Beautiful bird!! What a thrill to get to see the pair together. I came home today to find a mess by my driveway a mockingbird had made a nest & had at least 1 tiny baby & crow got the baby to the ground (dead)& mom/dad I don't know as lot of feathers all over, hope it wasn't my favorite 1 & hope it's is still alive. It must be a little ragged if it is. He?(I think males are only ones that sing) often sat just a few feet from me when I weeded & sang or just sat there.Haven't weeded for over a month so it's a mess out there, hope to get into better routine soon.Day by day for now. Mockingbird lets me know if birdbath is about empty by whizzing over my head, hummers do that too, if their feeder is empty. Jules, send some of those beauties my way, I would love to see them in my yard. I have seen a regular oriole drinking from my hummer feeder.Jan

Thanks. I felt blessed to have such a regal visitor but also know my dear duckies are in danger!Too bad they need to come THIS close to humans to survive. Anna we repotted some Blue goddess and gave some to two friends. One friend in Vero with a huge pond said his died.He guessed it was because he TREATED his pond with anti- growth chemicals! Ya think!!!?The ducks trim the lily pads but cannot get the flowers. I do have a photo of ducklings WALKING on them though! Funny thing is they grow best on the pond with the waterfall. There are some trying to get established in the left hand corner of the bottom pic(out of view) My mom loves the flowers! They are such a great addition!!!! And quite easy to care for! Tanya

We had several at one house we lived at, and one day, I found a wee baby one...only about 3" long...happily munching on some stinging nettles. It was so cute! Gophers are so important to the environment. They dig very deep, complex burrows that eventually become homes to many other species of animals and reptiles. And occasionally poor little dachshunds, if you read the article in the paper a couple of weeks ago. If you didn't, it had a happy ending after 3 days, thanks to a "mom" who would not give up digging until she got to her "baby." He was SIXTEEN feet deep!! Most dogs probably would not have gone down INTO the burrow to begin with, but that behavior is hardwired into dachshunds. This one apparently couldn't resist. Moral: keep your dachsies away from gopher tortoise burrows, if at all possible. If they chase something IN, they may not be able to find their way back OUT again. Marcia

That's funny that you name them. Mine are Momma, Blackie, Little Blackie and "the other one"... LOL! They don't usually bother me (even to the point that they come out to "help" when I'm raking leaves) but when they started doing the twisty thing as a pair on my pool deck - I drew the line and got out the hose! BTW - If you missed your hummer for a day, she came down south here for a quick visit - thanks for sharing! It was the first time I have seen one here.