I suggest that you try landscapers listed as members of the Maryland Native Plant Society (MNPS). Most gardeners and landscapers who specialize in native plants are also interested in creating gardens that benefit songbirds, beneficial insects, and other wildlife. I see that MNPS has gained many landscaper members recently; I recall looking at this same list a few years ago, when there were hardly any "organizational" members in the landscaping category. (I gave this same answer to a more general question about landscape designers a few threads down. It must be the time of year that is making us think about starting new gardens!) Here is link: http://www.mdflora.org/orgmembers.html Here is a link that might be useful: Landscapers, growers and suppliers listed with MNPS

I don't have direct answers to #1-3, other than probably none are the "best" for birds, since one would assume you want to support native birds. To do that best, use native plants that those birds would expect to find food from. Of those you listed, V. setigerum (not a native) is the only one that reliably has fruit on the plant through fall and into winter. Philosophically speaking, I think you deprive yourself of some great joy by predicting doom and/or gloom from VLB. This isn't a parallel situation to planting a shade tree that takes many decades to mature, fill in, and shade a site, only to be lost to DED, EAB, or ALB. Most shrubs (and certainly the viburnum species you listed first) perform and reward in very few years (1-5). Unless you expect to invest significant capital in the plants, you ought to go ahead and plant what you want to and enjoy the dickens out of them until VLB (if ever) shows up. By then, it may not be the scourge in MD that it is in upstate NY/PA. There may be a control for it by then, or it may never even arrive in MD. I'd vote for all the species you originally listed, with V. acerifolium and V. rufidulum as two more natives. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

>>Shanachiel, it's the "Dorothy" rule of birding (from the >>>Wizard of Oz : ) Ok, what does that mean exactly? LOL No place like home? If only a Snowy Owl and saw whet would show up and a barn owl take up residence in my barn, I'd be quite content! What's interesting is we are about 20 miles east of the Hudson River but there are extensive wetlands in the area...I saw a bald eagle flying east away from the river one morning several years ago and never forgot that sight- the wingspan - wow! Sometimes Golden Eagles winter just north of me at a glacier pond but I don't think there have been any sightings yet this season. I tried on numerous occasions to try to see them last winter. Guess I am really hooked now! I'm definitely going to be spending more time at that swamp..... If you back out of the eagle photo page, you'll enter my main bird gallery from an afternoon at the Hudson Valley Raptor Center. Several of their resident rehabbed birds (who are used to being "on display" for educational purposes) are presented for a photo op. To be able to get fairly close and look in to their eyes..... Here is a link that might be useful: HUDSON VALLEY RAPTOR CENTER

Jane, I'm glad that my simple words gave you comfort. The approaching evening might be a difficult time for you -- it often is for those recently (within years) bereaved. And with dusk, those birdies leave for the night -- except, do you ever notice how the cardinals are often the last to call it a day? And in the summer, those hummingbirds also come after dusk as well. Hold on, Jane. Take all the time you need and grieve how you need. Be gentle with yourself on this awful rollercoaster trip. Time does temper the heartache, but before that, it seems to take forever to find release from the crushing loss. (A friend once described the pain of grief as being also physical pain for its intensity.) But, even if someone has a miracle pill, it wouldn't really help hasten what needs to take time, reflection, remembering and tears. But remember that you are not alone in many other ways. Words are inadequate, but it's all many of us can offer. We need to offer as much as you might need to receive. Claire, I meant to tell you how much I loved those turkey shots. Beautiful. I used to have turkeys milling about, but not so much in the past couple of years. I'm curious what they are looking for on the ground (to eat?). Do you put corn or seed out for them? I just love wild turkeys. Seeing them feels like "everything's gonna be just fine" even if the world seems crazy from one week to the next. One late afternoon I got to watch a group of them fly up into a tall oak and settle in. I don't know if they stayed there all night or only until Leno was over. Susan, love those goldfinches, but you're are so yellow only their hairdresser knows for sure.