OK, Jean, I think it's time you 'fess up and tell us just WHICH ornithilogical publication you do professional photography for... Your photos ALWAYS look like they came right out of a book, or should be in one! I'm humbled by your skill and aspire to attain anything close to it with my own bird pictures! As for the Carolina wren, I got a picture of one just outside my dining room window a couple years ago, perched on one of those cage feeders... picture's through a dirty window, but it's an otherwise pretty clear picture of a wren and I think I posted it here before at one point, so let me go see if it's in my Photobucket... Well, I THOUGHT it was, but maybe I deleted it. It's late, and I'm not gonna hunt it down right now, but maybe you'll figure out if that was a Carolina wren or not by looking at online sources, FTM. Happy Birding, all! Jeff

Yup, fall is close - the buckeyes and walnuts are ready to drop, the robins are starting to flock and my garden looks dead! I love fall and refuse to let the dread of winter keep me from enjoying it! Brenda, according to my Sibley guide, you might also see ... Nashville Warbler (migrant) Orange crowned warbler (migrant) Yellow rumped warbler (winter resident) MacGillivrays (summer resident, migrant) Yellow breasted cht (summer resident, migrant) There's another whole list of warblers that are listed as rare so maybe you will get lucky! I was surprised there weren't more warblers listed for California since so many of them winter in Mexico and breed in Canada. I'm also not sure if they migrate at the same time of year for you. The best way to know is google audubon chapters for areas close to you, alot of them have websites where bird sightings are listed. I'm sure there are lots of other birds too that will migrate through California. Thats one of the reasons that I love fall!

Oh my gosh, Lisa, you have a Pipevine swallowtail!!!! One that "I" feel is one of the most coveted butterflies to attract. Aren't they one of the most absolute gorgeous bfs???? And, their caterpillars have got to be some of the most cuuute. They are black with red spines, but are not sharp, just very soft. Their host plants are the Pipevine vines in the Aristolochia family. It took me 3 years for my vines to get established enough to support a colony, and I have had them all summer this year. It's been so wonderful. You need to get you some Pipevines, Girlfriend. Susan had caterpillars on her vines this year, also. Unfortunately, the vines are not readily available at the local nurseries. Suan and I have been trying, but they say that there is not enough demand? Most butterfly books say that their range would increase if more people planted pipevines. Aristolochia tomentosa seems to do well in central Okla., morning sun, filtered shade. Ocassionally, Marilyn has some- http://www.wildthingsnursery.com/ Missouri Wildflowers has small vines- http://www.mowildflowers.net/ Mary Ann at Pine Ridge Garden may have larger plants. http://www.pineridgegardens.com/2003Tree.htm All are reputable. It's no wonder that one didn't happen upon your gorgeous flowers. I just hate it that I hadden't gotten around to see your yard. I am so excited for you!!! Hopefully, you'll think about putting in some pipevines in the future, so that you will have them all summer, and not just an occasional migrant. Do you have some passionvine for the Gulf frits? I don't know why the Monarchs didn't find your patch of milkweed this summer. Next summer, remind me, and I'll share some of my caterpillars. Seems like once you have them, they seem to return. Dawn, thanks so much for your Monarch report. I believe that the weather has been the major factor in the routes that the Monarchs have taken this year. The largest waves have been thru Ponca, Kingfisher, Canton Lake, and on into Midland, and San Angelo. There are have spotty reports along I-35 to Dallas. Chip Taylor from Monarch Watch says that the ones being seen now are the late emergers, and that their changes of making it to Mexico by Nov. 1st is very slim. The 1st ones that I saw the end of Sept. were hundreds filling the sky. The wind was just right, and they weren't stopping to nectar. They were high in the sky on a mission. This 20-30 mph southerly wind has really slowed some of them down. Hope that you get some rain, Dawn, and some cooler temps. We had been pretty hot, and dry, with strong southerly winds until we got some rain on Monday, and then we just got 2 1/2 inches,today. Did you get any of the rain, today? The wind is supposed to blow strong from the north tomorrow, and then turn around and blow strong from the south Sat., and Sun. Be hard for any Monarchs to make much distance now. Randy said that he saw about 200 in Norman yesterday. Perhaps, some of them will come to visit you, Dawn. My flowers are kinda fizzling out. My trop. mw is going to seed, but still has some flowers and is a great attractor. I don't have near the stand of Golden crownbead that I normally have to do all of the extra rain drowning some out. Most of my zinnias look bad. I should have deadheaded them more. But, my butterfly bushes, Gregg's blue mistflower, Aster oblongifloius, and Mexican flamevine are really attracting the bfs. Do you have Mexican flamevine Dawn and Lisa? It really shines this time of year. Dawn, there is a Master Gardener from SE Okla. that has posted on the Butterfly Forum wanting to know of some good butterfly attracting plants for the SE for designing a butterfly garden presentation. Perhaps you may be able to help? http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/butterfly/msg1014095914317.html?7 Gee, I didn't mean to be so winded. Thanks again for your great reports. I really should check out the Okla. Gardening forum more often. I still have so much to learn. :) Here is a link that might be useful: Pipevine swallowtails

pd728: I would (and I will) leave the feeders up until at least the end of September, and probably until close to frost. I'm still seeing hummers but when that's rare I'll take in the feeder from the deck and leave the feeder up in the front yard. The deck feeder will come in because the raccoons empty it every night and I have to refill it every morning. The front yard feeder only needs to be refilled every four or five days, depending on the weather. Claire edit note: I just saw this site The amazing tongue of the hummingbird