I just moved to the central coast of California, and there's a type of bird called a towhee that roots around in tangled bushes in my front yard. I really don't have a problem with that; but these pesky birds seem to take great delight in flipping decorative bark out of the planters and onto my driveway and into the street. I used my blower for the first time to get all the bark pieces back where they belonged, then I was gone for about one hour and returned to find an amazing amount of bark thrown back into the street and onto portions of my driveway. I might have to consider replacing the bark with rock; but is there any chemical repellant and can spray or otherwise distribute on the bushes these birds like to play in, so I can spend more time with yard maintenance other than cleaning up after these dang birds. I've never seen anything like it.

I don't know this one - the melody is familiar but not the lyrics. How charming! I love to watch the old version of The Secret Garden about February when I am just so tired of winter. And reading the book is even better - it's an annual read for me. The descriptions of the emerging life and the joy in that garden always make me feel incredibly happy. I love the lyrics on this - who needs latin names, there are times when the old fashioned ones just fit don't they? Smile.

I took out a hosp in my bluebird house about a month ago. Tree swallows had nested and were just completing the nest when a hosp was sticking his head out the box, chirping that gawd awful sounding chirp. Like he was excited he took over their nest. One pellet from 10 yards away, went into the box to collect my bounty. I've done the passive route, doesn't work. They kill anything and everything. So, I remove them. What I have learned is, trapping them with a repeating trap only brings them in to another food source. If you aren't killing them, you are encouraging them. I've noticed that once you start shooting them, they will get the hint. They are still prevalent in my neighborhod, but clearly avoid my yard, houses and feeders. A small pump pistol pellet gun with scope was under $75 bucks and for me it works great. Its small enough for me to target hosp, without my neighbors knowing what I'm doing. Its quiet enough for them to not hear a shot ring out and lethal at 10 yards from my shooting rest that I can make a quick kill. And, on weekends or winter, its safe and quiet to shoot indoors in my basement at 10 yards into a pellet trap.. perfect to keep me accurate. Its not for everyone, but these are an invasive species... no different than the round gobie that has taken over the Great Lakes. DEC says its illegal to release you must kill them. I see hosp as no different. Good luck to all of you in your BB and TRES nest sites this season.

I would like to update my case. The HOSP made one more attempt (when the wounded BB baby was still alive, but seemed could not compete for food), but that time I noticed that BB parents behaved strange and hesitated to enter the house, though they did not sound very concerned. Just in case I approached the house and stuck my finger in, as soon as I puled it out, the HOSP male flew out and I even touched him, BB parents chased him away. If I knew it before I could catch him. I checked the BB babies and they were fine but scared. I was sure that day the HOSP would not return, The next morning, 2 days later after the first HOSP attack, I found the wounded BB dead and the BB female tried to carry him out. I made her leave the house, took out and disposed the dead BB (smell was already bad). I decided to exploit the smartness of the HOSP against him. As I mentioned he leaned that the spooker was not dangerous, and fishing line was also useless against him. I opened the front wall and left it open to serve as a perch site. Instead I attached two-entry patch and stuck it with a scotch tape. I was certain that the HOSP would be too smart to ignore the sudden transformation of the BB house. Besides the house started looking more scary, like having two big eyes. The other thing I pursued with this transformation is to have emergency exit or entrance, since the HOSP would not be able to block the both holes at the same time. With the 2 holes there was more light inside and I could check the nestlings without opening the door. At first the BB parents were confused, but shortly they figured out their babies were still inside and doing well. As the result I have not seen the HOSP around anymore, the BB parents became more defensive and the three BB babies have fledged yesterday. Now I need an advice or opinion: a) I take the BB house down until I significantly reduce HOSP population. Actually the HOSP infestation was not too bad first, but then numerous young HOSPs fledged from the neighbors house and the area became heavily infested. That house is like the HOSP farm, and at the same time HOSPs would almost never seat on my roof. b) I keep the BB house with the transformed front wall, c) I restore the house to its original shape, where I can set up a trap as needed. Thanks. This post was edited by stal14 on Wed, Jul 2, 14 at 11:24