We live in rural W. PA, close to WVA and we get a wide variety of birds including: Hummingbirds, hawks, herons, bluebirds, cardinals, gold finches, bluejays, woodpeckers, sparrows (and all manner of little brown and grey birds), geese, ducks, robins, doves, little blue herons, crows (of course), ring-necked pheasants, turkeys, and the occaisional egret. We once had a scarlet tanager that was so red it hurt your eyes to look at it.
I love sitting on the porch and watching the hawks and the crows fight it out over territory. When a hawk shows up the crows will initiate a "come to Jesus meeting" and soon the trees are full of cackling black birds and the dogfight is off and running.
Our dogs take care of the squirrels, rabbits and gophers pretty well and even keep the deer at a respectable distance. my border collie loves rabbit marinated in its own juices for about a week before she eats it, we pretty much keep her outside all summer because she tends to carry a funk about w/ her.
I can't wait for the weather to break so I can get out in the yard, start turning over dirt, and planting stuff. I've been planting fruit trees and want to put some berries in this year also to try and attract some more birds.
thanks for starting this thread! I hope it keeps going.
LOL! I see you have Border Collies, too.
Do your squirrels show up just to hang out in the trees and tease the dogs?
Mine sure do!