True -- all true... Think... Most people who have infestations of bugs that eat their crops think of it as a nuisance.... The same people view any sign of Predatory insects as a DANGER to their LIFE.... People seek out and KILL ants and spiders and wasps and bees and yellow jackets and scorpions.... All they gotta do is find 1 and they go on the warpath... These same people think of cockroaches as Icky and caterpillars as friendly and japanese beetles as a bit of a curiosity.. but certainly not life threatening... So.. When City land is just fallow -- people tend to stay out and ignore it.... Predatory insects and infesting/eating insects stay in some semblance of balance.... When people garden it -- they see one Wasp.. They go on the WAR PATH trying to kill them all.... and CAUSE a giant infestation of chewing/sucking insects.... Thanks John

Sorry to top post my own message, but... Now there are two different peregrine falcons that visit the backyard regularly. One is banded but I haven't gotten close enough to get the number off the band. The other is not banded ... now that it is Spring, could this be a mate? In any case, I reported the information on the banded bird as above, and will be watching to see if I have any other substantial information to send to the banding studies. The unbanded bird seems to have great hunting skills. It hangs out in a little hiding hole on the fence during the last 2 hours of daylight, very patiently and still, then systematically dives into nearby evergreen shrubs to try and catch a meal. It was successful tonight. I love it.

One year later, and time for a report. In the past couple of months, I've caught eight fox squirrels, and moved them out of reach. That's about half what I caught last year. I have had zero squirrel garden damage this year, BTW. The fact that I've caught only eight (about half that of last year) means to me that I had a serious overpopulation of them last year, and that culling made a big difference. But as expected, the population grew in the spring, though never got as bad as it was last year. We had a very wet spring, and the winter acorn crop was enormous. As a result, I only caught a few in May and June. They just weren't that hungry for my bait. But just in the last two days I caught FIVE! Wham. Wham. Wham. Wham. Wham. The nuts are running out, I guess. As of now, I go outside, and I hardly see any of them at all in my yard. As I've learned, the repopulation/dispersal rate of urban squirrels is very slow. In a given year, these squirrels don't just migrate from one yard to the next. They just don't do it. I consider them cleaned out of my yard until next spring, when I'll dust off the trap and snatch a few more.

In my experience it is all about location, location, location. We are in the suburbs with very few "natural areas" left nearby. So we really try to fill the yard with "bird-friendly" trees, shrubs, etc. We also have several sources or fresh water at varying levels available year round, and use no chemicals of any kind in the yard. I put out black-oilers and suet for winter, and hummingbird feeders and fruit for orioles during their season (we don�t get many but it doesn�t hurt to try). During spring and fall migration we get the best birds, but they are just passing through. You have to be looking out the window at just the right time to catch them, because they don�t stick around long and most of them aren�t interested in feeders anyways. The house sparrows are here year-round, in slightly smaller numbers during summer though because I don�t put out seed then. Anyone who says if you just feed black-oilers or use certain type of feeders you won�t have house sparrows�must have dumb sparrows. :) They are very adaptive and will eat just about anything from anywhere. Right now we mostly have house sparrows too, they are out there everyday. There are also some juncos, a group of 4 chickadees, a pair of mourning doves, and a pair of cardinals that are regulars. Occasionally in winter we will see some woodpeckers, crows, a nuthatch, goldfinch, some house finches, the occasional hawk. There are also the periodic infestation of starlings that looks like a scene from "The Birds". Any other winter birds would be a once in a season type event. One year we had a group of pine siskins stop by for just a moment, another year it was a yellow-rumped warbler that hung around for a bit. I have family up in rural Wisconsin that live right on the edge of the woods. Back of the house is a large wooded area, front of the house overlooks hills of farmland and meadows. No special bird plantings, they do use chemicals, and have just a birdbath and a couple of feeders on the deck. Never saw a single house sparrow, pigeon, or starling there. You look out the window and it looks like the pictures on bags of bird seed. All good birds, all the time� and A LOT of variety. It is pretty wild to be eating at the kitchen table and see an indigo bunting or a red-headed woodpecker just feet away from you�no binoculars necessary. In summer they are swarmed with hummingbirds and orioles, and have actual bluebirds using the nestboxes! It is my understanding that the house sparrows and other non-native birds are just very adaptive and do well in populated areas, while the native birds prefer natural areas.