I think it is a cottontail. It has the white tail. Some of them get quite large if they mange to live long enough. Your baby is just darling! I feel sorry for rabbits sometimes - so defenseless and everyone looking to eat them!

I had one other person on Name That Plant (and she is good too) also say she thought it might be a Ninebark 'Diablo' hybrid. Fancy getting an 'all the rage' hybrid planted by the birds. I moved it already but to my butterfly garden. That is probably a mistake but I am going to let it grow tall, instead of severely pruning it like most do with Ninebark. I want to see the cool bark!

OK - a guess on your photo - a close-up of the 'eye' on a luna moth wing?

I didn't realize barn owls were so elusive! I will cherish ours even more so now. :)

Ooo, I can't wait to try growing the C. montana, CT! I've been having a blast starting seeds this year (my first year attempting). If there's anything on my plant list on my page here that interests you, just say the word!

Wow! I've been trying to talk my mom into getting a 'Diabolo' ninebark (since she has the room for one). They are gorgeous specimens. WTG, birdies! LOL

That's awesome that you've decided not to mow a patch of your lawn, CT! I can't wait to see what results you get from it. Giving back to nature, baby! :D

Adorable rabbits, ladies! Glad they don't much some of my plants, but I love seeing them scatter while walking down the dirt road early in the morning. Ours are pretty white, from what I can tell, not "little nut brown" like yours.

We saw one of those towhees up in the foothills not TOO far from here, Sockmonkey. They are beautiful birds! So chunk-style! :D

Whoa, whatever is in that pic is so hairy! LOL The marking looks like a lipstick kiss and a chin dipped in chocolate. Don't ask me why that looks familiar. LOL

Brenda

Sockmonkey, I totally missed your post! We have a pair of towhees - I love his song and he sings all summer. I don't get to see them much in the summer, he's always in the top of the trees while she's slaving away feeding the young. They come to the feeders in the winter but just occasionally in the summer. They are great yard birds!

CT, you are right, it's a lunar moth. Found him yesterday and it was a cool day so he was not very active. Did you know lunar moths don't have mouths? They only live for about a month, they mate and then die. What a life!

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Today I had a pair of grosbeaks, a different male this time, his "koolaid spill" was larger than the last one. The female wouldn't come to the feeder though. And I had a female bluebird! Nowhere near the nest box though or the house. Since they have typically started nesting by now, I hope she is nesting close by and I get another look at her.

CT, I have one of the diablo ninebarks and my leaves are more burgundy than that, and will look almost black after they leaf out completely. And supposedly they are only supposed to get 5 - 6 feet tall, I hope so or I will be moving another bush.

So maybe someone can id this bush/tree. It's a wild one, don't know if it is native or not. It is tall, at least 25 feet but has a bushy habit. Funny I've never noticed it blooming until this year.

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That lunar moth is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!!! Oh, my goodness. I would love to see one of those in my yard!

The blooms on that tree look SO familiar, Jean, but I just can't place them. Hopefully I'll recall after someone posts the name. :D

Congrats on the bluebird! Yet another one I'd love to see in my lifetime.

Brenda

Jean - the tree is a Prunus serotina (Black Cherry) and they are blooming right now. Major great bird tree. Make sure however the leaves cannot fall where pets or domestic lifestock (those that eat leaves) can eat it as it turns into a cyanide substance when mixed with stomach acid and becomes toxic as hell. Wilted leaves are the culprit. The seed is also toxic, but not to birds.

The moth is called a Luna moth (not lunar). Wikipedia has a good page about them. I used to see them more often as a child when they would fly at night around the street lamps. I've not seen one in a good while but we do get them here. One of my favorite moths because they are so huge and luminous.

I've been looking at Ninebark cultivars, various photographs, and in most of them, the Diablo, you are correct, the leaves look almost black. My leaves look more like a hybrid called Coppertina, but it is most likely a mutt I suppose, a crossbreed maybe from cultivated and wild parentage perhaps. In any case, if a bird planted it, that means a bird ate a berry, so it is a birdfood source plant.

