Starlings are preferable to house sparrows to me because starlings a bigger (means less likely to mistake them for something else at a distance) and I've found when they are removed from a small area, it takes them a little longer to turn back up.

Animals can be so strange....you may put all your time and effort into building just the right box, selecting a 'perfect' site, and then....nothing. Or the opposite may happen, and it will seem as if they were sitting around WAITING for you to get their new home up and going for them. I think it's different for everybody, but you will have to be PATIENT. Years ago we got a booklet from the DNR that had blueprints and general info for houses that were specific for each species. We looked it over and chose to make wood duck boxes, thinking they would have a place to nest by our pond. What we learned, in fact, was that many species simply don't care if a box is not "designed" for them...if they can get their bodies through the hole, there's nobody already at home (depending on the animal this may not matter either) and the place seems safe enough, it's a done deal. Not only will screech owls use a duck box as a day haven, they will indeed nest and rear young in them. There is a slough I frequent that has three duck boxes on it, and during one spring I discovered one particular box was home to a nest of screechies. I think the slough was dry that year, but usually this box is surrounded by about 2 1/2 feet of water...a rough first flight for any chick. I can't recall how many chicks were in that nest...I will have to try to dig out the animal album and find the photos. But they will use a duck box. When we first hung out duck boxes here at our place, I was getting frustrated waiting. It was something like three years before we finally found a nest, and then all three boxes had action!! It's worth the wait, so hang in there. But I'm still waiting for bats to use their house....I don't think they need any extra places with all the shagbark hickories. But the winner in my Crazy Nester category goes to the bluebirds at my dad's place. For the past three years, there has been a pair of bluebirds nesting in his martin house. Not a thing to be seen of any martins, but these blues are shoulder to shoulder with house sparrows and to this day I don't yet understand how they are pulling this off.

Thanks Miss elly! No sign of either owl this morning, but that's not too unusual...they often show up every other day, near as I can tell. Not so sure about a predator...that egg dropped while she was sitting on the frond and landed eggs-actly where her poop does! Plus...she didn't seem too upset, although come to think of it, she did turn her head suddenly and look behind her right after she 'laid' the egg. Could've been 'something' up there, but I would've seen a big ol' coon, I'm sure. Although...this morning, the shell was gone (I forgot to remove it!)...and there were signs that a coon had been in my yard! You know...the usual...dirty footprints on my white fence from it climbing over into my yard...prints also on a chaise by the pool...evidentally it walked over it instead of around it. At any rate...I'll go check the palm for any holes, but I rather tend to doubt I'll find any...the palm trunk is only about 4-5" thick. Would this be wide enough for a nest? I feel so bad for her!

Well obviously, it is down to subjective choices but I have to say it is my least favourite red by a long, long way. Dumpy, graceless, lurid and stumpy...and, in my case, utterly ruined by the appalling combination with white alyssum and blue lobelia erinus in patriotic 70s planting schemes. There are so many better reds such as roemeria, coccinea, gesnerifolia and, probably my favourite, darcyii. The fragrant elegans is another red I am less keen on...but only because it is such a shy flowerer. Currently experimenting with subrotunda...although, like elegans, the ratio of leaf to flower is just too overwhelming. As a plus, it is easily raised from seed. If you do go with it, I honestly cannot recommend any of the splendens cultivars of pinks, peaches and the like. If a particular screeching tomato red is what you are after, it definitely is eye catching. There used to be larger varieties available but these days, 18inches seems to be about the limit for splendens. All the above mentioned are easily grown to flowering maturity across a single season.