So far seems about normal at my place, maybe a little less. But it's not like we would have 15-20. Just the same, I can see a possible reason for few birds. The hummingbird native to most of the eastern migrate south to Mexico for winter, and then back north in the spring. There in lie the problem. Last years drought was not confined to Texas, but much or Mexico as well. Worst in 70 years for much of Mexico, and since the 1950's for Texas. That means there were very few plants flowering along the migration route, and probable the wintering grounds as well. Which means much less food and much fewer birds able to make the trip. So it would seem likely there are few birds at this time due to climate factors. However, unless there is something else, drought worsens, repeated, their numbers will likely bounce back quickly. BTW, deep south snow storms periodically kill large numbers of Bluebirds as well as other birds that winter in the southern US. Arktrees

Thank you all, My son-in-law has only his wife, (my daughter) his 13 year old daughter, and my granddaughter 18. I am a retired critical care RN, with current CPR and ACLS instructor (advanced cardiac life support) credentials, so it makes sense. My daughter is a Neuro nurse, all in all we at least know what to look for and immediate interventions needed. He has a sister who lives out of town, and she is also a retired RN, so although there aren'tt a lot of us, we should do okay....but it is intensive care for at least the first 6 weeks plus. But I am not a spring chicken, for sure! kay

Anna, Beneficial insects are amazingly helpful. We didn't have a lot around here when we moved here, so for the first couple of years I released ladybugs, greenlacewings and praying mantids. Only the praying mantids were a mistake...they'll eat anything and everything, including one another. We watched a lot of interesting "mantid battles to the death" that summer. Since then, our beneficial insects ebb and flow....some years I see a lot and some years I dont, but I assume that in the years I'm seeing a lot, we have lots for them to eat, and in the years I'm not seeing them, there's nothing here to attract them. I also used beneficial nematodes and milky spore the first couple of years. I plant about a gazillion and one flowering plants and herbs around the garden to attract beneficials to it so the gardens always have oodles of bees, wasps, hover flies, tachnid flies, butterflies and moths (not exactly beneficial and sometimes harmful, but I still love watching the butterflies and moths), green lacewings and other beneficials. There are some insects that can be beneficial but also harmful. Blister beetles are an example of that. Blister beetles will strip plants they like of foliage, but in my garden they're only a problem in that way about 1 year in 10, or maybe 2 years in 10. Most of the time they're beneficial because they eat grasshopper eggs. Based on how many grasshoppers I'm seeing, I can expect a huge blister beetle population by July. We lost over 30 guineas to predators last year after having had a flock of them for 8 or 10 years, and it was so heartbreaking and sad. We decided we wouldn't replace them until next year, so maybe the predators that favor them would move on elsewhere. I miss having them around this year because they sure do control the grasshoppers. I checked with one of my neighbors who has guineas to see if he is seeing a lot of predators this year (we're not) and he said he most emphatically was and that he is down to his last guinea. (sigh) If I was driving up the road and saw guineas for sale, I'd still be tempted to stop and get some. Nothing controls grasshoppers and ticks they way they do. We have lots of other garden helpers....frogs and toads, lizards and birds. There are tons of songbirds 'hunting' in my garden daily. They perch on the tomato cages and look for pests. I'm seeing a lot more birds than last year hanging out in the garden, and I guess that's a good thing as long as they don't start pecking my tomatoes. Predators are a huge pain. We haven't had but 1 snake in the henhouse all year. Monday afternoon the first two baby chicks hatched and Tuesday morning a chicken snake showed up, presumably hoping to eat them. Tim and Maddie saved the chicks and moved them, their mama and her nest of eggs to an enclosed cage with 1/4" hardware cloth so snakes can't get to the chicks. The snake became vulture chow. It just amazes me that particular snake showed up about 12 hours after the chicks were born---we hadn't even sent out birth announcements yet. The snake hadn't been around before. Actually, it is a good snake year here (as in, not many of them around) at our house but some of our neighbors have lots. I give the cats credit because they relentlessly hunt down and kill field mice and voles, leaving little incentive for the snakes to be here. This whole discussion reminds me of something I say all the time about the garden ecosystem....everything eats something and everything is eaten by something. I have a friend who won't step foot in my garden because she's afraid of the bees and wasps....and this is a 60-something-year-old woman. I can explain until I'm blue in the face that they are beneficial and she just doesn't care! I'd rather have all those beneficials than spray toxic pesticides. Dawn

That might be the best thing to do.......I am "studying" about things too much too. Well.....there should be lots of "show and tell" when you return.