A picture? Well, I'm certainly an avid photographer, so I'll try. But the one I saw the other day didn't land, and I haven't seen one since. Re the European hornet, I'm in the east. And my critters had striped markings on the abdomen. But that "wasp waist" is putting me off. I recall them as having a thick, torpedo shape. Of course, I'm talking about 1991, so my memory may be a little clouded. But I tend to be observant about insects and the like. The info on the nesting habits fits perfectly. I read further and found this statement on another site: "The European hornet resembles the cicada killer wasp but is more robust." Would that mean they're thicker in appearance? This site described the nest that we saw, and said it is abandoned at the end of the year, which this one was. But it also said the European hornet grows to a length of one inch, and ours were definitely larger. No mention was made of fruit eating, which was something we observed all the time with apples rotting on the ground. The night flying and attraction to light fits as well. Do you suppose in 15 years they have grown a millimeter or two in my memory? Still, I saw one just recently, and fairly closeup, and I'm sure it was larger than an inch. The site you directed me to mentioned 1.5 inches. That might do it, so the European Hornet is a distinct possibility. I'll try to find more images...and get a photo of my own as soon as the opportunity presents itself. But honestly, I hope it doesn't. :-) Thanks! Susan

Hi Rachel, Sorry - I live in eastern Massachusetts, 7 miles north of Boston and I live in a suburb with a little wooded area bordering my backyard, and a wildlife reservation and ponds about 1/2 a mile away (I am very fortunate!). It has been very cold here the last few days and we got our first dusting of snow yesterday. I have seen different kinds of birds here within a mile of the house - woodpeckers, hawks, swans, geese, the common feeder birds, we even have a heron who flies back and forth over our neighborhood every day - so we do get a variety of birds. We definitely do have house sparrows, but these little guys I saw yesterday were not those. They were just about a solid brown from where I could see. No striping or definitive marks. They just hopped around eating stray sunflower seeds. I've gone through photos of species, both genders and juvenile appearances, on the internet and in my books, and I am not sure what this bird was. The only even remote possibilities I could come up with were: field sparrow; junco; and female indigo bunting. If you have thoughts on this I would be most appreciative. Thanks, Donna P.S. Your last set of photos was, as always, astounding. Congrats on your new lifer!

Cathy: When they mentioned " Colorful ", I think they were speaking of you, Not your Clothes. In think a lot of the women might need their Glasses adjusted. I looked in a mirror to see what they were talking about. Nothing resembles what they said about me. If I knew all this was to transpire, I could have met you 3 hours earlier. And we would have had at least 4 more pictures. David; You are right !!! I should have worn the bright Pink Bathrobe and zapped her. Funny when I came out of the Park-a-teria, I got on my cell phone and asked Cathy where she was. She said," I'm in front of Whole Food Market and I'm wearing a Bright Pink top, Where are you ???" I said look straight ahead about 20 feet. Didn't buy anything in Whole Foods, because I didn't need anything. We ate out a lot at my sister's place. I even talked my BIL into Mac Donald's for a $1 Mac Chicken. He never had one and couldn't believe what we got for $1. Even ordered some to go. That's it for now. Talk at you later. LOU

Yes indeed, my neighborhood often has "lost little pet" signs on the phone poles and I always assume a bigger critter got them (one friend watched an owl fly away with her small dog!). I always supervise my dog when out at night, and usually she only gets to go into the pool enclosure, not the whole big yard. That's partly to keep her out of a tangle with a bigger critter and partly to keep her for rousting too many bunnies, twice she's gotten the better of a bunny and I _really_ hate having to deal with that. I guess the scat was a big coon, maybe a coyote although it didn't resemble coyote poo very much. We must have a new critter around, last night something stole a large bone that the dog had left in the ivy near the house.