The catbird is not my main problem. It's actually a small group of white-breasted nuthatches that are in the area. I caught two of those as well, but i did not have my camera on me to take a shot. Although I have plenty of berries yet to ripen as i have a lot of mid and late season varieties, so I am sure I will catch another. The robins have been congregating around the nets but they have not found a way in yet. I have a few dozen bunches of grapes and a plethora of blackberries right now. Those are my next netting projects.

Hello there, gardenerme, thanks for the feedback. Yours turns yellow and the needles drop, as I described? Yellow close to the roots? Mine may also be close to rootbound, but I have to say that I haven't watered it for a couple of days now and the pot is still feeling pretty heavy. I think I will just pay better attention to the soil condition from now on, and water just a little each day. Previously I just assumed after a hot sunny day that it would need a good soak, given what I had been told, and I was so busy with a new house that I just didn't pay attention. I have bought another basket to match, but it is much smaller at this point. Can you tell me if it is a fast grower? Thanks!

Thank you all for taking the time to respond. I googled avian pox but did not see pics that resembled the "growths" on this guy. But I really didn't find anything else that looked like it either. I am going to try to find recent pics to compare to the one from yesterday. I know the places on his left eye have been there for a while, I just don't know about the feet and beak. This picture was taken as he was coming in for a landing at the bluebird feeder in my backyard. (which actually has been taken over by the juncos) I did look closely at the other pics from recent days, did not see any other kind of bird with any sort of growth or "oddity". We are in central Oklahoma and are covered with ice and snow. Seems like it has been really cold "forever". :( Is it possible that these growths are related to diet in any way? I remember reading an article where the author had written about overfeeding bluebirds (mealworms???, suet???) and noted problems with the birds' feet. As you can tell, my memory of the details fails me. I believe the author was Julie Zickefoose. I will research that as soon as possible. I have not been able to find a rehabber in this area. If anyone has any suggestions for this area, please let me know. Thank you again for your help and input!

compost_hugger_nancy- Yes, Claire is a REAL BIRDLADY, and a GREAT one at that. She helped me identify the Red breasted Nuthatch when I called it a chickadee, lol. Plus has helped with other things too. Thank you for the kind words, I'm glad you like the photos and stories. bob414- They are different, I've been around them my whole life, so I'm use to them. I have photos (before digital) from 20 years ago where you see orbs spiraling down the hallway of the house I used to live in. I have photos of them in cars I would restore. I would have to take a lot of photos just to make sure the orbs weren't in the way. Claire- No I haven't got a hold of any organization concerning the orbs. A. (There are some entities you call orbs that are visible to infrared cameras but not to the human eye. They may be visible to birds which are known to be able to detect a wider spectrum of light wavelengths than humans. To the infrared camera they appear as floating points of light in constant movement). True, birds even have like a sonar (radar) that they can pick up other birds with and energies like a tracking device that is in the air. I think if there is too much energies (orbs included), it will interfere with their tracking and they may not fly. Most of the orbs stay in constant movement but some don't. Here are some dancing- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhdSd2SrhOU B. (The orbs seem to be centered around (and in) your house and don't go too far outward although they do travel high and may extend far up right above you). True, it may be a portal. C. (They seem to be able to pass through walls (which are made of non-living materials) but they seem to avoid living materials such as birds and maybe trees. All living organisms as far as I know have a bioelectric field associated with them. They also seem to avoid cars and trucks except when covered with snow. Maybe the metal carries a charge)? True and false. They avoid birds but not necessarily trees. I've seen still orbs on the branches with a little bit of flicker. Bioelectric field is basically Orgone Energy (natural energy)that was discovered by Dr. Wilhelm Reich back in the forties. I have orgone devices in and around the house, even on the deck. They don't avoid vehicles, I have pics of orbs in vehicles that I was restoring. D. (They're not particularly affected by wind or heat or light or magnets, although they may notice the magnetic field). True E. (They appear in loose groups on a fairly regular schedule; around sunset and then again around midnight. The activity of the groups is very variable - sometimes slow and sometimes very excited). True F. You're located in Southern Alaska which is near the Arctic Circle. True Question 1. (You're in aurora country, do they react to auroral activity? Today activity is low, but we're near solar maximum and the Auroral Oval could easily extend out to Southern Alaska when activity increases, as it does on a day by day basis. Auroras are chock full of energy which could affect your orbs). There is probably lots of them during aurora borealis due to the amount of energy available in the air. Question 2. (What about sound, which is another form of energy? You have neighbors so you can't just go blasting out strange music (or you shouldn't), but if you set up a camera indoors you could play with sounds of very low and very high pitch, as well as everything in between). True, even though I might be inside the house, I know there is some 'music' that seems to bring more of them around. I will show you the test when I get the cameras up in the house. I had to order more cameras because two of the ones that came in were bad and not working. I will be pointing more cameras upward to see how they act with the auroras. I will be testing frequencies as well. Question 3. (Do they come out when it snows? You said you didn't film when it snowed because you "didn't want to get a false reading/observation", which is very reasonable, but maybe you could put a cover of some sort over a camera and a dark background to see if they're there. My thought is that snowflakes are charged so that might affect the orbs). The orbs do come out when it snows and you can see them going against the direction of the snowflakes and some go sideways. I can also do the covering of the camera with the black background just to see how their behavior is. Question 4. (What type of light did you use for your test? Incandescent, fluorescent, halogen, LED? Maybe a 'black light' bulb that produces UV light would have an effect). I used an LED light. Good idea on the black light, I need to get one and perform that test. Question 5. (Would they react to a battery? Batteries have an anode and a cathode so there might be an attraction or repulsion to one end and not the other). I went and did that test, here is the video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dI_h1gnm6w Question 6. (Winter Soltice is coming up this weekend and it might be worth looking to see if there's any difference in activity. There's a lot of cultural history and also hype about the solstices, but maybe there's something to be seen). True, I took a video at 1am because they were acting different, shocking- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef18lpRjQow It's my pleasure passing on information like this. If you look into lets say Orgone Pyramids, you'll understand more about the energies around us and how you can change things for the better where you live. P.S. Almost forgot to mention about the ravens that have been coming by lately- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6Pgb-KrsBU Ed This post was edited by Trickyfingers on Sat, Dec 22, 12 at 9:38