Cathy, My yard is barren pretty much. LoL I have a couple lantana planted. I had to do a total burn down of the lawn. It was over ran by broadleaf, invasive thistles, bindweed and gods above knows what else. We were gone for almost a year. When we moved in here it was pretty bad to begin with. (A foreclosure property.) Anyway...Starting over completely! I just wanted desperately to try and snap a picture or three...Ah well! Next year! :) I'll have things coming up! I have dill, fennel, lantana, tropical milkweed just to name a couple of things. I'm going to try my hardest to draw them to me instead of me following them! I surely felt silly wandering around 1/4th of an acre trying to catch an image of them. I'm sure you all can picture that! *g* yeah, yeah... laugh along with me, because I am giggling about it. I know how silly it had to have looked! Anyway, for now...I'll just keep oogling everyone elses photos! ~Tina Marie

LOL...I know the feeling!!! I used to find an occasional ringneck or two in my skimmers...harmless and very cute...but I don't wanna swim with'm...hehehe. Even though I've got lights in our pool...and one in the spa...I hesitate to swim at night. I LOVE to go for a moonlit dip in the pool but only go in at night if my Honey's there with me. Dunno what he could do in a pinch, tho...divert a snake's attention??? LOLAM

I have never, ever seen one of these in the wild, not alive, anyway. The closest I've come was a flattened remnant on a highway in Charleston County. It's a good thing you realized this guy was NOT a shoe string, since this "shoe string" could very well have ended up killing you! Sharon McKenzie

catherine, you get Indigo Buntings????? I saw an IB in my yard (southern Michigan) about 15 years ago and if I ever see another I will no doubt faint on the spot. My Sibley Birds East says they summer here but obviously not in my yard. Lucky you! Feather, as usual, your pictures are glorious. The Blue Grosbeak knocked my socks off. "Rare" for my area, so I will probably never see one. HOWEVER, today for the first time (it's finally warm out, but zero blooms on my Red Bud Tree) I have 3 "adult nonbreeding" Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and 2 Baltimore Orioles. I don't believe I've seen these guys before. I am in heaven. My Chipping Sparrows are back, my Cardinals never left (YAY), and the Goldfinches are on all my feeders. I switched back to C&S suet from a generic suet, and my various woodpeckers are all back. The Robins are taking baths in all my birdbaths, everything is flying through my backyard except the Cooper's Hawk, I've just had a dish of butter pecan ice cream, and life is good.