Today I had another opportunity for photos. Got some but they are too far away. Did witness it hunting smaller birds flying over the field. Then later I was out on the terrace talking on the phone wit my Mom. Noticed a whole lotta turkey vultures gathering in a swirl in the sky-just circling like a tornado. There were a good 300 and they just kept gathering from the west. When it got to be about 500 they moved further east to gather with another couple thousand we saw off in the distance!! Couldnt believe it!!! Wish I could have got a picture for you Kathy!! Earlier in the year we were on our way to church. (our church building is in the middle of a field on the SW section of the Mojave Desert). A "dog" passed in front of us just on the property border of our church. Well it was a coyote and it had a turkey vulture in it's mouth!!! Thought it WAS a turkey at first. It was good to see the wild doing so well in it's natural surroundings!!! Have a great Friday. Love, Jules

bamboo: I have a Scintilla blooming in my sunroom right now. It's ahead of Star and behind Jewel. It took amazingly little chilling for any of them to bloom. Scintilla fruited last year. I thought the fruit was below average, in fact well below average. It's supposed to set a moderate load of high quality, large fruit. It wasn't as good eating as Jewel, Emerald, Star, or Santa Fe. And as compared to Sweetcrisp, pure trash. I have a hard time thinking about adding anything else unless and until Sweetcrisp disappoints. I'll figure out how to fruit Sweetcrisp all year around if it lives up to last year. Most will need differing maturity and I will to at some point. I just like trying new varieties. Here is a link that might be useful: Scintilla description

Hello Nancy, It might still be too cold for the snakes to be real active. Once it warms up you are more apt to see them out sunning themselves. My brother saw one (garter snake0 in his yard last week, but I imagine it is a lot warmer here in Maryland than up there in Michigan. I usually only see bald eagles during the fall migration. There are quite a few living along the Potomac River, where I usually go birding, but I haven't seen any along the river in a number of years. Probably due to the mild winter, the Washington area did not have as many visiting bald eagles this past winter. Richard

I never knew that any bird other than a hummer could do that. It's amazing to see. Thanks for confirming it for me. To see one of them - especially a male - would be the ultimate lifer for me. Thanks again, Debbie.