Congrats on the bluebird! If a pair takes your box they will return to it. My box used to face north and had an open area in the front and sides and woods behind it. They bred for 3 years before a squirrel or woodpecker chewed or pecked a bigger hole in the front.

All you ever wanted to know about Black Cherry and then some! I have a really big one that is covered in blossoms right now. It is about 100 feet tall. Lots of mid-range trees and enough seedlings sprouting everywhere to sink a battleship! It is native in Ohio.

Here is a link that might be useful: Prunis serotina - Wild Black Cherry

While at work yesterday, DH spotted what turned out to be a male great-tailed grackle! Oh, how I wish I could have been there to see it, too! He said, "It was making all of these crazy sounds." So I looked it up on Cornell, and its voice is awesome!!

DH said he'd take me to the place on one of his days off. It's right in or near a subdivision with a fenced in large pond with reeds. I sure hope I get to see that grackle soon!

Brenda

Here is a link that might be useful: GT grackle on Cornell

Check out his tail - you could paddle a boat with that thing! I think it's great your husband is interested in birds too. My husband will come look when I yell for him to come see something but he would never notice any other birds.

I just had to sign on from work because I am so excited - I have a pair of BLUEBIRDS!!!!! Both of them were collecting grass, I didn't see them go to the nestbox because it was out of view but they headed that way! I am so excited, I feel like a kid at Christmas. And now, back to work ...

Funny you should mention paddle a boat. There is a crackle called the Boat-tailed crackle that is supposed to have a huge tail too. I've never seen one live. Congrats on your find.

Settle down Jean.... LOL Yippee, hurray, this calls for a celebration! Hoot and toot toot toot! Confetti in the air!!! Wait until you sneak a peak at the babies:-)

Yeah, DH said he thought of me when he saw the bird! Awww! :)

Awesome about the bluebirds, Jean!!!! Oh, what a lovely sight that must have been!

I love this time of year -

4:45am - Western kingbirds start their chirping, probably excited about all of the bugs the 90+ degree weather has harvested.

5:15am - Robins proclaim today another beautiful day, and describe the first worm as "extremely delicious!"

5:25am - All other birds in the vicinity chime in with cries of joy as their eggs hatch and little ones begin begging for num-nums.

Brenda

That's 4:45 on Ohio time right??? I think I'd be throwing rocks at anything that early! But it sounds wonderful!

Bluebirds are still around! They haven't discovered the mealworms yet but the titmice and chickadees are enjoying them.

We had our roof cleaned today so I had to take all the feeders down to be sure they didn't get sprayed. Those poor, silly birds! They were all over the place looking for their breakfast. I figured it was a good time to get them bleached so I put them out in the yard to dry where they were in no danger of getting sprayed and the poor birds were hopping all over the place trying to figure out this new arrangement. As soon as the workers left, I refilled and hung them back up and they were much happier campers!

I am going to stop feeding the birds because squirrels are getting killed coming from afar to eat at my feeders. In the past I'd see one in the road, but EVERY day now for a week, on a road outside my community, but as the crow flies, a straight line to my yard, a dead squirrel in the road, squished by a car. I know these are not the squirrels resident to my small piece of woods, but others coming in from other nearby woods to feast on the goodies in the feeders. I don't feel right about it, so the only way to prevent it is to stop feeding everybody and have the wildlife rely only on the plant life I can provide.

Ah CT, that is heart breaking. But honestly I don't think you are making it worse. From what I read, their territory can be from 1 - 7 acres depending on food availability and by providing them with food, you have essentially allowed them to exist in a smaller territory. The larger the territory the more chance of danger so in actuality you are helping them. And even if you don't feed them, they are going to visit your yard but will just spend less time there and more time roaming.

Please don't give up feeding the birds and critters, I know it seems that we do it for our own pleasure but it does help them too - you know how much more activity there is at the feeder on rainy or snowy days. It's a tough world for the birds and the animals and they need all the help they can get.

LOL! I do get up early, Jean, so I'm probably the one waking up the birds. :D

I feel guilty when I'm out of town, and the feeders don't get filled (*pointed look at DH*), so I know how you felt about the poor darlings waiting for clean feeders.

