Laura, welcome to this forum! I am so thrilled to see other Okies on the Butterfly Forum. Yes, I found references to those particular hairstreaks on Lantana as well, and while I would never rule it out, it seems unlikely, too. I went back out to check the Lantana and the tiny thing had already disappeared, propably to pupate. Drat! I should have brought it in to raise, which would have been the only way to have a positive ID. They are so tiny, and their little chrysalis's are about the size of a very small coffee bean, not attached to anything like other chrysalids. Wish I had had my camera, MissSherry, but had given to daughter to use for a while. (Actually, my granddaughter wanted to use it; she's a lil camera buff). There have been a few hairstreaks in the garden, but I don't often stop to ID, or try to ID them, cuz they are so darned tiny and my eyes are not what they used to be :). Will try to pay closer attention. Laura, once again, so glad to see you here! I have been in contact with Annie, too, in SE Oklahoma, who is interested in growing milkweed for the Monarchs. Susan

That's a good idea -- and here's another side benefit: you can use it as a BB gun port for shooting squirrels!! They were driving me stark raving mad this morning getting into the bird feeders. I got so mad at one point I took my shoe off and threw it at him. Unfortunately I missed him and my shoe went in the pool! The birds are getting as annoyed as I am though. One blue jay lost his patience and attacked the squirrel this morning. The squirrel was pretty surprised.

Thanks to all for your very nice comments, We love to share our birds... it adds to our joy of them when others enjoy them also. :) jannd and glenda - We shoot with Canon S3 and S5 cameras to which we often attach a Sony 1.7x Teleconverter: These Canon models are both superceded now, but can still be found on ebay etc. We've been pleased to make some nice pictures with them, but there are many similar (and superior) cameras available from various manufacturers. I think it matters much more that the user becomes comfortable enuf with the camera's controls to be able to respond quickly when the shot presents. We shoot in Manual mode and adjust settings for each shot or series. There are just too many variables of light, and distance, and composition from shot to shot, so we can't recommend any specific setting. Generally tho: We keep the ISO setting as low as possible (to minimize noise). We use Spot metering as a guide to set our exposures to -1/3 at the brightest part of the bird. (to avoid blowing whites). We shoot in High Continuous burst mode (a very modest 2+ frames/sec on our cameras)... and usually capture several or as many frames as possible while the birds are in our viewfinder. You never know when that one lovely pose may be offered. :) Otherwise, our best advice is... Spend as much time with your birds as you can, and take a LOT of pictures of them. Getting close is paramount, and they do become accustomed to your presence after awhile. Don't be afraid to experiment, and try to understand what settings and circumstances caused the blurry, dark, blown, and out-of-focus shots you get. Learning to use your camera takes practice, and nothing will improve your photos more. Hope this is helpful. Happy birding all, Kenn

Stephen, I found the pictures on the New York bird list. I didn't see the owl myself although my daughter did she didn't have a camera though or binoculars she borrowed another birders. Here is another picture of the owl from New York bird list. I read on Pa. bird list today that it is now in a holly tree 50 yards away from original Norway spruce. Sarah Here is a link that might be useful: central park owl