Velvet, I am so sorry for your loss. I haven't always agreed with your advice and I think you and I exchanged some 'words' once, but it never crossed my mind to doubt that you had suffered a terrible loss or to criticise or mudsling. I know that some people in these forums will do that occasionally but I always know I can come here for help and sincere sympathy from the good people who post here. You are so well known in the forums you cannot help but find caring and empathetic words here. I am so truely sorry for your loss. Cheryl

jillmcm: ...We have a very nice woods bordering the east side of our yard that we cleared to ground level, about 15 or so feet back, 8 years ago (accept for the trees and larger saplings and burdock ~ which I enjoy and respect too much to cut back). We leveled the area because the previous owners had used it as a dumping site for waste construction material, & it became a haven for poison ivy and the like. In fighting that nasty plant back off the ground and trees, we all went through a bad time with poison ivy. Worth it. There is now a flourishing old giant umbrella shaped maple [my favorite] & a beautiful holly tree in the back yard, that we transplanted in a prominent place after digging it out of nearly being smothered by poison ivy, as a reminder of that painful/itchy season of endeavor. We, then, just let nature reseed itself in any indigenous way it would, ...while tossing a seed or two in from time to time. Now itÂs thick, beautiful & willful of more space, ...& we are prepared to enhance it with fruiting vines and such...once we get a good list of the MOST effective plants. IÂm thinking wineberry, blackberry, blueberry, sunflowers, buckwheat, Jack-in-the-pulpit, bluebells, goldenrod & some kind of aster ...for starters. There are some cleome, lavender, alyssum, echinacea, coneflower and morning glories there already; I seeded them, ...but probably NONE are indigenous [chuckle] plants. ~You said, "Also, adding a water feature, even something as simple as a glazed saucer with water dripping into it from a suspended milk jug with a pinhole (what I have three of), will bring even more birds in."~ Our water feature is a large concrete bird bath with hanging plants suspended above & to the side; their long branches dangling into the water along the sides of the basin. Sufficient?...or should I install some sort of moving-water device? ~You said, "The only time we've had a mocker in our yard was during a hot spell when they came to drink and bathe."~ Not sure why that notion has gone over my head, ...unless you are speaking of the Northern mockingbird Mimus polyglottos...or the likes of the Blue Mockingbird spoken of in the following poem: http://www.lukecole.com/Birds/Smew.htm Sorry for the wordiness of this post, ...but you have inspired my imagination.

Thanks Donna. I finally saw the inhabitant of the smaller 'house' and it was a House Sparrow. I did see Swallows keep going to the larger 'house' but I think their chicks must have left earlier this summer. The thing that confused me was the yellow bar above the beak. The one on the window ledge, he/she would turn around but quickly turn away again and I couldn't get a clearer shot. That one had a plain off white chest, not the beginnings of the spot that you can just see on the chick. Marg

Yeah, we have "invasives" too, but mostly in plant form. We've lived here for 36 years and the guy who originally built the house, planted a couple rows of bush honeysuckle.......which are now thick all over our 35 acres. We've given up trying to control it. And he bought them from the DNR! :( At least it makes oxygen and is habitat for the animals. As far as "invasive" animals, plants, etc., the horse is out of the barn for sure. Those birds you have are interesting in color. Do they cause problems? I'm glad you still have that bubbler. We have an assortment of dragonflies. One time, I saw a dragonfly stuck in a spider's web outside the window. I know it was probably "wrong" of me, but I slowly pulled all the sticky web from it and it flew away. Then I apologized to the spider....... A couple times in late summer, we've had dragonfly swarms over our field. It's sooooooo cool! There must be hundreds of them, at least. They show up in early evening. Yes, about coons and ponds.........they can really wreck them totally. I don't have fish, so that helps, but I know they're still around. I finally quit feeding the birds in the back yard (and only throw out seed in hard times in winters), because it attracted the coons so much they were really making pests of themselves. I know, I know......raccoons' lives matter.........but I don't have to like them. haha Here's a pic of a damselfly depositing eggs on a lily pad I caught a few years back. And just to keep this about birds.........look what we saw in our yard this morning. A turkey! Ain't nature grand?!!