CT, I hope you don't have to give up on all of your visitors! My folks don't feed ANYthing in their yard (ok, hummers), but a few years back, the amount of dead squirrels on their street was insane! They live in a rural-ish area on just over an acre, with an open field next door.

Unfortunately, humanity happens, and my folks still have to helplessly watch people speeding up and down their (dead-end) street. The squirrel deaths stopped since that one year, though, so maybe it's an abundance cycle thing?

Brenda

Thanks Jean, what you said makes sense. If only those jerks that go 70mph on a 30mph road would slow down, and BRAKE for animals much of this could be prevented too. I don't get people that just keep on charging full speed ahead when there is a bird, mammal, turtle, snake or frog in the road. This road has become a cut through for people that don't live on it at all. The county police use it whenever there is an accident, on either of the two main roads it connects to at each end, and this road has nothing but wooded yards and houses on much of it, and just thick woods on the other half (although they are tearing much of that down right now to build more houses). But, because it is residental the speed limit is 30mph.

But, now that people know they can get through (thanks to police redirects due to these same jerk speeders all hitting each other more on the main roads) the traffic is getting huge and they all fly like they really have somewhere important to go (which they don't). Just self-important, non-caring, inpatient people that go 70+mph everwhere they go because THEY are SO special, the hell with everyone and everything else. Over half of them are also on their cell phones (but don't get me going about that!). I am just sickened by it all and it is going to get worse, not better. This is why I like animals better than most people! In general, there are way to many ignorant, self-centered people out there driving tanks for cars and plowing down anything in their path.

I need to move to a small farm in the boondocks where I don't have to deal with the rat race that is happening as suburbia spreads and creeps like a virus, fracturing the land and paving it over. Do we really need one more Jiffy Lube? One more tanning salon? One more huge parking lot where nobody parks? Environmental groups have already proven the St. Mary's watershed is being negatively impacted by the amount of impervious surface as of several years back, but the good ol' boy commisioners keep letting builders build (payola). The schools are too crowded, the roads inadequate, but come on down and build another house and another shopping strip. It' disgusting the blanant environmental violations that go on. Silt in the waterway, paving near the Bay. It's criminal IMO.

Unfortunately urban spread is inevitable. And in reality, the new trend for smaller lots is really a good thing, although it would drive me nuts. The real problem are the people with acreage, and yes that includes me. If we all lived in condos with shopping close enough to walk we would be doing the environment a big favor. I would like to see developers start offering earth-friendly developments where landscaping is done with wildlife in mind and there are covenants that protect them which includes no chemicals. I don't know if I will ever be able to return to the city but I know it is selfish of me.

And my bad news tonight is that my nest box is empty. I last saw the pair of bluebirds on Wednesday but hadn't seen them the last few days. I am disappointed but hopeful that they are nesting close by and I will get to see them again.

The good news is that the orioles have returned, despite the amount of trees that my neighbor cleared. They were in the top of my red maple this morning. Still not interested in my oranges though. The only summer regulars that I haven't seen this year are the tanagers.

Thanks Jean. You are right. I live in an area that is designated as the place to concentrate the building. It is still a rude shock once they finally started though - I've been here 10 years this month and no building in the woodlands that surrounded me (100's of acres of woodlands) and now the dozers are tearing it all down so the builders can stick a Bradford Pear on each lawn. But, concentrated development is the correct way to protect habitat (provided they do it - and actually protect the habitat).

I'm not sure I totally agree you living on acreage is bad as you don't rip everything out to grow lawn turf. What is with the American preoccupation with lawn turf anyway? It is a man thing IMO - who can have the thickest, greenest lawn. How many women do you see out there with a level, after mowing and edging and blowing (the power tool thing:-)

On the bright side today (sorry to be such a bummer) I saw a beautiful pair of Gray Catbirds! I don't see them often. They were at the tube feeder which I dumped the last of my 'no waste' mix in yesterday.

