Death in the garden...something ate my tomato seedlings!!!

I planted out my community garden plot yesterday - it is not complete but I all the tomatoes are planted out. I have 2 cherokee purple, 2 brandywine and 1 mortgage lifter. I also plan to put in two supersweet 100s that I have growing in my windowsill. When I left yesterday, the garden was looking good and I was feeling pretty good.

This was just yesterday, y-e-s-t-e-r-d-a-y. My parents are visiting so I decided to show my mom the little plot. And this is what I found...exhibit A.

And exhibit B.

Something ATE my cherokee purple seedlings! Out of all the tomato starts, the 2 cherokee purple plants were small (in the first picture, it is the two plants on the far right in the middle row). I was SO mad when I saw the seedlings all chewed up, I AM so mad. My mom asked why I don't have a net over the plants (apparently this is what she does). She told me I need to go in the morning to check for critters. Exhibit A, makes me think it was birds because the leaves looks as though they were torn off. Exhibit B looks more like tomato horn worm? But I didn't see any poop and the plant is too small for worms to hide in them (and I looked) - where would they go after eating the baby plants? In the soil perhaps. I guess it could also be slugs...or squirrels or mice or RATS. argh! The other tomato starts looked untouched - but I'm going to be checking them everyday!! If I lose all the tomato plants, let it be a hard and painful gardening lesson. grrr.... I have 2 cherokee purple plants that I have started, so once they are ready I think I will transplant them to the garden. I could also look for larger plants at the garden store. Grrrr...
    I read that planting cilantro and dill may also deter worms (if that is what it is). I also have Bt...but I think it is a little early for that. My mom was amused that I was so upset and obsessively googling for answers. I had absolutely no interest in gardening just 2 years ago, so she is getting used to her gardening obsessed daughter.

Update: I went to the garden in the morning and inspected the plants but there were no worms. However, there were many birds (starlings and sparrow) pecking at the soil and squirrels perched on the wooden frame of the raised bed. I thought I saw a couple birds pecking at small seedlings in the other beds. So I think the damage was caused by the birds! I guess on the plus side, they eat some of the insects that may damage the plants...so I'm not too angry now...as long as they stay away from MY VEGETABLES!

GRRR!!! ithy itchy!

So far, I've been very lucky and the garden has been doing great! So much better than what I expected, actually getting some harvest. I think my beginner's luck is running out since in the last few days I have realized that gardening is a battle...with the darn pests!! The zucchini plants down on the ground floor (in the smaller container) are not doing well. The leaves were discolored but I thought this was because the container was too small. The leaves though were sort of speckled (which apparently is a clear sign of infestation).  I looked really closely at the leaves and realized...spider mites!! ALL OVER! I almost don't want to post these pictures because it makes me itchy. I tried to wipe some off but I was starting to get this sensation of bugs crawling all over me so I had to stop. I decided to make diluted dish soap spray that I've read about and basically sprayed the whole thing.

A couple of days ago, I noticed that there are little brown specs on the stems of my tomato plant (early girl). At first I didn't even think they were insects because they were microscopic and I couldn't even see that they were moving. But they are EVERYWHERE. I don't know what these are. I posted some pictures on gardenweb forum to see if I can get some help. After some googling, I think they might be thrips...or maybe non-red mites. I don't know. I can't inspect them for too long because when I look at them (I have to put my face right next to the stem) I feel itchy all over (see the pattern?). I think these guys are also attacking my young tomatoes fruits :( booooo! I'm concerned because if they are thrips, I read that they can spread some nasty viruses. I hope I don't have to pull them out. I carried the whole plant off the balcony onto the ground floor (not next to my zucchinis) to isolate them from the other tomato plants on the balcony. Some of the young tomatoes had these little dotted bugs but it wasn't so widespread that I could just wipe them off (itchy itchy itchy!!!).

I shall NOT GET DISCOURAGED!! If you have any suggestions, please do let me know!!

PESTS!!

I found a pattern I've seen on different websites on my arugula!

You can clearly see the 2 leafminers in my tasty arugula!

Ewww! Leafminers!!!!! It makes my skins crawl...