hey! thanks for all the ideas to add to my little birdie area! here's a few of my own- as far as the squirrels i have found one trick that they have not figured out yet (and we are going on almost a year). i had a suet feeder hung out and they chewed through the string to get it to fall down to eat it. i hung it on a small chain and watched them- they pulled up the chain to the branch and then ate the suet!
so i got a 2 liter soda bottle- cut the bottom out and hung it on the chain so the suet was below that. they haven't bothered it since. they can't hang from the brahc cause the feeder is too low and they can't reach past the 2 liter bottle- it's just to big for them!
and i made my own bird bath this
spring! i took the big size tomatoe cage, turned it upside down so the small part was on top. took off the long wires that you poke into the ground and placed the bottom saucer of a planter in there with water and a rock for the smallish birdies. i planted sweet peas in the bottom and over the summer they will fill in beneath the bath. they birdies have finally found my bath and we have lots of fun watching them splash! my 2 kids especailly love to wathc them. they get SO excited to see a bird in "our water!" .
here's a pic....