Not too much surprised, alas, when I cleaned out the chickadee birdhouse, two failed nestings last year. Lots of unhatched eggs. Very sad after years of success.
Good news, another couple is back. We shall watch very closely and protect as best we can.

An unusual number of goldencrowned sparrows at the black sunflower feeder. They are eating me out of house and home. I had to reconstruct a little dome over the cylindrical feeder that I've used in the past to discourage sparrows and make it easier for the chickadees, in particular, to feast. But I used soft plastic and the goldencrowns chewed it off! so they can get to the seed. I've now put on much sturdier stuff back on, we'll see. They can still get plenty of seed from the catch net underneath the main feeder.

I have a suet feeder that is the regular metal box inside a box of 1/4 fencing with a few openings just big enough for chickadees and bushtits to get in, keeping out pig birds and squirrels and other overeaters. Well, the flickers have figured out how to hang on the outside fencing enclosure (and they weigh enough) to bring the inside box close enough to feed on.

Very clever. But they poke at it, knock stuff to the ground. They don't feed much on the ground, and so there's fair amount of waste. I'm sure somebody's taking advantage of that. But they are such beautiful birds, I'll subsidize their orgy.

I'm in Northgate in Seattle and our new PeaPatch just north of my yard is finally coming into fruition. They have hummerbird feeders up, have seen a hawk, and we're looking forward to lots of happy birds this summer.

Some pictures:

http://gruffducks.com/mlcg/index.html

Any suggestions on how to discourage racoons appreciated.