I will continue to feed but I am reducing the number of feeders to 4. (one suet, one tube, one thistle sock, and one ground feeder). Ok, and the fruit:-)

And THANK YOU Brenda! I'm sorry - I didn't see your post until this morning. I must have been writing one my usual novelette length posts when you posted! It just might be a cyclic thing, but darn it, I KNOW those squirrels are headed to my house and it makes me personally feel very responsible for their death. But, Jean has convinced me to continue to help and to lessen their wandering which I know will be more dangerous. The road is a 50/50 crap shoot one time across, and wandering all over the roads and past neighborhood cats is more danger overall. It's still sad though they have to deal with stupid, mean people that have so little compassion for all the other living creatures in which we (less and less) share our one Earth.

I saw an Indigo Bunting yesterday!! I had Moonie the dog out, noticed a flash of brilliant blue and thought "that is just too blue for a bluebird", and no pinkish chest. Realized what he was, took the dog in got the camera, stood under a tree till I had to pee too bad and he just sat somewhere deeper in the woods laughing at me (I could hear him). I wanted to put his picture on here to impress you all, but the little bugger wouldn't come back out into the yard! Waaaa! Debbie

Debbie - they are pretty aren't they. I see them on the base where I work but never in my yard. They are on the shy side when I've seen them. A quick glance and they are gone. Not a big or chubby bird either. Sleek and shiny midnight blue.

The indigos are such beautiful birds! And very camera shy, I've been trying for two years now to get a good picture so I hope you do! But I did get this video, it's pretty poor but it's a riot - you need Windows media player for it, I hope you can see it, it's a hoot!

I had a pair of great-crested flycatchers this morning and I got to see the orioles! They were going for the honeysuckle, not 10 feet away from the oranges that I put out (that they are totally ignoring). Got pictures of both, but without the tripod so marginally decent. I need to do some upper arm exercises so I can hold that long lens steady when I am hand holding. I'm getting ready to start building a retaining wall so maybe hauling rocks will help :^)

Here is a link that might be useful: Indigo and the grass attack

Jean - that video cracks me up! I am still laughing no matter how many times I watch it. Good catch on video. You should put it on YouTube in the animal/bird section.

Oooh - hauling rocks - better you than me is all I can say. Shudder the thought of hauling rocks around!

That video is hilarious, Jeanner! I love the color of those guys. Yesterday I saw a little sparrow looking up at some dandelion seed heads as I watched him trying to reach them I felt sorry for him. I kept watching and that smart little rascal just started at the base of the plant and walked up the stem so it lay down on the ground so he could reach it! He did it three times, so it was no accident. Smart birdie! Debbie

Great video jeanner, also the luna moth! Put a dollop of grape jelly on the orange 1/2 for the orioles.

I have 3 male and 1 female rose breasted grosebeaks now, and my neighbor has 6 pair. Also 3 baltimore oriole pairs and 2 orchard oriole pairs! Lots of color.

I've only seen an indigo bunting twice in my life. Lucky you!

Just waiting for the video to load, because it sounds like it's totally worth it. :D

You all have such colorful birdies in your yards! Not that I'm complaining about mine. I would love to see more variety, but I'll keep living vicariously through all of you. :)

That sparrow sounds adorable and hilarious, Debbie! Would have loved to see that, too. I have plenty of dandelions, so I'm ready. LOL

LOL!!!! Awesome movie, Jean! They sure are persistent little darlings. LOL

Brenda

I dunno Brenda, no one else has KESTRELS in their yards!

Debbie, I've seen the birds go after the dandelions too, it's so funny when half the seeds stick to their heads.

