Ontbirders I have been a bird feeder for 40 years. Every winter birds die at and near my feeders. Not just Redpolls, but Chickadees, White-breaasted Nuthatches, Hairies and Downies, Evening Grosbeaks, etc. As a long time bird bander I found out that small birds have very short lives. At times this wwinter I've had 200 Redpolls and some have died - including a Greenland! This is not disputing Ron's excellent account - just another dimension to the natural scheme of things. Jim Woodford "Pat & Jim Woodford" <strix.woodfordii@sympatico.ca>