nhbabs: Do you think the hawks are hunting something, like voles, near your house? Or maybe considering a nesting site close by? I saw the first Baltimore Orioles of the season today! and it's before the hummingbirds show up - usually the orioles come a little after the hummers. The grackles had gobbled up most of the suet outside and the orioles were picking at the scraps. I raced out and put new suet in all of the cages and added some apricot preserves in a dish. This one came back but didn't seem too impressed with the new suet. He did seem to be looking down at the preserves in the dish in the middle of the feeder. When they start showing interest in the fruit I'll phase out the suet in those cages to discourage the grackles. I have another suet feeder up in another area. Claire

Well, since the Common Raven is considered a songbird (the largest in North America), I guess grackles are small in comparison. Be glad you don't have a raven landing on your feeder. I have another possible take on your crows-with-snake event. The crow broods are fledging now in my neighborhood and they're flying all around with non-stop nasal cawing (I flew to this tree! What do I do now? Where is everybody? I'm hungry, feed me!). Maybe your crow is delivering the snake lecture to the kids - "This long skinny floppy thing is dangerous! Watch out! This is how to deal with it!" Just a thought. Claire

Sorry about the poor quality of the picture - I had to take it through my kitchen window without the flash on, so the details aren't very clear. Turns out it's a Carolina Wren!

Must be the mood, forgive me, but I can't resist. We've all been there, done that. Below are some of my hostas this morning - with new leafless stalks. Not nice, but funny. While walking around the neighborhood last summer with a great neighbor-friend, we usually check growing landscapes, you know, who did what, what's new, etc. Well, at the end of the cul-de-sac where the family had planted a row of arborvitae a few years back, I noticed that suddenly things had changed. I said "Wait! Stop. Look at that?" Nancy, who is used to me, said "What? - I don't see anything". Look at those arborvitae, said I, the deer path has changed. "Oh, yeah, said she. Boy they sure nibbled those away quickly didn't they?" To which I said, "Yes, but these deer are talented sculptors - look from this angle". She moved into where I had been standing and she burst into laughter. There, in perfectly nibbled trees, were 6 evergreen penises. Must have been a Mom and her babies - not too tall. I don' know if there is a moral to the story, BBBundtcake, but finding some humor goes a long way. My age won't allow me to write the joke lines that were made that night, but if laughter was a fertilizer, those arborvitae will never need a little blue pill. 😂