I've been working on a new website for my bird pictures (since, oh, about January!). I wrote this one to be dynamic so all I have to do is upload the picture and it automatically gets added to the website. Makes maintenance much easier! Anyway, if anyone would like to help me by testing it for me I'd really appreciate it. I've tested on a few different browsers but not all. The "Favorites" link is the only link that is currently working. On the favorites page you can click on any thumbnail to see the full sized picture or click on the link for the slideshow. You have to have pop-up blockers turned off to work.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bird Gallery

WOW jeanner, That's fantabulous! Gave me a few names that I couldn't identify like the black and white warbler. Someone "borrowed" my North American bird book and I haven't seen it since. Didn't get a replacement for Mommie's Day either. I have so many Goldfinchs it looks like a lemon tree when they come to the feeder in the tree. Debbie

It works GREAT, Jean! I've had your bird files bookmarked for quite some time (because sometimes, I crave a white-breasted nuthatch on my desktop...:D), but this is even better, being able to see them all in thumbnails!

Oh, how I LOVE "mad robin"!!! LOL

(And you're right about the kestrels. I'll stop whining now. LOL)

Brenda

Glad the website worked, anyone using IE 7? I haven't tried it yet so I don't know if it will work with it.

Okay, the dollop-of-jelly on the oranges is being ignored too. The ants are having a feast though. I think the orioles are just laughing at me :^(

I did have a small flock of waxwings in my crabapple tree, I think they were going for the tent caterpillars - go baby go! I usually don't see them until the cedar berries ripen in the fall so it was a treat to see them again.

Heres a couple of pics ... I never realized before how short their tales were!

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If you can't see the pics, try again later - I still don't have email and now my website is going up and down. Needless to say after a week of this cr@p, I am moving to a new host, PRONTO!

I'm using IE7, Jean, with no problems.

The goldfinches have thinned out considerably here since last month, when I took the pic below. The wind was flat crankin', so most of them chose to eat on the ground. This was about half the amount of birds actually on the ground, but it was hard to focus my camera with so much action going on. :D I can only imagine how "lemony" your tree looked, Debbie!

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Jean, cedar waxwings are my favorite big birds trapped in little bodies! Because I didn't get such a good look at the ones that visited my yard, I can use your pics for gazing. :) So beautiful!

I thought I spotted the oriole out at the creek the other day, but....it was so fleeting. I'm going to try more jelly, though, just in case.

Brenda

Jean - that Cedar Waxwing looks like it is missing it's tail. They are not that short unless it is just the angle of the photograph playing tricks. The tail should come out beyond the longest wing feather by about an inch.

BTW - love the website Jean (I use IE7)

Brenda - love the Goldies! I like the mad Robin too Brenda and did you see Papa Smurf has a place too. Jean - how do we know Papa is a Papa and not a Mama Smurf? Have you see Smurfy at all yet?

CT - you are so right! After comparing it to other pictures, the waxwing in the second picture is definitely missing it's tail. From other pictures of the first one, the tail is there just not showing in that picture. Poor thing, but appears to be doing okay and not being shunned by the other birds. Wonder if it will grow back.

As for PapaSmurf, he has not reappeared. But he and about 8 other jays disappeared about the time when territorial fights started. I still have 6 resident jays. Hopefully in the fall when the territory fights are over I will get to see him again. And no, I don't know if he is a he, but PapaSmurf was the only smurf with white hair and beard so thus, the nickname!

Brenda, that is one tight flock, those would be sardine finches!

look at all the featherd bumble bee colored birds! i am blessed with 2, count them, 2, goldfinches. oh, i did have their young ones later last year. it took about 2 years of hanging thistle seed to get these guys.

on another note, since i stopped ground feeding i never get juncos anymore in winter :(

instead of my usual resident bumblebees, i have starlings nesting in my shed wall. hmmm. wonder if the bees will ever be interested again b/c i'll bet the starlings will want to use the same place next year. until we got a new mailbox, we used to have a pair trying to build a nest in there every spring (it never shut right and they would open it up).

Jeez! That flock of Goldfinches was amazing, Brenda! I thought I had a gang! My Indigo Bunting is getting brave. Instead of hanging at the edge of the woods, he actually came to the the feeder by the pond and sat for a little short time on the shepard's hook till I called my daughter to come quick and he took off. This morning one of my resident (for summer) hummingbirds came to the porch to feed and its one leg is mangled and hanging straight down and floppy. Poor little girl, what could almost catch a hummer I wonder? Im getting so many different woodpeckers at the thistle seed feeders now, I wonder if it's because they timbered in back of our house a good bit? Must be, huh?

