yes, we have a birder's paradise here. Right now it is positively buzzing, with new neotropical arriving daily. Head the first whip-poor-will yesterday, and THINK I heard a parula this afternoon. Heard the oriole-like whistle of a rose-breasted grosbeak yesterday and then today, heard it again, close to the house this time, and sure enough there he was. Will have to be keeping an eye out for the blue grosbeaks and the evenings, although they aren't always dependable like the RBGs. Yes, the buntings seem to have a love for the taller grasses and thicker stuff here. A lot of times a male will sit on the power line and just go nuts with song, even when it gets hot. Nests fascinate me and annoy me at the same time because I have been too lazy to study the differences and learn to tell what bird made them. I found a nest of blue-grey gnatcatchers a few years back, and I could stand under the nest and watch the yougsters at lunch time, but it was at least 20 feet off the ground and I could never get a good look at how it was made. Think it might have had lichens on it, much like a hummer's nest. Plenty of birds, alright. In fact, come on over and stay a while....as long as you take a few thousand of our OTHER birds back when you leave. I'll give you a hint: they make a distinct whining call, are extremely gregarious, and have a specially adapted bill well suited for their liquid diet.

Ned stated it well, but to go a bit further, there is no blue pigment in any of the birds you see that appear blue. Like Ned said, the color appears by refraction. The structure of the feathers reflect back the blue light. Here is a link to a page by Cornell that explains feather colors. It's pretty fascinating. Here is a link that might be useful: Cornell Lab of Ornithology - color

I am new to this birding stuff, but I will add my two bits. For the first time I had one show up in my yard about two weeks ago. Saw him on the feeder a few days after that. I have a hopper feeder with pretty much everything thrown in the mix. Fruits, nuts, berries, thistle, BOSS, all thrown in with the stuff that usually comes in the generic wild bird mix stuff. He was hanging out there the first two times I saw him, but since then all his time has been on the tray below the BOSS tube feeders. I would venture to guess the guy hanging around my yard prefers BOSS on a elevated tray. Scott

Thanks, and me too..I grew up 5 miles from the ocean in Haiti. We used to have beach parties on New Year, but we're land-locked at the moment. I'm thrilled to be able to swim on Poppy Mnt, only 1 1/2 miles from here, because it's semi-deserted at the moment. DuBois and I used to drive 15 miles to swim in the Licking River or in a deserted pond over the mnt from us where we had to hike through tick-infested brush to reach it. But, speaking of oceans, this year we did skip down to FL for our anniversary over New Year and camped at Ft Desoto Natl Park but it was too cold to swim. But I could take photos of wonderful birds from the car 12-31-08, dock beside Gulf Blvd, preening American Oystercatcher, 4:19 p.m. From 12-30-08, Florida trip This is a link to the first day at Ft Desoto in my photo album. I love Kentucky warblers and other birds, but the ocean TRUMPS ALL (sigh). Slide show button on upper left corner, click F11 key for full screen http://picasaweb.google.com/rachelbro3/123008FloridaTrip#