Hi. Looks like the top just needs to be trimmed back a bit. It could be nutritional. Likely when the Blue Jay starts to break open a peanut or walnut he'll break off the tip himself. He'd have to adjust how he grabs food until that upper part of the beak is trimmed to the same level as the lower beak. The beak grows slowly so he already has been adjusting. My thought would be that the Jay will be OK. If he could be caught a 10 second trim will fix him nicely. The problem with capture is the fright and potential risk of injury as he tries to escape. If he is weak because he isn't eating enough you may be able to "make friends" with him and let him get used to being around. I can let you know how to actually catch one through e mail if you find it necessary. It is a judgement call on your part. Trust what you feel would be best. :-) Beautiful picture, as always, BTW. C3D

Definitely some Althea (Rose of Sharon) along the very back of the shot -- along the fence, the tallest plants. I think I see some Mulberry mixed in the midground right side area (check for thorny stalks).... Most of the mass does look to be Althea, though. Would be a gorgeous hedge if allowed to bloom. Butterflies and bees love Althea =) So do ladybugs. Might be more helpful if you could get some more shots where you isolate plants and get closeups of their leaves and some stems. If there's still difficulty in IDing things, let them at least bloom which would make ID much easier and quicker...

I don't know whether I'll be of any help since I've never attempted to rescue a hummer...quite often, birds are stunned or traumatized for a short time in some situations. I would think they expend alot of energy trying to free themselves and need a little rest, if no damage was sustained. If your little hummer is still in the hanging basket, you might try putting a little homemade nectar in a small shallow cup. Gently remove the bird, and hold the cup in your hand, the hummer in the other, and see if it will feed. If there's no wing damage, etc,. hopefully it would regain it's strength, enabling it to fly on off! Gee, I hope I've not misguided you and I sure hope the little one will be OK. Keep us posted. Are you in MS and if so, where? I'm in Meridian. Donna

Jean, I am in Dawsonville. I have posted to my neighborhood news, told the local bird supply store which I am sure thrills them no end and not something they want to advertise, told my HOA board. I was sort of peeved because they made a joke of it and wondered if the birds had "gotten into some of those bad peanuts". Not funny. I have found a lot of dead birds as I am in the woods often and know where they roost. In one spot where the juncos roost there were dead juncos all over the ground. I have 4 juncos out of a zillion left, 2 siskens and 1 goldfinch. I tried to tell the neighborhood as nicely as possible to keep an eye on personal pets, it's contagious, children should not pick up dead birds, and gee, we should have major bug issues this summer if our insect eating permanent resident birds get killed. They are nice people but they just don't get that everything ties together. It's a non-issue to them and I am just the crazy wildlife lady who gets a pat on the head. I'm actually fairly middle class normal. I don't know what else to do. I'm not even some ecology wildlife fanatic, just a woman who grew up in deep woods. I guess it's part of my upbringing to be aware of nature and I just don't understand the blase attitude. Then they open the door and let their cat out. I don't mean to rant, it's just sad to me.