Hummingbirds are so small they get hunted by frogs, birds, and even preying mantis, not to mention any regular predator that might catch them like a neighbor's cat. Hopefully the leg will just fall off and heal cleanly and the bird should adapt. Life will not be as easy though.

I stopped the suet and my woodpeckers are hitting the tube type. I've noticed a general decline in food being taken from all feeders except those most accessible to the squirrels and pesty grackles/starlings. Finches (gold and house) are doing fine on the thistle socks and other very small perch feeders. I have two pesty starlings out front that bang into the feeders trying to perch, thereby spilling all the food onto my front porch. Grrrr.....

All - I have some seed heads harvested from the Mountain Bluets. I am not certain I harvested at the right time or not, but the heads were mostly dried up and have been sitting on a paperplate drying further. Time to send you addys to 123susan58@tqci.net

I had no idea that woodpeckers would go to a thistle feeder! Luckily my starlings have left for the fields so my suet is lasting longer now. And suprising, my wood thrush is scavenging the bits that fall to the ground. I wish I could figure out a way to get close for a picture but there really isn't a good way without scaring it off.

Sockmonkey, how sad about the hummingbird. I would call a rehabber, they might want to come out and try to net it and see what can be done. I would think it would have a really hard time surviving .... but then I have a bullfrog with a missing front leg and he's 4 years old.

Have you seen the female indigo bunting yet? They look very similar to a house finch but they are a very warm brown color with a touch of blue on the wings and they have the distinctive dark upper bill. Very dull compared to the male but still a pretty bird. I had two tonight foraging in the slippery elm but the male was no where to be seen.

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CT, I would love some seeds - can you save some for me until I get my email straightened out?

A little off topic, but the cedar rust has bloomed. They start out as a hard, brown gall that is about 1" and when they bloom, they expand into these balls that can be bigger than a tennis ball. They look like oranges hanging on the tree. After a few days, they shrink and dry up. Occassionally we see little puffs of smoke coming out of the tree when they release their spores. A really strange fungus!

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Cometose, The squirrels beat up our feeders and shake them dry it's all day chasing them off and they don't go far, just sitting in the tree watching and laughing till we walk away. It looks like the leg on the little hummer will fall off, I keep watching for her and she is still feeding well. Our cardinals are coming less and the Blue Jays have gone back deeper into the woods, but those Woodpeckers, I have never seen so many. They rap on the feeder, but they pick out the thistle too and really seem to enjoy it.
I didn't know they liked thistle seed either til this year, JEANNER, YES I've seen the female Indigo now that you've shown me what she looks like! She is around more often than the male. I'd like to know which of the brats around here disappeared my bird book! Grrrrrr. There are a lot of Red Winged black birds at the feeders too, but mostly foraging on the ground.

Ohhh, the poor hummer! I hope she makes it, whether by survival alone or by rescue.

We had a scrub jay visit in late winter/early spring with what looked like fishing line around it's neck. It kept trying to swallow food....heartbreaking. I tried to sneak up and catch it, but it flew away. The poor thing never returned. I just wanted it to stop suffering.

We've had some VERY aggressive jays this year, and I've caught them silently (spooky!!) raiding house sparrow nests in a birdhouse and under the eaves. I almost chased them off, but...nature has its way, I guess.

The kestrels have been doing a lot of screaming, so I hope they're all safe back there. Not much singing from our resident starlings lately, though. I think the competition is too much for them. :)

Jean, that cedar rust is incredible!! Is it a terrible thing to have, or...? I've never seen anything like it. Maybe a faint memory of you mentioning it before, but that picture is so amazing!

I LOVE the smooching sounds of the red wings! I always smooch back at them. LOL

Brenda

Cedar rust is bad for fruit trees. I've never seen it bloom though. Jean - post that one on the Name That Plant - they will get it but at least it is interesting. Someone posted an Elegant Stinkhorn the other day.

