that may work well for you, we tend to leave our ground fallow for about a week before planting (more out of procrastination than anything) and they don't seem to stick around (as much) after they have thoroughly foraged through the dirt. The cd on a string has limited success. The theory behind it is that a bright glint, in an animals mind, is usually that of the eye of a predator. much like shining a flashlight or catching an animals eye in your headlamp you kind of get that odd glare. but anyway, they associate it with danger and avoid the area. The problems we had were keeping them in an area where they would spin and just like anything else after awhile they seemed to lack effectiveness. if you are not adverse to sport, being in a rural setting (i would not suggest otherwise) a little bird shot in a .22 goes a long way (note: the casing will jamb in a semi automatic rifle or pistol, only recommended for a revolver or bolt action rifle that accepts .22 LR cartridges.) Also various outdoor/farm supply stores sell sparrow live traps for chicken coups which can be baited with a little bird seed; although i have not tried the caging setup yet so i cannot attest to how well it works. i can't help but think scare crow when i think of a corn field :) just a thought, do you have any bird feeders in the area that attract the birds? if so, maybe moving them farther from the garden would help? and if not, maybe adding them would draw them from the garden... like sacrificial companion plants. oh and another tid bit learned from experience and a lot of time correcting it, if you buy bird seed, avoid mixes with thistle (unless you happen to like thistle) it survives the intestinal tract and sprout everywhere the birds have been. we made that mistake a few years ago and have been battling it ever since. I go out about once a month or so on the ranger and cut up any i see with a hand held weed whacker and as long as i get them before they seed out they usually don't come back in the area well, that got a bit windy, hopefully something was helpful, good luck! Trent

I was afraid that might be the case, they all look around the same size (martins) and info I found today said that the martins usually start to arrive here in February and look for nesting spots. In addition to All the other potential dangers/problems with the house/location where these martins are possibly planning to nest and raise babies, same neighbors also have a HAMM RADIO tower in their back yard and every year around late spring/ summer a great horned owl perches up there on and off and and hoots, I've heard him and seen him up there several nights in a row before. Is there anything I can do at this point, like put up a safe Martin house, or will they stay there now regardless? I'm hoping that if I talk to neighbors and explain the situation, they will do something about it. I feel sick at the thought of the martins going through whole process and end up losing babies or being harmed themselves. If I thought there was a possibility that they would relocate this late in the game, I'd gladly put up a safe place for them to nest and make sure it stays that wAy, although I'd be learning as I go, ughh, whole situation makes me nervous. I'm going to post the pics of the house and the birds tonight, I'm pretty sure the house is not the ideal layout either, it has little porches with metal railings on both floors and another railing across top and from what I've read so far, that makes it easy for owls to get to them. Thanks

oasisowner, you could get a home that functions much better for you if you're willing to do it in phases and are willing and able to spend more $$ on the remodel. Here's how: Phase 1 Basement stairs doorway relocated to hallway (I explained how in an above post). Knock down the wall between kitchen and 3rd bedroom to create an open kitchen/DR. I did not include counter seating since the table is right there. Remove the lower half of the "windows" in the LR/hallway walls so that you have a better connection between kitchen/DR and LR. (This could wait until Phase 2, if necessary, but you'd have to add floor repair at that time, might be easier and cheaper to do it all at once.) The current DR becomes a den; no walls or doors added. Phase 2 You close off the "windows" from LR to den and create new walls for a relocated MBR, MBA and closet in its own wing of the home. Next, remove the existing MBA to create bedroom #1 with a new entry. Closets for bedrooms #1 & #2 are built between the 2 bedrooms. I'm assuming existing closet in bedroom #2 is along a wall so relocating it should create a larger bedroom. Rearranging the bedrooms and eliminating the existing MBA could wait for Phase 3. Or you could leave them as is and have a dual master bedroom home. This is a much larger undertaking but I went back to the issues you have with your home - not a large enough kitchen, unused DR, too small bedrooms - and addressed them with this plan. Doing the projects in phases will make it easier on the budget and on one's sanity. If you intend to stay put for a long time, then it might be worthwhile to pursue remodeling to gain a home that functions better for you now and in the long run, especially if your neighborhood will support these improvements.

Books have been written on this subject. Perhaps you live in an area with no natural cover, and the only birds that can live there are house sparrows. But assuming that this is not the case, and you know there are some species like titmice, chickadees, goldfinches, etc. in the neighborhood, I would stop feeding birds for a couple of weeks. Let the sparrows disperse a bit. Then start with a hanging tubular feeder full of oil sunflower. That should feed the chickadees, nuthatches, house finches. House sparrows will hang around looking for scraps, but hopefully not by fifties and hundreds. Scatter some mixed seed on the ground, very sparingly. Include some sunflower for the cardinals and blue jays, they will feed on the ground, but probably not out of the tube feeder. Use up whatever mixed seed you have, for ground feeding, but when you buy more don't go for the cheapest crap. It will be mostly milo and cracked corn, nothing eats those but mourning doves, house sparrows, grackles, and chickens. Maybe wild turkeys. You would like some millet in there for the white-throats and juncos. Sure, house sparrows will come to any seed on the ground. That's why I said scatter it sparingly. And maybe in a couple of places. If you like goldfinches, you might want to spring for some niger (Nyjer) seed and a special feeder for it. That stuff is expensive but it does not get wasted, nobody eats it but goldfinches and house finches. Keep in mind that there are only about fifteen species of birds that regularly visit bird feeders in the Northeast. Go on line to Cornell Lab of Onithology and look to see what is coming to their feeders, they have a live cam on them.