And beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A yard full of dandelions is usually thought to be full of weeds, but think of the glorious carpet of sunshine yellow--and later, what fun little kids can have when they blow the fuzzy stuff all around! More dandelions to come. :>)

I received a GBBC newsletter this morning and they state that so far: The numbers tell the story. With its new global reach, the 16th annual Great Backyard Bird Count becomes the largest worldwide bird count ever! As of today: 4 Days 103 Countries 120,000+ Checklists 3,144 Species 25.6+ Million birds That species total represents nearly one-third of the bird species in the entire world. Bird watchers in the U.S. and Canada set new national records for tallies submitted. Reports have come in from as far away as Antarctica and Afghanistan. So far, 30 states and 3 provinces have set new records for checklist entries. Here are the top ten countries by checklists submitted so far: United States 107,538 Canada 10,970 India 391 Mexico 263 Australia 143 United Kingdom 84 Peru 83 Puerto Rico 79 Iceland 78 Portugal 72 and they show a picture of a Japanese Green Woodpecker that is beautiful! Japanese Green Woodpecker by Masami Yoshimura, 2013 GBBC I submitted a number of checklists: one each day from my yard, two looking out at the bay to count shorebirds, and five from various spots nearby. Highlights for me were seeing the Green-winged Teal again at the Ellisville Harbor State Park and a huge raft of Common Eider in the Cape Cod Canal. It took me four days of counting before the turkeys decided to show up but I did manage to get them in (not that they're rare here but it wouldn't be a count without them). Claire

Hi Claire and Jud, Yeah, you both are right about the redpolls being around a lot- been having a flock of about 20 come by frequently everyday. I have to give an update now because I've uploaded some videos on youtube since the last time I posted here. Can you believe I'm having problems once again now with this Sony camera. Like the other two cameras, the focus has issues, it wants to work when it wants to. Here is a recent video i did on the redpolls and you wil see what I'm talking about (otherwise it's a good camera)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Klb44uKe6Z0 Here is two redpolls that stay together all the time, away from the flock, I named them 'Sue and 'Lou'. They are a funny pair- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UelrTOoY0U Here is the red breasted nuthatch, I named him 'Zippy" ê - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVYPQ5FpBDw Remember I mentioned about the flock of dark birds with the long beak coming around a whole bunch? Well, I found out they are European Starlings. I have one in particular that comes by many times a day and talks- I named it 'Centra'- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-j6gXSQ9FM I still see the ones with the black top and black going down the chest, just haven't caught a clear photo on camera yet. I ended up naming the raven too- I named him 'Rav'. He comes by too and talks a lot. He is one cool raven and funny too- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyyaWHIN_lM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2R7k7tjle0. I'll be posting a short video of Crooked Beak, Squeaker and baby soon. Ed

Happy Father's Day to all...if you still have your Dad enjoy, celebrate and cherish. Jan, I lost my Dad last May and miss him so very, very much. He gave so much great advice to me (and some not so great!) but I think answering the QOD, no matter what problem I went to him with, he would tell me "don't worry about it kid, we'll work it out" and that calmed me and we did always work out out one way or another. Today was a day of running errands. Yesterday was spent with a very dear old friend having lunch and wine at her beautiful home on the bay. We sat outside and enjoyed the weather and the boats going by. She told me not to buy golf clubs until she got her old ones down from the attic. She gave them to me yesterday and now I can finally get rolling on my lessons! Today another friend started putting the grill together...one part is too small believe it or not! Called Target where we bought it and off there tomorrow night to return small part and, hopefully, get the right one so we can finish up and start grilling!!! He brought is two 2 year old beagles (both boys) and my 14 year old Lacey was the perfect little hostess...I forgot how nosy and rambunctious young dogs are but they are sweethearts. Gotta run, fun stuff still awaits like getting the trash together and lunch for tomorrow. Will check in tomorrow..enjoy your evening. (((Hugs))) to all that need them - good thoughts and prayers are being sent your way. Donna