Love it,hope you get a cup and saucer up there with it,that would look so good :) Did you make the bench from a chair or a headboard? I really like it a lot! Everything looks great :)

I almost posted an observation along these lines several weeks ago. In a one-week span I noticed three separate cowbird chicks all being attended to by blue-grey gnatcatchers. There was always a single cb chick to each set of birds, and never any sign of additional BGGC chicks vying for the food. In that same time span I also noticed a CBchick being fed by a pair of indigo buntings. It's not hard to find them as they are very raucous and conspicuous. I am curious how the numbers and densities of birds most typically affected by CB predations are doing here because we have hordes of cowbirds, yet I always hear/see vireos and thrushes and others that are prime targets for parasitism. I check my nest boxes regularly and destroy any CB eggs in the hopes that at least my small wooded acreage can better sustain songbirds in a time of decline, but we live in farmland with any remaining wooded areas being highly fragmented. Flocks of winter 'blackbirds' are usually groupings of redwings, starlings, grackles and cowbirds fattened up on a steady and readily available farmland diet. I only wonder what our songbird demographics will do in the next few decades.

We have been noticing this year our feeders are not emptying as fast as previous years. I did see a lot of birds when it was snowing. A group of about 10-15 juncos, a half dozen mourning doves, the usual cardinals, chickadees, tufted titmice and a few finches along with an occasional woodpecker. The last couple of days it has been quiet out there. I asked my husband to check to see if the feeders were empty in the back. I could see there is still sunflower seed in one feeder and one was empty. He said the back feeders weren't empty but he filled them all, so we will see. I just ordered a heated pet bowl to use as a bird bath for them and I'm excited to see if they take to it. I have seen black crows in the yard this year for the first time in 30 years. I have no idea why. We do see an occasional hawk but none of late. There have been a group of 4-6 crows roosting in a neighbor's silver maple trees on some days. They would fly off and circle and land again in the trees repeatedly. Then one day I looked out the window and three of them had landed in our yard on the ground for a bit. That's a first. I keep hearing them in the neighborhood every once in awhile. I wonder what has suddenly attracted them to our neighborhood. I also wonder if they have any effect on small bird populations?

OH dear. This is a very hot topic here. You may get some "not so nice" comments. First off I love cats, I have 4. They were brought in as strays and they have never set foot outside since (except my Ernie who likes to run out the door in the spring, I grab and bring right back in). Cats are killers of native wildlife as you have seen. There are many reports of the damage cats do to wildlife including birds. I am sure someone will send you links. There are also ways to let your cat enjoy the outdoors without puting your birds and critters at risk and I am sure you will get those links too. Please consider the safety of you cat and the safety of the critters and keep the cat inside unless you are with it. One other thought, and I am fighting with this now, your neighbors may not be any too happy with your cat in their yard. My neighbors let their cat out. First, I am a certified wildlife habitat with 5 nestboxes and 5 feeders, I have the right to not have the neighbors cat killing my critters including the frogs and toads in my pond, the cat does not belong on my property. Second the cat pees and poops in my garden. I should not have to put up with this , it's MY property. As you can tell I'm quite angry about this. Also I worry that any day I am going to see that cat dead in the road, I like the cat and would be extremly upset. Please reconsider letting your cat roam. It's not safe for the cat, your critters or birds and your neighbors will be happier. Hopefully someone can send you the link to the cat outside enclosures (I think Starlinka has one). Bells don't really work as birds do not know bells as being a threat until they have been attacked. Bless you for taking the cat in , now please keep it and the critters safe.