A large flock of BH Cowbirds have visited my backyard bird feeding station for 4 days now. They suddenly appeared. I have counted close to 70, with a handful of few European Starlings and Common Grackles mixed in with them. Still, I enjoy the antics of the valuable birds species, who scurry in to feed when the hoard of Cowbirds takes a break: Carolina Wrens land on the bird feeder, hop up on the glass pane and squeeze into the inside of the feeder bin; Blue Jays steal shelled peanuts from the squirrel feeder and enjoy picking them apart; WB Nuthatches snatch up the black oil sunflower seeds and wedge them into my neighbor's shingles; Hairy and Downey Woodpeckers go upside down under the suet feeder; eight Cardinals continue to add color to the bleak winter landscape- they hang around my feeder all day and are the first early morning and last evening feeders of the day (Why is that?); a lone Song Sparrow has been feeding for a week now; Dark Eyed Juncos wait patiently in my fir trees until the Cowbird hoard is finished; the resident Sharp-shinned hawk rockets into the Cowbird swarm, but is unsuccessful, although last week he nailed a large rat feeding on thrown-out kitchen scraps on my compost pile; the plump Mourning Doves picking at the cracked corn I put on the ground, oblivious to the Sharp- shin hiding in my fir tree, not remembering that he nailed one a week ago, in the same spot they now feast at, and ate it atop my garage (down and feathers filled the backyard); and the squirrels still conniving a way to get around my squirrel baffles. Robert in Fremont, Ohio "The very idea of a bird is a symbol and a suggestion to the poet. A bird seems to be at the top of the scale, so vehement and intense his life. . . . The beautiful vagabonds, endowed with every grace, masters of all climes, and knowing no bounds -- how many human aspirations are realised in their free, holiday-lives -- and how many suggestions to the poet in their flight and song!" John Burroughs (1837 - 1921), Birds and Poets, 1887 ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]