Fleemo wrote:

Yesterday I planted some lettuce seedlings in the garden, only to find
them serving as a tempting salad for the birds. I found several
Rufous-crowned Sparrows devouring my lettuce plants this morning. I
had no idea the birds were herbacious! Fruits and nuts, sure. But
lettuce?

I've taken great pains to welcome birds into my garden, providing
food, water, and shelter, but I would like to keep my vegetable garden
in tact as much as possible. How can I prevent them from devouring my
lettuce? I tried hanging an audio CD from a string, which was a
recommended method of scaring them out of my raised beds, but it had
no effect on them. Any suggestions?

Make a little poly tunnel cover for your lettuce, using Remay and those
flexible poly hoops. Will protect your tender seedlings from birds as well
as any sudden drops in temperature. These are pretty common in most garden
mail order supply catalogs - used often during the growing season to keep
flying egg-laying insects off edible crops as well.

pam - gardengal