Well the party is over on the 1st and 2nd floor balconies across from me. Someone must have turned them in because suddenly the feeders were gone, but none of the other balcony items were.

Now they toss out a handful of stuff early in the morning that the pigeons eat. And that’s it. The sparrows aren’t interested in that–or it’s too early for them–so they now come to my place.

And it’s a mess. The titmice, cardinals, and chickadees still come. But the sparrows set up camp while the peanuts are still there, and instead of picking one and leaving, they practically spread out a blanket and have a picnic. So it’s messy.

But they’re hungry too and individually I enjoy them. And the titmice get irritated if I have no peanuts so I still put them out. There’s just more bird poop around. Yuck.

And if the balcony weren’t messy enough there is a serious aphid infestation in my petunias. I spent the day today squirting them with a homemade mixture of vegetable oil and soap, and ordered some commercial traps and dust. Where the hell is that carolina wren now??? I read that wrens will eat aphids.

I thought about buying some ladybugs but that seemed silly, given you can get them by the thousand and I just have a little balcony. Maybe I will buy a ladybug house and hope some move in, given the nice digs and dining options.