Well, I've allowed my feeders to go a bit empty, and I bought a havahart trap. It's baited with sunflower seed and peanuts, but I feel guilty about letting the critters freeze in the cage so I am leaving it ready to go only when I am home or will be home within a little while -- not overnight. I am such a wuss. And I forgot to set it this morning. My feeder pole is frozen to the ground, and so is the baffle that fell under the weight of the squirrels. Essentially, I can't add anything to the pole unless it can go around the pole, not slide up it from the bottom, etc. Turns out there is not only Mickey (who was living in my juniper but may have migrated to somewhere by the house with the latest snow)but also Minnie, who actually crosses from my neighbor in the back's yard, under my fence, and all the way down the length of the yard. There are fresh prints in the snow, and it's not the first time I've seen a set come from there. I'm still not sure what to do with a mouse if I do catch it and it's alive when I find it. Maybe a nice trip to the woods, let him learn survival skills?

Bob, Great Shot, glad to see some of your finches are already molting to their summer breeding plumage, that means spring is coming,,,Hurrah!! Fortunately we got a nice sunny 35degF day today so I was able to get a shot from my bedroom window showing my whole feeder setup. The first shot is looking east from my bedroom window. In this shot you can see my seed hopper and suet feeders on the Maple tree, which is 60ft from my camera position. This location is working very well because many of the birds roost in the Maple tree during the day. Although you can barely see it in the photo about 20ft to the right of the Hopper there is a 65ft high pine tree that affords great cover for the smaller birds. Ten feet to the left of the Maple tree there is a small Butternut tree that is a favorite roosting place for the Morning Doves. I generally see upwards of 35 doves in that tree each morning. Another 15 ft to the left is a second 60ft Pine tree and behind the feeder sight you can see an 18 acres open meadow. You can see the woods are the far side of the meadow. That woods extends for about a square mile and it is mostly old stand hardwoods. Across the road to the left of this photo is another 300 acre hardwood stand, some new growth near the road, but old stand hardwoods from about 100 feet off the road. In the foreground to the left you can see my old garment hanger with the Niger & mixed seed tubes. On the left end on top you can see the plastic bucket lid that I use for a platform feeder. From my vantage point I generally use a 300mm lens to shoot birds on the hopper, suet feeder or on the ground below the hopper, while I use a 200mm to shoot close ups of the birds on the garment rack feeders. As you can see, all the birds at my feeders seem to play nice and I see very little competition.

I think you might like a simple tray feeder filled with safflower seed. I have one in my yard and so far it has attracted cardinals, finches, grosbeaks, chickadees, and the occasional nuthatches. Mourning doves also stop by regularly too. They enjoy safflower seed and seem to prefer tray feeders from what I've seen. Safflower seed also has the added benefit of not being attractive to grackles and starlings. Squirrels generally don't like it either - I say 'generally' because squirrels can be unpredictable at times.

OK , its official, I am anxious over my Plumbago. I planted it right before the first VERY EARLY unlooked for freeze. I think it was making tiny green earlier this spring, but then we got the VERY LATE unlooked for freeze and bye bye green shoot.. I just dug it up and scratched a brittle twig below soil line and YAY it is green! My Mexican honeysuckle is in the same dead looking boat but it has made an ever so tiny appearance. I was apprehensive of a ammonia ciliata that was advertised as liking the caliche flat limestone marl in habitat here in Travis county. Well I had some habitat for it and it is dead sun and unfriendly as all get out. It has sent up three stalks and is putting on some blooms. I was hovering like a worried crow over a barren patch of gravel mulch where there might be a subtererenian silver leafed ironweed from the Big Bend. We did have a wet winter and I was worried that it might have been too wet for this new species that says "For Western Gardens only". I am on the wet side of that no mater how much I moan and groan about how dry it is here. I think I see something but I also have seeds volunteering in the area. I am chanting to myself. " I will not dig it up, that is like picking at a scab"