[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl

also a bird bath and a suet feeder (which the mockingbirds like). Just got back last night, refilled the feeders (which hang from branches of our oak tree, so there is cover from the hawks, along with several nearby vines and shrubs.

Filled them this morning and have been sitting out on the lanai looking at cardinals, a blue jay, pine warblers, mockingbirds and mourning doves (which clean up underneath). We don't have any squirrels (yet) in our 7 yr old villa neighborhood, and it took a few years for the birds to come after construction, but we just enjoy looking at them. I think because it's a small walled yard, maybe we don't get the cranes - they fly overhead, but never stop.

They are never here at night, start just before dawn, but there are not hoards of them. Seems every year we see a new species - last year it was brown thrashers, this year the blue jays. Once we saw a bluebird on the wall, and we will see a hawk occasionally. We have all kinds of natural feeders too - coral honeysuckle for one, but have only seen a hummingbird once - on our purple castor bean vine.

Ohiogirl, the doves come at sunset to take a bath in our fountain and our cats love to watch them from inside the screened porch.