> The bird feeder's a good idea, as long as it's out of Sam's and Lilith's reach!

Yep, that's my challenge too, plus the depradations of the squirrels. Quite a few times we find a woodpecker hanging improbably from the nut feeder until she spots us - and even the magpies frequently hang on the mesh, to the chattering fury of all the small regualr feeders. One of the year-round entertainments here is the contest between the rooks and the buzzards. The latter's majestic command of thermals is less effective at low altitude when they are raiding around the hedge-tops, and the social smaller birds make up in group efforts and individual bravery what they lack in terrifying claws and beaks - it's like watching a first world war dogfight! Other regular notable encounters are with owls - I hear them most evenings, and have seen them numerous times too, once nearly having a barn-owl fly into me when walking in the field - he was clearly as shocked as I by the near-miss!