"I ahve to say you ladies are REALLY good, maybe we should skip to the first fall warblers???? " Ladies, we are in trouble. Check your Peterson guide on confusing fall warblers to bone up for the challenge! Actually the guide is pretty good by putting them in sub-sections by field marks and color. You can then proceed by process of elimination until you get down to the correct bird. Then check the Cornell's site for other photographs for further positive ID markers. Local variations and light in the photos make if tougher too but if you find most of key ID points it is probably that bird. According to my SMAS group the Blue Jay is considered partially leucistic, not albino, and is exhibiting other feather abnormalities related to genetics. In another communication, Arlene Ripley commented that she has seen many albino birds but none have exhibited the fur-like structures of this Jay's feathers. I did some of my own research on fur-like feathers and every site pointed to something called proto-feathers which were exhibited by some early dinosaurs before true feathers emerged. It's exciting to imagine this bird may be exhibiting an ancient genetic throwback to prehistoric times which upholds the common belief that birds evolved from dinosaurs as they first took flight. There has been a call to ask everyone on the local site if there is a scientic name for this feather anomaly and this call comes from a man that works for the Smithsonian Institute and really knows birds. So far, no reponse, so the local bird community here may be stumped. There was sentiment regarding hope the bird survives. Jean, has this bird been a regular at your feeder for any length of time in which one could make the assumption it has survived nature with this variance? Arlene suggested the photo be posted on websites dedicated to leucistic and albino birds and see if more information could be obtained from readers. PapaSmurf is a rare Blue Jay indeed. CT

Just a couple of miles from my house is a long streach of farmland. Open pastures, uncut woods. You can literally drive for miles and not see a house. There is a flock over there, I see them a lot when I'm passing thru to my house close to sunset. There must be between 30 and 40, we lost track last time we tried to count around 25. And they will cross the road in a flock, never paying attention to the car or to our intrusion. I also have the same thing going on with a lot of deer around here too. Broad daylight and they will just stand and stare at you. The turkeys are supposed to be shy, I had never seen but one before and I've been a pretty avid outdoorswoman all my life, riding horses, camping and on dirt bikes. I was so shocked, I just stopped in the middle of the road and watched them pass. I understand the population is getting much larger, maybe that has something to do with it. I'm no expert, but they look the same as the ones here.

Ken, Odds are you won't move them. They are as you said "a crumby little scrub pine." Uncle can get big and your decision to plant near the edge of that retaining wall...not a good one. I have it. Does just so so and rather disappointing. 'Wisconsin' Why would you want to move it? It will get big and it looks like you have the room. A back breaker to move. Then again it doesn't curl my toes. If mine, spade shovel and move on. There are much better choices out there. Dave

Coll, I think your garden is just stunning! You mention the garden is fairly small, and you have about 125 hostas, and also that you have a bathroom area for your dogs. How big is your yard and garden, actually? I posted some photos of some of my hostas the other day, and am going to add a couple of wider angle photos to show how the yard sits (size, arrangement, etc). Would you maybe be able to do the same? I'd love to see the total overall effect. You said that in the photos you put up, we just couldn't see the weeds, failures, etc, and I have to admit that I tried to avoid those in my first photos as well, but I'm going to go for it and lay the whole thing out there for all to see! LOL! I'm hoping you'll do the same :-)