Folks

Gwen and I had our first House Sparrow of the 2005 year at the house in 
Waldorf.  #43 for the yard list for 2005.  The bird was a young male.

Yesterday the real sparrow list was a bit better.  One Chipping, one Fox, 
one Song, five Eastern Towhee, about 20 White-throated, and 60 Dark-eyed 
Junco - a six species sparrow day.  The Chipping seems to only come in when 
it is snowing.

The five woodpecker species continue to feed - Downy, Hairy, Red-bellied, 
female Sapsucker, and a female Yellow-shafted Flicker.  She is at the peanut 
butter tree each day now.   Maybe I will try for a portrait on the weekend.

A tip for those feeding lots of Blue Jays, Crows, and Starling.  Try dog 
food.  I get the cheapest I can find.  It is a lot cheaper then split 
peanuts, and all the dog food I put out gets eaten.  I mix peanuts with the 
dog food for the Blue Jays.  I have about 30 Blue Jays a day feeding.  They 
are preferential to the peanuts, but eventually eat the dog food with out 
hesitation.  The cost difference is about $5-7 for a 25 pound bag of dog 
food, and $25-33 for a 25 pound bag of peanuts.  Peanuts have a higher 
protein content, but the dog food is high enough to sustain the birds.  The 
Crows seem to prefer it over the ground beef fat I put out.  The Mockingbird 
prefers the ground beef fat.  So far none of the target species has barked 
at me for the food selection.

George