I can save the seeds. They are still flowering and I am picking the dried flowers and they keep blooming. They are even blooming around on the side of the house at least 60 feet away from where I first planted them. Brenda, they may be the first plants in your yard to self seed (but not sure about your zone for longevity) but who knows.

I see my pair of catbirds every day. Blue Jays are abundant. One cute thing I saw was a Mom Downy woodpecker that brought a young one to the feeder. They sat side by side and the Mom crushed up some nuts and fed the baby. I do need to buy more suet. I've been out for a week!

I have 5 of those rabbits in and around my woods and gardens and my neighbor across the street has baby rabbits. I also think I have a mole or two (that is a first for my property). I found two places that have openings and tossed up soil with a raised tunnel between them. It could be a shrew but I'm not sure if they dig tunnels like that. I LOVE the wildlife of all kinds - even the moles!

The pond has toad eggs in it so now I can't vacuum the bottom like I wanted to. Last year those tad poles seemed to stay in the pond for a month - then I never saw any baby toads??? I don't have many toads this year. Only a few 'screamers' last week, but they did manage to mate. Last summer I had 40 screamers at once (what a loud noise that was!).

All of my bullfrogs, but two, have taken off. They do that sometimes and then come back. Droopy is gone - he is the one I pulled the baby bird out of his mouth and it was dead so I put it back and he ate it, but I injured his mouth doing that and it droops on one side, hence the name. I won't do that again no matter what. I felt bad though because the Mom sparrow kept lining up her babies on the edge of the pond to feed them. NO NO NO!!! Sort of glad the monster frogs have departed for a while as long as they are safe in water I have nearby (stream, pond and swampy wetland) that are in traveling distance.

I'm hoping you got my email about the seeds, CT. I never know these days if mail will get sent or not. It looks like the plant should be ok for most of the zones (and microclimates) here in Cali. I sure hope it does well, since those flowers are some of the most gorgeous I've ever seen.

My mom's been getting a lot of mole activity at her house lately, too. No damage yet, but there's always the ability for ankle snappage, especially for a klutz like me. :D

Wildlife this time of year is so wonderful, with all of the young'uns and other critters taking advantage of youth. :) and :(...but mostly :)

Brenda

Brenda, seeds are mailing out tomorrow in the am. I put several hundred in there. I hope they sprout. I am not a seed collector either but they fell from the seed heads naturally after drying out a few days. Lots of new blooms still coming on the plants and I've saved several hundred seeds for Jean too for when her email comes back up.

Remember, established plants don't like to be transplanted (it can be done but they wilt horribly in a few minutes) so I would germinate the seeds in peat pots and bury the whole pot once you get a good sized seedling. I would also try a direct sow to see how that works.

They like moist, well drained soil (doesn't every plant just about - LOL). They will wilt if they don't get some water every week, so a Cali drought with brown grass in the hills will do them in! I thought I remember their hardiness going down to Zone 2 or 3 (so Zone 10 might cook them).

Brenda - According to the below link they should do fine in Zone 10. My plants wilt without some water every so often, but they are tough plants and self seed easily. The link also says they are drought tolerant, but more robust in the northern part of their range. I'm Zone 7 and we get rain year round. I have them in a well-drained raised bed with amended soil and full sun. I've not noted running stolens. They can be pulled out easily by hand when young or with a shovel if a big clump.

Once established I think they become more drought tolerant.

Here is a link that might be useful: Centaurea montana

Cedar rust requires two hosts - anything in the apple family and the cedar family. After the gall from the cedar tree releases it spores, it grows on the apple trees which release their spores to form new cedar galls. I planted three crabapple trees which are supposed to be cedar-rust resistant, they still get a little fungus on them but not enough to really hurt them.

CT - I was thinking blue-eyed grass! I don't know what I was thinking but we call that the century plant. I have some too and yes they do reseed easily although I would not call them invasive. I found one growing in our unmowed area with the wild grass. I took them to a plant swap last year at work and one of the swappers brought plants in this year that had seeded from the plant I gave her. Mine are planted on a hot, dry hill and do fine.

