagine one would need those kinds of trees to attract those woodpeckers. Keep us updated when you! get the chance to see these amazing birds! am crossing my fingers you'll get to see one soon, soon, soon!

nottougly... thank you for the beautiful sparkly glittery SANTA Christmas card and sharing with me a part of your gardens...red bee balm and zinnias...thank you! socalgardengal...thank you for the beautiful Christmas wreath Christmas card and for sharing with me a part of your gardens... Cornflower 'double mix', large ivory cherry tomato! yum! super excited to try these! and the I.nil 'China Doll' and I. nil youjiro! wow! all of my favorites! thank you for spoiling me ..... =) nlb52... thank you for the beautiful glittery ice skating scene Christmas card.. also for sharing your gardens with me... Marigolds 'orange and yellow', coneflowers and toad lilys! yay! I will be winter sowing these...thank you! pmb2005...thank you for the precious penguins Happy Holidays Christmas card...also for the Coreopsis 'Mahogany Midget' and Echinacea 'Tennessensis' .... will be winter sowing these as well! thank you! wishing you ladies and your families a very happy holiday season and a beautiful garden for 2015!

Lol, mustbenuts, you have quite the aviary there! I love the blue jays too but they can be big bullies so they may drive out other birds. I am pretty thrilled about my birds exploits too. I used to have a very old, beat up and rotting out bird house and every year a family of house sparrows would move in and I'd get to watch them hatch and fledge. Well it finally just bit the dust. It was so old and falling apart that it wouldn't hold together anymore. So I replaced it with a beautiful new one. Nothing too fancy but a nice one. I put it out in March just like I had done with the old one. Nothing. 4 years of nothing. Not a single nest ever built. I was heart broken. Well after 5 Michigan winters it doesn't look pristine anymore. Some of the cedar shingles have chipped off and the paint is faded out and guess what...it has a nest in it! I was sitting on the patio the other day and saw a flash of something by it so I turned and looked. There she was, a beautiful yellow finch carrying a twig into the house. Now I'm thrilled!

Jane, we had a big problem with carpenter bees and woodpeckers at my first house, which was in the woods. The carpenter bees tunneled into the fascia and soffit boards to create their long nesting chambers. Then the woodpeckers would come after the grubs and hammer away. But your damage looks like a divot in the siding, so hopefully it's from the woodpecker's urge to pound and not hunt for grubs. We knew we had carpenter bees because we'd see them around the eaves, because of all the sawdust that drifted down from the wood, and because close examination showed that tunnels were present in the boards. Hope this has been solved!