Hi every one! Can you believe it? I still cannot believe my luck and I was there!!! Again while on my way to work this morning there was someone white and *quite* chunky looking flying across the road. I pulled over, backed up a bit, and admired a stunningly beautiful snowy Owl perched on top of a utility pole. This one was much larger than the first Owl I had seen and was more heavily barred. The barring seemed darker / black. I believe this Owl was a female as her face, nape of the neck and center of the breast were white. From what I was able to research that does describe the female snowy. Maybe this was an immature but I did not find much description of them. Any way ... I am 113% sure this was another Snowy Owl! What a wonderful start to the day! As my luck would have it, I did not have my camera in the car for the past week. Had the camera been there then for sure the Owl would NOT! LOL! So that was a great start to the day. I was 20 minutes late to work but work is just soooo over-rated. LOL! The rest of the day was downhill but who cares? I saw another Snowy Owl! The Owl was about 1 mile south of the earlier sighting on Rt. 83 in N. Ridgeville again. C3D and 2 Snowy sightings this year!

Glad you found out what it was - the spots fooled me because every hermit thrush I've seen has been much more heavily spotted. Maybe local variations come into play here, or perhaps a young bird ??? FTM, your photos are wonderful. I feel like I can reach out and touch your bloodroots. The second to last one with the fern(???) coming up out of the dried leaves is a great shot. I did notice your bloodroots seem to have double blooms compared to mine. I can't believe your hepatica has already bloomed, I hope I didn't miss mine blooming. I actually used the Roundup concentrate on the cut ends of the honeysuckle and that didn't do it, and didn't help much at the local park which is what they did too. I've thought about cutting it down to a manageable size and spraying the leaves with roundup and then covering it with black plastic bags (which is what I had to do to get rid of some english ivy) but it will be tough to get very far that way considering how much I have. I have been digging some of it and then planting a bush in it's place but it's not feasible to do that with much of it. I am also hesitant to do too much until fall considering how many birds nest in the thickets. Too bad the emerald ash borer doesn't like honeysuckle instead ... big SIGH. That weed wrench looks like a handy tool though, and if it doesn't disrupt the ground as much as digging the bushes up than it might help in preventing new seedlings. I had a major explosion of gold finches this weekend. I stopped counting at 100 - they were fighting over the feeders so bad I did some serious ground feeding. And I think every one of them was singing and chirping, it was incredibly loud. And alot like the peepers, they would all suddenly stop and then one would start, and another and then all of sudden they would all be at it again. Very cheerful on a cold spring day. Also had 5 purple finches, all females and perhaps a young male just starting to show some color. And had a dozen chipping sparrows and three field sparrows, they make the fox and white-throateds look like giants! I was really hoping that I would get Number 100 this weekend with the cold weather but I guess I will have to keep watching.

My mom had one like (or very similar to) your second variety with the flat leaves, when I was a child. I think she got it from my great grandmother. Mom had it for years & years before it ever bloomed. And OMG how excited she was. All the neighbors had to come over to look & oogle. It bloomed several times & quite prolifically after that first time when there were only 1 or 2 blossoms. I remember the fragrance was quite heavy and it had such a beautiful flower. The plant itself was rather ugly, large & unwieldy, having to be moved out/indoors with the changing seasons. None of us children was interested in taking it when my mom moved out of the house after dad died. So it was tossed. Your picture brought back good memories of my childhood. Thanks!

Jane, I'm glad that my simple words gave you comfort. The approaching evening might be a difficult time for you -- it often is for those recently (within years) bereaved. And with dusk, those birdies leave for the night -- except, do you ever notice how the cardinals are often the last to call it a day? And in the summer, those hummingbirds also come after dusk as well. Hold on, Jane. Take all the time you need and grieve how you need. Be gentle with yourself on this awful rollercoaster trip. Time does temper the heartache, but before that, it seems to take forever to find release from the crushing loss. (A friend once described the pain of grief as being also physical pain for its intensity.) But, even if someone has a miracle pill, it wouldn't really help hasten what needs to take time, reflection, remembering and tears. But remember that you are not alone in many other ways. Words are inadequate, but it's all many of us can offer. We need to offer as much as you might need to receive. Claire, I meant to tell you how much I loved those turkey shots. Beautiful. I used to have turkeys milling about, but not so much in the past couple of years. I'm curious what they are looking for on the ground (to eat?). Do you put corn or seed out for them? I just love wild turkeys. Seeing them feels like "everything's gonna be just fine" even if the world seems crazy from one week to the next. One late afternoon I got to watch a group of them fly up into a tall oak and settle in. I don't know if they stayed there all night or only until Leno was over. Susan, love those goldfinches, but you're are so yellow only their hairdresser knows for sure.