Have I Gone Bird Crazy?

Funny how sisters think so much alike. Especially when they were not raised together(except for 6 years),and have always lived so far apart, but we think and do things so much alike.Vicki Lynn of "My Favorite Things", wrote about the birds just today. I have been wrestling with my bird situation around my home for weeks. I normally have lots of hummingbirds, but this year I have maybe 2. That is very strange.We have had as many as 15 at a time buzzing around my flowers and feeders.Can't imagine why they are not coming this year.
Then there are the Purple Martins I have been trying to attract to my home for 3o years to no avail.I have built Bluebird boxes off and on for years, only to have the cats to eat the babies as soon as they hatch and their feet hit the ground.We no longer keep a cat for that very reason(and that they get run over by speeding traffic through our little road, which is a cut through road to the lake.}
Now I have taken up watching the little house wrens. They build close to the house in any little nook and cranny they can find. We've had them to build in a busted out headlight of a bush buggy that wasn't moved that much. They have built in boots, in hats, in hanging flower baskets, in half open drawers. I love finding their nests in unusual places and watching them raise their young. But now we have Sarah.She is a dog that thinks she needs to hunt down and kill every living thing that moves. A cute little wild rabbit, a squirrel sneaking corn from the hen house, a ground squirrel scurrying from my flowerbed to his hole,any pretty song producing bird,a pesty mole, baby chickens,nor a dreaded mouse.None of these things have a fighting chance with her around. My grandson,John, has mentioned taking Sarah,our dog, to the dog pound, and exchanging her for a chihuahua.He wants a chihuahua so bad, since he saw one and learned that they stay little their entire lives. He loves little animals of all kinds.Back to the birds. I was stacking our winter's wood yesterday, and I heard the worst rippet coming from my pergola. I glanced up just in time to see a darn starling coming out of one of my wrens homes, with something in it's mouth. I had heard that they destroy other birds nests and break their eggs, but I had never witnessed it first hand. That done it. I HATE STARLINGS MORE THAN EVER.I pulled up a few sites and did some reading on the dreadful bird, and it seems Europe has programs trying to eradicate the pesty starlings. I will gladly join them in their venture now. I have tried to keep them out of my Martin housing, at least until they come, if they ever do come,but now I am declaring war on them whether I get Martins or not. I'll not have them messing with my wrens.Sarah is giving me fits trying to keep her from them.She and I have war over this daily.I agree with Vicki. Watching and listening to the birds is, indeed, a soothing,calming, peace inducing hobby when you can find a few quiet minutes to enjoy it.A rare commodity here, but cherished when I can find it.(Sorry, no pictures with this blog.I have been to Louisville today, visiting a friend who had serious back surgery, and am a little too tired to wrestle with the pictures.Maybe I will insert a few at a later time.)Hope you've had a good day where you are.We are experiencing another good rain at our house.