Thank you ladies for the birthday wishes! The tree is a Nyssa sylvatica (aka Black Gum, Sour Gum or Tupelo). I have 9 of them growing on my property that were here when I bought the land. Many smaller ones have popped up since. Only a few of the big ones bear fruit. They like wet or dry woodland soil, will create groves over time, and are native to E. North America. They get non-messy blue fruit in late summer/early fall, neon red or orange fall foilage that stops you in your tracks, need no pruning unless you want to, summer leaves are deep green and glossy, and they are pest free. Down side, you never see them for sale in garden centers, but I've seen them available on-line (mostly native sites) as seedlings. You can start them from seed. (OK, does anybody want seed - if I can get it before the birds do - or maybe a small seedling, as I find them?) They are bird magnets in fruit and bee/hummingbird/nectar insect magnets in bloom. They do not grow exceptionally fast, but the wildlife value is high as a food source, if they turn out to be female trees. FTM - hope you get some great photo ops when the ice closes in - I'm excited for you (and us)! Brenda - lucky you - getting regular visits from a friendly RCKinglet! They are so pretty and like many little birds have a personality, or so it seems. Jean - those holes are huge. I've not seen them before - thanks for posting them. I wonder if any will become nest sites or are they drilling for insects and sap only? I have a pair of RBW that have drilled their nest site into the top of a broken off trunk, of what was once a double trunked oak. The big oak was hit by a small tornado or something that whipped through here a few years back and it wiped out one of the two trunks. A real big tree and so high up I can see their nest hole from afar. P.S. FTM - Yes, I agree - next poster please start a Bird Sightings 3 so it will be easier for Brenda to open quicker until the broadband fairy visits her home! I wanted to put my reply post here, rather than have it look out of context as a first post on a new thread, since I added no new photos. CT

Meldy, I agree in principle, but in summer heat of above 90F here it doesn't take long for fruits and veggies to age rapidly, and while some or even most may have been recently picked, there is no guarantee...you just have to go by looks. I'm sure I could save a small amount, but would still have to go thru produce section at the grocery for things not grown locally. I definitely agree about the bagged mixed greens...but I've learned that buying several types of lettuce greens is more than we can use and I wind up tossing half in trash rather than in salad bowl. The same is true of buying bags of potatoes...those and lettuce can't be frozen. I often do cut up carrots, onions, leeks, celery, tomatoes to freeze for soup if I have excess. Yams I cook up with brown sugar and citrus slices...freezes beautifully and it's a favorite "dessert" or snack for me....DH says I put in too much citrus rind. LOL I really should do a better job of keeping up with what's "in season" but how do I do that? But you know, even peaches picked locally are picked too early and must be allowed to ripen on counter... then must be eaten quickly or will spoil. We've decided Nectarines taste just as good and keep fresh longer...not sure where they're grown. Are Plums in season now? And Kiwis? Can you tell talking about food makes me hungry? I guess the hardest thing is trying to buy just enough of any one thing to not have it spoil and have as great a variety as possible for 2 picky eaters. I wish we liked frozen veggies as I've read they actually are better than "not quite fresh" but we had corn on the cob last night and it was so much better than the frozen! Which brings up another point: I could eat freshcorn almost every night this week but DH doesn't like the same dish 2 nights in a row...thus a few bits of this and a few bits of that have to be prepared and cooked for just 2, then tomorrow another few bits of different veggies. I often sneak leftovers into soup or salad, or eat them myself while he fixes his own dinner...lol I really envy y'all that have gardens. I should at least try to grow tomatoes as I can eat 2=3 a day when the really good ones are available. Will they be in season soon? josh

I wish I had your optimism Comettose..... It seems like all the people moving out in this direction think the countryside is a place to do all those things they weren't allowed to do in the city. (loud cars, 4wheelers, fireworks, etc.) Its getting close to impossible for people like you and me to buy country land anymore, since the farmers would rather sell it to developers. Its a real dilemma for them I suppose......sell it to another farmer for $3,000 an acre or to a developer for $20,000/ac. Then the area plan commission and the county commissioners think they are leaving a wonderful legacy by building malls and subdivisions. There is a place 8 miles south of us that was all farmland. 1,700 acres were sold to a developer who is putting in a city. The commissioners who approved this were so proud of themselves. And the people in the small town close to us are so apathetic, no one but me complained. I don't understand how people in neat little towns and rural people can only think in terms of "gee....isn't this great........a Home Depot only 5 miles away now.......and a Starbucks! .......and......." Why did they ever choose to live out here in the first place if they don't mind this "takeover"? The only terms they think of is convenience and having more and more of the same things, only closer. How do you reach those kinds of people? They are so disconnected with nature that it isn't even part of their experience anymore. Then the developers promise to make these huge parks for the masses.(after they've bulldozed the natural landscape). Developers and city officials are also trying to connect all the cities in this region with "rails to trails" paths so people can ride bikes through the countryside and see our "rural heritage". What a joke. Then they talk about building little shops all along these paths, since people "need to eat, and buy souveneirs". I really feel like an alien. No, actually.......I feel like all of them are the aliens! We have a paradise here.......and what are we doing with it?? I understand that the sole purpose of every organism on this planet is to reproduce. That's what its all about. But mankind seems to be doing it in a way that is so much more destructive than the other spieces. I'll get off my soapbox now.

I'm a Hummingbird newbie. I live just north of Buchanan, MI along the St. Joe river (Berrien County). We moved here May 18, 2009. Although there were no flowers of any type or a feeder, we had them coming up to our porch daily, from the first day. Guessing the lady who had our trailer before us, had feeders. It also looks like she may have had some planters. We went and got a feeder and within a few hours, we began seeing them steadily. They begin feeding around 7 am and continue until after 9 pm. I'd say we see one at our LONE feeder every 4 to 10 minutes, depending on the time of day. All we're giving them, so far, is a pre-mixed 'red' nectar, made by Garden Treasures, that we bought with the feeder that we attached to our trailer window. We're totally captivated by them, and have begun to put in plants we've read that they like, and are going to add more feeders, just as soon as we can afford them (We're on a limited budget). Our biggest problem is that we don't know what we're seeing. Seems we have two different types, and several of each. We can only judge by their size and length of their bills. Some are very tiny and have what appears to be a black cap. Sometimes we think we see red at their necks, but when we move it goes away, leaving us feeling it's just a reflection from the red feeder, or red nectar in the feeder. The others appear to be pretty much gray; a little lighter on their chests, although sometimes we think we see some green on their backs. Some of their bills are very short, and some quite long. I have been looking at all the sites on the web, and none seem to look like ours. Ours don't seem to have the color of those I find pics of. I'm wondering could that be due to the fact the feeder is in the shade? All I know, is we never have to wait too long to see one, and we LOVE them! Our Camera quit working, but as soon as I can get my hands on another, I will be taking some pics. Would love to know where others, especially locals, gather to discuss their little 'loved ones' and any website we can get more info on local sightings. We can't afford to go out and buy books. Getting all our plants through 'Freecycle'. Any info would be greatly appreciated, and, of course, used to benefit our 'babies'!