I don't notice redpolls around here in the summer, they must go further north with the snow buntings. I was wondering though when the Whiskey Jacks start nesting, because they're one of the first fledglings out in the spring. I thought it might be why they were out and about and maybe came to the feeder to look for suitors? We've started calving now and every year I note in my records when the crows and then the geese show up. Last year crows showed up on March 9th and the first geese on March 23rd. They seem to send out scouts first then the bigger flocks show up a bit later. But I think I saw crows a few days ago and it wouldn't surprise me becasue of the mild spell we had in February, but I always second guess myself this time of year between crows and ravens :( Gil, " Build it and they will come" . It took a couple seasons way out where I am to get the birds coming regularly, but its amazing how fast they figure it out once a few have started. I remember the panic I felt when a bird would show up to check out the feeder and it would be empty! I'd drop everything and run out and fill it hoping I didn't totally freak them out! I'm a hopeless birder :)

terrene: Like sooey, I only count the time actually spent watching the birds. For me, this is usually 1 to 4 hours (estimated); just spread out over the whole two days. I spent more time for the Christmas Bird Count, which was one of my two PFW days, so I called that 4 to 8 hours total. Most of my productive counting is done in the early morning hours when the birds are feeding after a long night. I'll often look at my tally sheet around 10 or 11 am and see that most of the regulars are there. There's another burst of activity after I refill the feeders in the late afternoon. I do this so that there will be plenty of food in the morning and I won't feel pressured to get out there early. The rest of the day is for stragglers and fine-tuning the count. sooey: I don't really hear the cardinals in the winter - my windows are pretty tight. The Mourning Doves are a different issue. They come at dusk, but they're so wary (I think because of the hawks) that I usually don't see them. Often I'll see 2 or 3 at a time during the daytime, but when I go out to refill the feeders I'll hear that squealing sound of a flock of panicky doves taking flight. If I look up fast, I can get a rough count of the flock, maybe 10 or 12. The other birds that come at dusk with the cardinals are the native sparrows, but these are really hard to identify - little brown birds in the shadow of a big shrub. Claire

I used to feed stale bread to the outside birds.My neighbors dad,who lived at the house part time after retiring to Pa,,,told me it was no good for the birds. So for the last 5 years I have bought wild bird seed,..A year or so ago my neighbor told me I needed to stop feeding them as they pooped on his 50 thousand dollar truck.I told him to F off...Months later I got a warning from town saying I can only feed them with a bird feeder,...I got one,,,,Then he told me not to feed them more than once a day.At 63,with a bad hip,I fed them if I happened to see it empty whenever that was.I got a ticket from town saying the food that falls to the ground as they eat,is illegal.,,,How can people be so mean?

My only feeder is a hummingbird feeder, and we get good numbers of them every day. Since the crows arrived in our neighborhood in large numbers over 10 years ago, our other birds have really diminished in population. I used to have so many doves in our yard and on our fencetop daily, but they are rarely spotted here anymore. We would have so many doves on our fence that I was reminded of Alfred Hitchkock's move The Birds. They will show up with some of the other birds when our Liquid Amber trees drop their pods and the seeds sprinkle all over. Those must be some tastey seeds!