maeve,

I told 'em to send you my love when they left here. Hope they remembered. Is it early for them to be moving north, or pretty much "on time?" We have them year round, but the population is higher in winter, so some obviously migrate. Since I don't have a pond or lake closely adjacent, though, I don't really notice the onset of increases or decreases in population, so don't know when those who migrate typically arrive in fall or depart in spring.

Looks like I have a pair of yellow-rumped warblers. Noticed the male several weeks ago during a cold snap. Only noticed the female 2 weeks ago. Hoping they are a breeding pair.

Got to stop filling the suet feeders because of the starlings. (Bye-bye warblers and bluebirds.)

Never had a problem with starlings on suet feeders before. Where I lived previously, there were lots of Bradford pears and other shrubs and small trees that bore berries that stayed on trees through winter, plus lots of people feeding birds. Steering clear of millet in the seed feeders was sufficient - I guess the fruit and drupes were sufficient. Such food sources are more sparse in this new neighborhood.   As best I can tell, I have a very small flock of only 5 starlings - but they wipe out all 4 suet feeders in less than a week.