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.

Once again, no photos from Randy, but hopefully, I'll be able to redeem myself with some accounts of things I've witnessed and heard. :D Account #1 - While up at my folks' this weekend, Mom spotted a praying mantis on one of her plants. I then noticed that it was eating a grasshopper (YIPPEE!!). It was so cool watching it bite into the critter and chew. LOVE those mantises! THEN, some wasps that we commonly refer to as "meat bees" started taking interest in the mantis's meal. They would fly up, try to land, and get smacked away by the mantis! Its reflexes were so strong and fast, we could hear the whacking sound and see the wasps hitting the ground! At one point, the mantis even let one wasp nibble on the back end (less tender? LOL) of the grasshopper, while it continued to munch on the front. As long as the wasps didn't infringe too much on the mantis's area, everything was dandy. :D Account #2 - The barn owl has really been vocal in the early morning hours here. It seems to be on a routine of sorts, feeding, or making noise, every couple of days or three. The other morning, when the barn owl seemed to be taking a break, I heard another sound which I can only describe as a "deep, resonating" hoooOOO, hoo-hoo-hoo, repeated just like that, over and over, with breaks in between. No gutteral sounds, though. Another type of OWL?! I've tried looking for this sound ALL over the place online, but I can't seem to nail it down. When I first heard it, I thought it surely was an owl. It has that classic owl sound to it, but then again, I've never heard a "classic" owl sound in person. LOL Then, due to call descriptions in my book, I thought it might be a band-tailed pigeon, but the sounds online just don't match. However, none of the owl sounds seem to match, either! And it's definitely not one of the Eurasian collared doves (or ringed-necked turtle doves?) which have been hanging around. The sound is VERY deep and VERY resonating (almost a bass sound), and yesterday morning, DH and I heard BOTH the barn owl and this mysterious creature at the same time! I sure hope we can ID this soon....before it's gone! I'm so tempted to get a night-vision something-or-other so we can put this mystery to rest! Brenda

"I ahve to say you ladies are REALLY good, maybe we should skip to the first fall warblers???? " Ladies, we are in trouble. Check your Peterson guide on confusing fall warblers to bone up for the challenge! Actually the guide is pretty good by putting them in sub-sections by field marks and color. You can then proceed by process of elimination until you get down to the correct bird. Then check the Cornell's site for other photographs for further positive ID markers. Local variations and light in the photos make if tougher too but if you find most of key ID points it is probably that bird. According to my SMAS group the Blue Jay is considered partially leucistic, not albino, and is exhibiting other feather abnormalities related to genetics. In another communication, Arlene Ripley commented that she has seen many albino birds but none have exhibited the fur-like structures of this Jay's feathers. I did some of my own research on fur-like feathers and every site pointed to something called proto-feathers which were exhibited by some early dinosaurs before true feathers emerged. It's exciting to imagine this bird may be exhibiting an ancient genetic throwback to prehistoric times which upholds the common belief that birds evolved from dinosaurs as they first took flight. There has been a call to ask everyone on the local site if there is a scientic name for this feather anomaly and this call comes from a man that works for the Smithsonian Institute and really knows birds. So far, no reponse, so the local bird community here may be stumped. There was sentiment regarding hope the bird survives. Jean, has this bird been a regular at your feeder for any length of time in which one could make the assumption it has survived nature with this variance? Arlene suggested the photo be posted on websites dedicated to leucistic and albino birds and see if more information could be obtained from readers. PapaSmurf is a rare Blue Jay indeed. CT

Oh, yes!!! I've got a Yellow-naped Amazon, Mr. Coqui, and he is the King of the Universe (just ask him, he'll tell you!) He'll also tell you when it's breakfast time, when it's dinner time, when it's time to come out to play, when the coffee machine beeps it's swan song, tell the dogs to stop barking, tell the dogs to stop when they're playing too roughly, etc. He's a riot, and a much loved member of the family, but he does take a lot of work and attention (as do my two dogs and two cats - really, I joke about having to work just to buy pet food and toys and then spend the rest my time feeding and playing with them!) Finches are a good bird to start with if you're interested in birds, because they are very self-sufficient as long as they've got room to fly, nest and amuse themselves. A flight cage is ideal. I've had birds most of my adult life, and highly second the suggestion to find a bird store locally and talk with them - it's not a high income profession, so the people that own bird stores do it for love of the species and have a wealth of knowledge and advice.