Backyard Wildlife Wars

My wife has been feeding backyard wildlife for years. We have six bird feeders, two squirrel platforms, a suet feeder, a hummingbird feeder, and a birdbath. Our birdseed and suet bill is a budget item. Our porch is situated like the stage in an outdoor amphitheater. The planning beds are arranged like stadium seating, with our covered porch being like a stage. We have a 270-degree view of every part of our planting beds. Arranged along the top rear of the stadium are evergreen trees, each around 15 feet tall. They act like the left-field wall in Fenway Park. Scattered throughout this hillside amphitheater are evergreen bushes, field grasses, flowering trees, and other seasonal flowering plants. During a typical day, we see many bird species. Bluebirds and Robins enjoy the bird bath but not the seeds. Cardinals, Nuthatches, Titmice, Towhees, Thrashers, Red-winged Blackbirds, Blackbirds, Finches, Mourning Doves, Southern Tanagers, Hummingbirds, and three kinds of woodpeckers. Several…