"Is success temperature-dependent, time-of-day dependent, variety dependent, anti-new-to-this-whole-process dependent?" Variety dependent probably is the closest descriptor.. some plaunts just set when their 'in the mood' and have the right pollen applied. The comment per better fertility on Re scapes at times seems to apply to latter cycle flowers being more receptive here... as very few rebloom far north. And often when that occurs seeds are too immature when hard frost comes. With some applying stigmatic fluid from another pistil helps set.. picking the pistil out of a flower of well known fertility and squeezing the source end between your thumb and index finger. After that area is compressed break it off and use the next section of that pistil. Just a slight coating.. then apply pollen.. not a fool proof method but worth a try with some. The "right pollen".. some daylilies just click together.. why who knows. Could be compatibility of pollen with the fluid inside the pistil of the destination plant.. or a score of other reasons. Some use dip pollen to get a plaunt 'going'... those pods almost never will produce viable seeds but appear to get some setting with tet pollen. Keeping the sun off pollinated plaunts is another option.. deep south shade cloth is used often. Many prefer the conditions of a GH/green house to set.. high humidity, high feeding & water... the GH daylily has been with us for some time now.

Alright now! You guys are confusin me! Ive checked my books and Ive googled a bunch of pictures onlineand I dont know what it was that was here. The pic of the bird I posted is a little misleading. The bird I saw was WAY browner than it looks in the pics. I know, I knowdont go by the color! And its sitting on the branch with its back toward me. I was amazed that I was able to get a pic when it turned its head in my direction briefly a couple times. Heres the third pic I got where you can (kinda) see that its facing away from mebut its the worst quality pic. I figured out why the pictures from upstairs are distorted! Theyre taken thru the screenand the birds on the feeders in the backyard look even worse because of the "down" angle of the camera thru the screen. The BIG bird isnt quite as bad since the neighbors yard is higher than mine, so it was taken on somewhat more of the same level with me. In the second pic above the bird had turned a little bit more sideways, but its still sitting on the branch facing away from me. With all the pictures Ive looked at, I really dont know, now, what it was. I first saw it on top of the lattice at my back fence, which is only about 25' away from the windowI have a very shallow backyardand I sure didnt notice any black eye stripe or black and white head striping. Actually, I didnt notice any black or gray at all. It sat on that branch and I watched it for close to 10 minutes. Tho the pic doesnt show it, it was brown and tan. I guess I havent found any immature pics, cause all the ones Ive found are very much gray to dark gray. I think the tail pointing down so much in the pic was as much a balancing act as anything. The branch it was on was very long and pretty small for such a large bird (at least 15-18"), and it was moving around a lot. So I dont think the position of the tail is telling in this case. And then theres still the problem of what the first bird I saw wasthe purpose of this post. It was really VERY different. When I saw the second one the next day I assumed it was a pair since males and females can be quite different in size and colorand since a lot of birds do travel around in pairs, but the closest picture Ive found yet of the original bird is the first pic I linked of the Gray Hawkwhich we all agree is wasnt! But it was exactly like that picture, but lighteralmost whitewith very obvious, wide, dark banding on the tailwhich was very widely fanned when it flew away. Maybe I just need to concede thatunless one or both come back and I get better picturesIm never going to know for sure what they were. Whatever they were, Im glad I got to see them! Skybird (who is easily identifiable by the arms and legsand the uniform!) P.S. Digit, my pair of robins (that are here all winter) nest in my backyard every year, but that obviously has nothing to do with the feeders. I do think it might have to do with the constant water sourceand the easy access to worms in the worked soil in the veggie garden. And there was a nest in one of the neighbors cottonwoods that overhangs my yard, but I dont know what was in it! I only know it was there because its been falling into my backyard all fall and winter! Other than that I havent seen any other nests, but then I dont actually have any deciduous trees, and Ive never seen any nests in the two upright junipersand I dont have any bird houses out since I dont have anywhere to hang them. Wait! I've had a house sparrow nest in the Euonymous that grows up the side of my house right by the steps down off of the deck every year! Do they count as birds? They've been building it on top of the bend in the downspout where they were completely hidden by the foliage. But they won't be back! I've pulled almost all of the Euonymous down! It was growing up under the siding and the shingles!

An adult NOGO (northern goshawk) would have a steel-gray body with a well defined white patch below the base of the tail. The top of the head would be a black crown with a white line just above the eye from the beak to the back of the head. A juvenile (1st year) would have a completely dark brown streaked breast from the throat to the underside of the tail. The bird you took the picture of has a well defined "belly-band" of streaks with a well defined white breast, classic plumage for a Red-tailed Hawk. Below is an excellent link to photos of many Red-tailed Hawks. There is much variability in this species, but your bird is classic with the rich brown head and belly band of streaking which you will see in many of the photos. Hope this helps. BN Here is a link that might be useful: Red-tailed Hawk gallery (not mine)

I am also thinking this is a Cooper's Hawk. However, the clincher between immature Cooper's and Northern Goshawk is that the goshawk has brown streaked undertail covers and on a Cooper's the undertail coverts are pure snow white. Although the undertail coverts are not visible, the righthand picture shows the streaking on the breast/belly fading out as it gets closer to the tail, indicating the coverts are probably unstreaked and this is a Cooper's. Also, an immature (1st year) goshawk would appear darker and the streaks on the breast darker and more numerous. Based on all that gibber gabber, I am going with first-year Cooper's Hawk. 1st year NOGO showing undertail coverts. See another link below. Images are not mine but from pbase on the internet. BN Here is a link that might be useful: