I guess you could say I'm becoming obsessed. Mockingbirds are so common in places I lived before (MD and MO) it's frustrating that I've never seen them in my yard. I have seen them 15-20 miles away in other areas more suburban and some more rural like mine. Last year I saw two at my dentists' office in the city hopping around in a sprinkler near some bushes so I ran right out and bought a sprinkler. Over the past two years I've planted seven different types of fruit trees and ten blueberry and other fruit bushes. I have a raspberry patch and started a blackberry patch too. Not all the fruit trees and bushes were initially bought to attract Mockingbirds but those should be bird attractants too in a few more years. Oh -- I also subscribed to Birds and Blooms' Magazine...
On the plus side all these efforts are attracting other desirable birds, like the Rose-Breasted Grosbeak and Cardinals. I keep hoping I'll see Bluebirds too, as a person I know that has them lives about a mile away. With birds you just have to be patient for them to find you. Last year I bought a giant fancy suet feeder for Pileated Woodpeckers because my neighbor gets them to come to his
suet feeder. I put a small one on top of the big one for smaller woodpeckers too though. Finally after a year I saw a Pileated Woodpecker at my suet feeder, but he was eating from the small one, not the large one I put up for his comfort and benefit!
I keep hoping, "if you build it, they will come."