I have moles too, lots of them! And I love wildlife too but I draw the line at moles and voles. I don't do anything to repel them though, they are just a fact of life for me. A couple of years before the brood X cicada emergence they got huge! The size of large baking potatoes! Which apparently is not unusual, they start eating the nymphs in the last couple of years before the emergence as they work their way to the top. What I hate is when I am working in the garden and all of a sudden earthworms come up out of the ground by the dozens and I can hear the mole digging his tunnel. Luckily as the soil dries out they tend to go deeper and the tunnels aren't as bad.

Back to the garden!

Thanks for the info, CT! From what the Sunset Western Garden book says (which has more detailed zonage than the typical USDA), I'll probably have to give C. montana regular water always, since they do prefer full sun, even here.

I'm definitely going to start some of those inside as soon as I get them, because the plants will want to get outside in fall, right before our rains arrive, especially since they're perennial. I've been using those Jiffy peat pellets, and they've worked great on everything so far (hollyhocks and sweet peas started late this year are blooming now!). I also might try to scatter some seed in fall, as well, and see what happens. Oh, I just can't wait! :)

Jean, that is freaky about the earthworms! I've heard of that happening before, but I've never seen it. Amazing and sort of scary! LOL

Brenda

The wood thrush seems to be a regular (although not a frequent) visitor under my suet feeders. I'm just amazed as this is the first time I have ever seen it even come close to the house. I've had hermit and swainsons feed with the ground bird but never the wood thrush. I was able to get a few pictures but it was dark so all but one were blurry ...

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And the catbird is also a regular suet feeder but he always slides in under cover, steals the raisins from the suet and sneaks away.

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The great-crested flycatchers are around again this year although not as regular as the phoebe. They have such a pretty yellow breast, I'm still working on getting a front shot.

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And while I was in the back taking pictures of the catbird and the thrush, the bluebird was out on my front deck! I was disappointed to miss the photo op but thrilled to see her so close. I've been putting out meal worms but have yet to see either of them come to feed and of course I didn't have them out when she was so close. Tonight I put them on a plate directly under the power line where they typically watch for bugs in the grass but wouldn't you know they didn't show up tonight. And I am running out of meal worms!

I had a red-eyed vireo and a swainsons thrush yesterday and I also saw two different indigo buntings this weekend, one is a first year male with quite a bit of brown still. I'm still working on a picture of the male bunting, either one would be fine with me.

Great photographs Jean! Don't worry - your bluebirds will present an opportunity. Maybe you will get lucky and they will bring the whole family in for a snack!

I had this nasty old piece of half orange still up and I noticed the Downy pecking at it. It probably had fruit flies on it:-) My oriole feeder has been a bust so I am taking it down. The hummers come up to it but they can't figure out how to eat from it. Still have not found my big bag of hummer feeders I put away from last season!!

The wood thrush is so delicate and pretty! Those eyes are incredibly dreamy. :) The catbird is beautiful! It looks very sassy. LOL The fly catcher reminds me so much of our western kingbird...without the crest, of course. I've been seeing them a lot lately, which means less critters to fly inside my house. :) Love that yellow breast!

Haven't seen any woodpeckers for a while now, but I still put out the peanut butter/nut/berry combo on the crotch on the big tree. The jays and the maggies have been enjoying it in the meantime. Whenever I forget to put out new stuff, I'll see one of the jays standing in the empty area, head-tilting like crazy, as if to say, "Hmmm, did someone forget their chores today?" :D

Brenda

That is cute Brenda - a scolding Jay! That is what they do best? Do your magpies steal things?

bump for bonnie!

Gorgeous pictures everybody and the video of the indigo bunting and the grass knocked my socks off! I had the pleasure of a male visiting my yard this spring but only for a few days. I also had red breasted grosbeaks and northern orioles for a couple of weeks before they moved on. I was so excited about it my family almost couldn't stand me anymore because thats all i talked about! I had never seen them in real life before and they were sooooo beautiful! I also saw for the first time tree swallows and they were so beautiful too. It was the best spring EVER for me :-) Thanks for sharing!--------bonnie