Oh yes..that attractive chain link fence...what an eyesore! We've had it about 5 years now & I know even with beautiful landscaping that will remain a problem..we never thought of it when we got it..we were just thinking of the dogs (of course after we had it put in I saw it a vinyl coated green which blends into the greenery..not as abrasive as the silver one we have)...Since our PA soil is so rocky & hard to dig into I was thinking of a few large clay pots strategically placed around the inside edge of the fence & planting a variety of annuals & since the fence is 6 feet high I thought maybe a few window boxes here & there between the clay pots...I'll just have to improvise & distract the eye away from the fence! I checked out the local nursery yesterday & saw the pea gravel..I also checked out their stepping stones & other slabs that have a great look but they coat about $8.00-$10.00 a piece! I'll continue to look around...maybe molds would be better.. Well thanks for all your input...I just have to get up a plan & wait for the weather to warm up..Have a nice day!

There is a pair of Western Kingbirds that arrive in May or June in our area...same tree in my neighbor's yard. After I got our yard cleared of all the junk and weeds about 4 years ago, I began to notice them sitting on the wires watching for bugs to feed the babies. This year they were a big help with the squash bugs...the parents were kept busy feeding as many as 4 begging babies. But they left earlier than usual (are we in for an early Winter? it's much cooler than normal and has been for the last month). When they left the squash bug population exploded and wiped out the squash and most of the cucumbers and some of my small melons. I resorted to squishing them with my fingers as I watered and pulling all the squash plants. I planted some Fall squash and I'm hoping they do not return! Peggy

How nice this thread got bumped! I enjoyed re-reading it and thinking about how much the yard has changed in a year. My bird-friendly yard is evolving. Have made great progress removing invasives, particularly Bittersweet, Buckthorn, and Norway Maples (treework cost me $2000 last year and there's still one GINORMOUS Norway maple left). There was a lot of brush created by all this tree/shrub work. Some was burned this Spring, right smack in the middle of the Oriental bittersweet patch, but the rest is in piles. The brush piles attract a lot of birds, particularly Sparrows, Cardinals, Juncos, and Wrens. The birds also love the back half-acre, which is wild and full of Crabapples, Choke Cherries, White Pine, and still some invasives like Honeysuckle and Autumn olive. Also making great progress on growing bird-friendly natives. Purchased another 50 native tree/shrub seedlings from the NH Nursery. That makes 130 total between this year and last - all of which ultimately make berries/nuts for the birds and wildlife. Most of them are in holding beds and haven't flowered yet, too little, but I've given away some and started to plant out a few. I winter-sowed many native species of perennials, annuals, and vines. Exactly where all this stuff is going, is not completely clear at this point, but I'm creating lasagne beds like crazy! The birds are always flitting around the yard and it's only going to get more interesting and fruitful for them (hopefully). It's great!

I got a birdfeeder with a cylindrical baffle as shown by terrene. All cost me $200. My birds have no problem with squirrels which are not able to climb over that baffle. On the birdfeeder I have two dispensers with black sunflower seeds and one with suet. There was no demand for any other birdfood which my birds did not touch or simply shoveled to the ground. Since we view the birds from the kitchen's sliding glass door, over the deck, the feeder was placed about 8-10 ft further from the deck, also sufficiently away from pine branches. Squirrels could not jump to or drop onto the feeder. Prior to that I used a very low cost construction with the same good results : a long fence post with cedar post bolted to it for height, all covered with a 4 inch diameter 5 ft long plastic pipe. I used an upside-down plastic pale as a baffle. (make sure that the pale sits on the pipe, and that the pale has the rim cut off, or squirrels will use it for leverage. Fill up the lower part of the pipe with gravel or mice will climb up inside) Then on top of all you can bolt horizontally some wood to the cedar pole and hang all the feeders from it as you wish.