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.

"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

I just saw the Woodcock again today! It is just chilling in the area by my ponds. I was standing on the rocks by the pond looking around, wondering where he was and stuff and there he was! about ten feet from me, looking up at me. This is a great way to start a new year of wildlife watching. If you would have asked me before what an American Woodcock was, I would have guessed it to be something like a pheasant or quail, maybe. Woodcocks, though, seem to be a totally unique species. I guess you could say they are like a shorebird or a snipe, but they don't occupy the same niche or habitat. I also read that they sustain themselves almost entirely one earthworms! I will admit that whenever it hit the window I, and I still did know what it was, thought that I may be having quail for dinner if the bird had expired from the crash. This guy though is too unique, rare to me, and way too friendly looking to eat. It is now my favorite inhabitant of the gardens. I was worried that he may have been injured and the coons would find him in the night. This morning I thoroughly inspected the area where he was, I found some white bird squirts, but he was no where to be found. I think I am gonna try to get some more pics, but I don't want to disturb him too much. He has been returning though all this week whenever I have stirred it. Catherinet, have you ever seen them doing there arial dance or arial mating acrobatics, or anybody else? I have seen the tumbling pigeons to similar displays, and as a kid I remeber seeing something like this, but I have no idea what it was.

Have you actually seen the figure of some kind of bird in your tree? If not, I'd go with the frog/toad idea too. We have lots of them around here and they typically start up when it's about to get dark. Ours give just one "quaaaaack" at a time.