So...yesterday, I heard THE mockingbird! The way he changes sounds so quickly, I'm not really thinking he's the mystery bird now. Especially since the mystery bird makes his one sound over and over. Catherine, it's a monotone, for sure. It's usually 2 "teets", separated by a pause, then many "teets" in a row before pausing and starting over. It appears to be speeding up, but now my memory is fading. It's been so long since I've heard it as close to the house as it was the first 2 days. It's a strong sound, not very high pitched, just solid. I have absolutely nothing to compare it to, so I'm sorry for the vague descriptions! As I mentioned earlier, the tempo of the song of the vermilion flycatcher is VERY similar, albeit it's MUCH more high-pitched than the mystery bird's. (I just listened to the song on the Cornell site, and it sounds nothing like the vermilion song in my book - "The repeated territorial song of the male Vermilion Flycatcher!" Ack!) DH did say the bird was a tad smaller than our scrub jays. He said the tail appeared black on the top with "some white underneath"....although trying to view anything against the harsh glare of the sky is NOT very accurate. LOL Thanks for continuing to try, ladies!! The wind is here until Friday, so I may not get another chance to see it until then. :( Brenda

Oh it doesn't sound good, I think it's unusual for a goose to be by itself. The geese here are just beginning to flock for migration. According to BNA ... "Breeders are monogamous, with life-long pair bonds formed usually during the second year. Offspring remain with their parents throughout the first year of life, traveling together in large flocks of family groups" Their diet ... "Canada Geese depend primarily on grasses, sedges, or other green monocots during periods of increase in lean body mass, primarily the growth period in summer (Sed-inger and Raveling 1984) and spring premigration and migration periods (McLandress and Raveling 1981a, Coleman and Boag 1987a). Postfledging and during fall and winter, most populations rely pri-marily on foods higher in carbohydrate, such as berries (Sedinger and Raveling 1984) or seeds, including agricultural grains (Joyner et al. 1987). Almost all populations of Canada Geese have readily adapted to use of agricultural crops, which predominate in diets of most populations during portions of annual cycle in which they are available. Canada Geese, primarily B. c. maxima and B. c. moffitti, have also become ac-climated to urban environments, in which they graze on domesticated grasses throughout the year (e.g., Conover and Kania 1991)." Also, according to BNA, not all flocks migrate, some stay in the same area as they breed. The map shows all of California as their wintering grounds. Sandy, I'm not sure if the dogwoods here were affected or not. I don't remember hearing about it but it could be. I believe that dogwoods here are not as prolific as the redbuds, nothing like the dogwoods that I remember in Virginia as a kid. I do have elm trees here, although they are young trees - I'm hoping they are related to the elm trees that were found just 40 miles from here that are dutch-elm-disease resistant and have now been cultivated. The birds seem to like the elms, ecspecially the warblers. I am worried about the ash borer getting here, my woods are full of ash with two large ones that shade the house. I will be very unhappy if I lose them!

Well, there are stupid people everywhere, and people who manage to be stupid about everything! Mind you the PNW is guilty for creating some of its own myths. My parents had one close friend who was into gardening. I remember in the late 80s they took a big trip to the west coast after their son moved to San Francisco. I was just getting into gardening there and he said to me "David, you wouldn't believe the roses at Butchart Gardens. And do you know what, they told us they don't even have frosts in the winter." I was skeptical of that at the time, and consulted my trusty World Book encylopedia LOL. Anyhow I can imagine the PNW once seeming remote - that's the reason the likes of David Lynch set Twin Peaks there - but I don't think it seems that way as much anymore in these internet connected times. it is after all the secondary silicon valley. (OTOH my Mom jokes that my brother who lives in Seattle was trying to move as far away as possible LOL) I will say one thing that struck me driving south from Seattle to LA was that after the Willamette Valley, that highway _really_ clears out. In the middle of the day, headed south through southern Oregon, it was mostly logging trucks, some RV/campers, but really desolate. Very very little "just people in cars" traffic. In comparison the whole of the I95 corridor from Boston to Florida is busy all years, all days. Even in the less dense sections there are people on the move for whatever reason. In southern Virginia on 95 it's nothing at all to see New Jersey and NY license plates. I've been at a gas station near here and run into some kids from the Boston area driving to South Carolina to go to the beach. OTOH, it seems like for a Seattle area person to even drive to the Bay Area is rather rarer...and LA would be like driving to another country LOL. I don't think there's anything like the mass exodus to/from Florida which happens on the east coast. Just in my definitely middle-class neighborhood...in this county (most northeasterly in Maryland) but not even on the water...I know of a couple older families that winter in Florida.

@Aidan Creekmore yes it's that last picture... I think your sixth. Landed right in front of me and just sat there staring at me on the deck. I quitely got up and went into the house though I wanted to run and screen just like that 10 year old post. Sprayed cutter waited. It left because my bird reflector tape moved so I am back out on the deck nervous trying to enjoy the sun here in Georgia. Lol. Should I worry?