"He said I should feel comfortable buying citrus from any accredited National firm or grower, they have all been inspected, but it would be a good idea to shy away from eBay for citrus trees." I could not agree more. And given all the problems in Florida, I would not buy from there at all. There are good nursery producers in every citrus region. Buy locally from established, licensed nurseries and you will have far less problems. I know all of this was upsetting but imagine how the citrus growers felt when a disease was brought into CA many yeas ago, and all the citrus growers (and local back yard trees) were wiped out. all their trees died. That disease was brought in on Meyer lemon, which is why all Meyer being sold now is now Meyer Improved, it has been cleaned of the disease. I know it's fun to raise lots of kinds. I have over 40 verities here at my home. All purchased from certified, licensed nurseries. It only takes one seed, or one budding, or any bit of a citrus tree to devastate all our trees. Thanks for cooperating with the Feds. I know it's hard to loose your tree, but if it saves all our trees, then it is for a good reason. Thanks again Arthur

There are some birds that lay their eggs in another birds nest. The Cuckoo, Cowbird, Whyda, Honeyguide and Black-headed Duck come to mind. "These birds, called brood parasites, lay their eggs in another bird's nest and let the other bird parents feed and raise their chicks. The "egg abandoner" is then free to mate again and lay more eggs in another nest. The cuckoo is the best known brood parasite and an expert in the art of cruel deception. Its strategy involves stealth, surprise and speed. The mother removes one egg laid by the host mother, lays her own and flies off with the host egg in her bill. The whole process takes barely ten seconds. Cuckoos parasitize the nests of a large variety of bird species and carefully mimic the colour and pattern of their own eggs to match that of their hosts. Each female cuckoo specializes on one particular host species. How the cuckoo manages to lay eggs to imitate each host's eggs so accurately is one of nature's main mysteries."

Yep. That's a Limpkin. Another nice shot. I really would like to know what set-up you are using to get these pics. Ging

Doctorant We many cattle egrets down here. And when they are in breeding plumage, they are just beautiful. Here is a little information on them. Connie Hagar was a noted ornithologist in Aransas County, Texas arriving here in 1935 and died here in 1973. She was very well respected by many ornithologist, including Roger Tory Peterson. In 1952 or 1953 she identified a cattle egret on Mustang Island which was considered the first here in Texas, but it stayed for only a few days. Then by 1956 cattle egret reappeared on Mustang Island. And today, we have them all over south Texas.