I'm following up to my own post: I put the feeder out two days ago and guess who showed up today; March 1st?? A male rufous hummingbird! Yay! -Katy

I received a great box from Heidi. She made two adorable angel ornaments that are now on my tree. She also included a mix of candy and several packages of seeds. These all came inside a cute holiday box. Heidi also made a card with a poem she wrote inside. I want to share it with everyone. She is a very clever writer. It read Winter Soltice Twas the night before Winter solstice and all through the garden The air was quite cold, the ground starting to harden I had just sat down to a nice cup of tea To look through the seeds I had gotten for free When out on the lawn, there arouse such a clatter I jumped from my chair to see what was the matter The snowflakes were fallin' the wind was a blowin' "My winter sowing containers!!" down the street they were goin I threw on my boots, took off at a run I could already see this was not gonna be fun I collected the containers and tied them up tight So much for seed sorting on this crazy night I put on my PJ's and snuggled to bed While visions of winter sown flowers danced in my head I swear I heard my husband snore as I drifted off to sleep "Happy Winter solstice to all, and don't plant your seeds too deep" Thank you Heidi, I really enjoyed my box and it did bring a smile to my face. Margo

Yes I can and Good point, exactly why I said it's ok to disagree and that PMrs and Bluebirders go to great lengths to protect their birds. The difference is you KNOW what bird laid the cowbird egg. Lets put it this way, you know the cowbird egg, if hatched is going to kill the host birds babies so 1 cowbird lives and 3-4-5 other babies die. That cowbird has laid many eggs in many nests we dont see ....we know this, a whole nest is not lost, that cow bird WILL have offspring. 1 egg not being allowed to hatch is much different than removing a whole nest, especially when you dont even know what bird built it. My biggest problem with this is.... a PMr should understand the challenges birds face from pesticides and loss of habitat to upity people that tear down nests because they dont want a little poop on their porch. You know as well as I do the proper thing to do would have been to ID the bird and move the nest to an appropriate place if nessary. You also know that people who know nothing about birds come in and read these posts to learn, what kind of message is Casi's post sending? I got no argument with her protecting her PMs, just with the fact she did not spend one second to try to let both nests flourish.

Where is your feeder located? My MIL used to put a bowl of birdseed right on her picnic table, and the rats would climb right up and help themselves. You could try one of those feeders that stick to the window with suction cups. That should keep them from being able to climb up to access it. A squirrel proof feeder might also keep them out. My feeder is located on a post with a stovepipe guard to keep out the chipmunks and squirrels, but no rat would be able to get past that guard either.