Jane, if you only have one feeder out, you might try a good mixture with black oil sunflower seeds stirred into it. Don't get the cheapie kind with those little reddish-brown "BB's" in it. I have never seen ANYTHING actually eat those. I get mine at PetSmart, and I really love the Stokes mixture that has no hulls in it. I feed it, black oiler sunflowers and safflower seed. Safflower seed goes into a feeder that doesn't have squirrel protection, because they don't really like it, but cardinals and titmice do. HOWEVER, no matter what you are feeding, there will be times when birds are not around for various reasons. I have hardly any right now, mostly due to a pair of hawks hanging about our neighborhood. And even without the hawks, birds often disappear for a few weeks now and then. One more thing...don't forget that WATER is probably even more important than seed in luring birds to your yard. You'll notice that most of Maureen's pictures feature her great birdbath. Be sure to provide several "baths" around the yard. They can be anything from decorative features to trashcan lids on the ground with 2" of water in them. I often turn clay pots upside down and put a clay saucer on top for water. Keep the water CLEAN and shallow, maybe even adding a rock in the center for birds to stand on. Good luck! Marcia

I'm not quite sure whether I checked the date of the original post ... until I read my comment: then I did. Ipsos is a legitimate survey company. I've done online surveys for them, some of them asking personal info, and I think that their claim that the info is confidential and kept private, except for the aggregated answers, is legitimate. Raven (of the black feathers?) Maybe send them back $9.50 or so - they pay the postage. Oh, right ... but the ten bucks isn't worth as much now, is it? Ah, but ... should you pay them interest on the money, held for those five years plus?? Life *do* have its problems! o j

akrauss... I maintain 86-88 with the solar cover from June thru August. I checked the proplane tank today, I filled it last May, it's showing 20% full, so I used 4/5's of the tank in May and September last year, with maybe a time or two turing it on if there was a really cold spell. I have a thread here on getting a new solar cover. They tend to last 4-6 years dependingon your pool chemistry and your gentleness and care while rolling and covering. My first two were plain blue and the last was blue and silver. It seems the silver helps the pool heat faster, but may not retain the heat quite as well??? Personally, I can't say I really noticed a difference other than you want a heavier plastic vs. a lighter one. Basically it's bubble wrap (bubble side inthe water) to cover the water surface. They work great for me, but I have a rectangular pool, you would need to buy the rectangle and then cut it yourself to fit your shape. IIIRC the reel had instructions with it for attaching to covers for irregular shaped pools, so I don't think that should be a big deal. If you haven't tried the solar cover, I'd give it a shot, especially if you have full sun for a major part of the day on your water. I leave mine off for days at a time in July and AQugust to prevent the water from getting too hot. I included a link to teh site where I'm thinking of ordering my new cover from. The page it brings up shows the different types they carry and how well they heat and then retain the heat... I'm debating between the 12 mil blue and silver and the 16 mil blue and blue one, I've read many reviews saying the clear really are not good and that the diamond shapes leak water into the bubbles so I'm purposely avoiding the clear or diamond ones. Here is a link that might be useful: solar cover site

Hi hope you're all doing well. Please fill this survey- it would help me alot! This is for my Design and technology course. Anyone can fill it out. Many thanks in advance! https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/7QWD3M7