California have millions of invasive species brought about by millions of immigrants along with the illegal hitchhikers from ballasts of cargo ships to crevices in the airplanes, name it, we got it! Our list is several thousand pages long if you care to read about those legislative actions. Sometimes innocent looking super clean boats that were dipped in the lakes in the east would simply spread notorious lake weeds and zebra mussels all over. some of the exotics were already naturalized and have equilibrated, but there are those new species that are always disrupting the purported balance. according to some point of view, humans are the worst invasive species, followed by their exotic crops planted in native lands.... Look at how gulf courses became so invasive on prime lands! Along with it comes excessive consumption of water, excessive fertilizer and chemical applications ... What an ecological disaster of all time.

Heehee, yes, that's what we were afraid of - the "still too close" ! We might be able to count the feathers but what good is it if we can't see the bird... Yes, we're recovering nicely. And the baby was born two and a half week ago! She is absolutely adorable. Yet another thing going on in life that keeps me away from the dust cloth and the vacuum cleaner! (Yeay!) It's so lovely to be an Oma and Opa (dutch grammy and grampy) again. And this one is so much closer than California! Sandy, we checked them out online. Easier than going to a store. We were not impressed by the price range, in other words, if we were going to buy one of these ourselves we would spend more. We can't choose something that's not in their fancy folder, and we thing it's an overstock kind of thing. I have my eye on a good looking bird scope, but I don't think it's in the budget for this Christmas... They also have very nice cutlery. Maybe we'll get that instead and keep our eye on the bird scope instead. :) Mary

They get to my area early. We've had a couple here for several months. I have had as many as 12 in past years. The most I've ever seen was when we were at FlamingO's house. They were everywhere! Of course she has lots of feeders out, many flowering baskets and a beautiful flowering tree (can't remember what kind it was). So the little hummers were in Paradise!

Man, I have been MIA for a while. You guys posted some great pics!! Andrea, I love seeing the chipmunk and bright yellow finches. I finally saw some yellow finches the other day, but they haven't been staying around for long. My thistle feeder barely gets touched and I bought fresh seed too. Ok, it's time for me to make some wreaths or suet - Yours have inspired me!!!! Hopefully soon! The birds are eating like crazy right now so I know they would be a huge hit! Andrea, I almost bought that same looking hummingbird feeder the other day. I just wasn't sure if I was ready for "hummingbirds" though lol - I feel like I have so much going on feeding the other birds.. I just don't know if I should take on more... PLUS>>>> yesterday was my birthday and my dad surprised me with a HUGE bird house that is anchored to a tree!!! Now, I love feeding the birds, but I don't know if I want to house them too!!! LOL.. But I have to put this bird house in the backyard.. This will be a new journey. I'll try to post pics. My hubby has to dig a hole and pour concrete because the birdhouse is so big!!! YIKES!! My dad was driving one day and saw this thing on the side of the road - some guy makes them locally. Royals fan-MO6a - I love the Oriole pics!! Thanks for sharing! catherinet - hahaha yes I like the idea of giving out bird seed mixes around Christmas.. it's cold out and the birds will certainly enjoy it!! Oh, and we'll save some calories ourselves hahaha --------------------------------------------------------- okay here's a sneak peak of the bird house.. I'm telling you this sucker is huge. Hubby carrying it in- Below is a different bird house that the same guy made. This isn't the one I have. It's just an example of his work. My bird house has a lot brighter colors.. I may tweak that some day hahahaha...