Hi Nancy, I bought new birdfeeders today. I was in the States for the day (I'm from Canada) and so I decided to checkout Lowes and got feeders with metal perches. Funny thing about animals - you really can't tell what's on their minds when they do what they do..so for me to make sense of this is probably futile. And you are probably right in that large birds may have caused the damage -- yet I cannot explain why the cuts occur at the point the perch enters the tube and why the rest of the perch do not have any bite marks. These are relatively new tubes. One a year old and other just recently purchased. The perches are pretty strong I can't snap them in half. If it had been squirrels, the tubes by now would have been damaged. They remain intact and for added protection I had greased the poles. Mice, raccoons or squirrels will have to do heck of a pole dance to make it up that pole. I won't throw away my older feeders. I would like to still use them if I can locate rods of similar width to replace the perches. or as you said, enlarge the holes by drilling and get branches.

MsMarion - I grew up outside of Boston in horse country on the south shore. We had 26 acres of land (talk about property taxes...). It was an old New England farm house (built 1701) and the cleared property was a former Macintosh apple orchard. There were also a few pear trees plus, blackberries and concord grapes grew everywhere too. There was also a small stream that ran through the woods and opened to a field into a small pond. We used to go iceskating on it in the winter. I think that's where I got my love of nature. Sadly, over the years, the land was sold off to developers and several new neighbors cropped up where I used to walk in the woods with my dog or ride my horses. They damned up the river so the pond doesn't exist anymore--nor the river for that matter. How do you balance growth and progress with the destruction of the good things? I do like living near things that make my life convenient. Yet, every time I drive through Pinellas county and see the last bastian of wilderness being mowed under so the new WalMart (7-11, McDonalds,Freedom Bank...whatever...) can be put in, I just cringe.

Nope, I don't think much about it at all. Nice of her to let you know your computer might be off whack though. I don't tell anyone, spouse included, absolutely every thing I do at all times either...it's not a 'secret', just not always news worthy. If I called his mother to chat, usually never mentioned it (she has passed on now)unless it was something I felt was important to repeat. If his son, my SS, calls, I might mention it, might not. I don't necessarily think I must report to anyone else exactly every movement and/or thought I have. What's the big deal? I assume your SD would have gotten around to it eventually or figured you'd hear about it from your mother yourself when you talk to Mom. While it might be your mother, you can't control everybody Mom talks to nor should Mom tell you immediately just because someone you know calls/invites her. Speaking of 'birds', if you're into celebrating the upcoming holidays, Happy Thanksgiving to you, Thurman.

Its hard to see if it had wing bars. I'm thinking it's not a chat, since it doesn't have a white eye ring or line. If it has wing bars, maybe a parula? I'm in central Indiana and I've started having parulas here every summer now. Are you hearing any song? I'm not very good at I.D.ing Fall warblers..........