Bird Damage in Lawn

Something is making holes in the lawn; pieces of turf are tossed to one side and there are holes in the turf about the size of a quarter.

That sounds like bird damage. They're looking for insects in the soil, webworms and caterpillars are good and tasty right now. So the birds will poke and they'll pick up a little divot of turf and throw it to the side. Crows, turkeys, and starlings will all do that. We've been noticing in eastern Nebraska there's a fair amount of bird activity right now, more than usual.

Just poke around to see what's going on out there, because if its webworms now would be the time to treat them. If you really want to do it right, take a quarter cup of detergent, put it into two gallons of water, and pour it over a square yard of lawn.  Wait at least 5-8 minutes and the caterpillars will come up out of the turf, so you can get an idea if any insects are present.  If you're getting more than 5-10 webworms per square yard, you want to treat that entire area.  Dylox will use quite well.