🚀 go-pugleaf

On Dec 19, 1:38 pm, "David Hare-Scott" <sec...@nospam.com> wrote:
> La Nino is the boy child who comes to visit at Christmas some years and who
> takes our rain.  Here is one of the rare visitors of a La Nina year when it
> is wet.  This season makes your tomatoes and squash wilt with fungus. You
> will note the distinctive lichen which develops only during high humidity
> and constant showers, there is some on the post too.  It only lasts a week,
> already it seems she has had too much holiday spirit and some of the growth
> has fallen out.  By Sunday she will be back to her old self.
>
> http://s1086.photobucket.com/albums/j444/HareScott/
>
> Happy holiday!
>
> David

DAvid, pull yourself together!  You are slaughtering the Spanish
language.  No such thing as LA NINO.  A boy child would be EL NINO.
Then we are suddenly precipitated into LA NINA, a whole other kettle
of fish.

<VBG>

HB

On 12/19/11 1:38 PM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
> La Nino is the boy child who comes to visit at Christmas some years and who 
> takes our rain.  Here is one of the rare visitors of a La Nina year when it 
> is wet.  This season makes your tomatoes and squash wilt with fungus. You 
> will note the distinctive lichen which develops only during high humidity 
> and constant showers, there is some on the post too.  It only lasts a week, 
> already it seems she has had too much holiday spirit and some of the growth 
> has fallen out.  By Sunday she will be back to her old self.
> 
> http://s1086.photobucket.com/albums/j444/HareScott/
> 
> Happy holiday!
> 
> David 
> 

Where I live, El Ni�o brings rain, sometimes torrential.  My hill tried
to become part of my lawn during two different El Ni�o winters.  See my
<http://www.rossde.com/garden/garden_back.html#hill>.

La Ni�a brings drought.

-- 
David E. Ross
Climate:  California Mediterranean, see
<http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html>
Gardening diary at <http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary>

Higgs Boson wrote:
> On Dec 19, 1:38 pm, "David Hare-Scott" <sec...@nospam.com> wrote:
>> La Nino is the boy child who comes to visit at Christmas some years
>> and who takes our rain. Here is one of the rare visitors of a La
>> Nina year when it is wet. This season makes your tomatoes and squash
>> wilt with fungus. You will note the distinctive lichen which
>> develops only during high humidity and constant showers, there is
>> some on the post too. It only lasts a week, already it seems she has
>> had too much holiday spirit and some of the growth has fallen out.
>> By Sunday she will be back to her old self. 
>> 
>> http://s1086.photobucket.com/albums/j444/HareScott/
>> 
>> Happy holiday!
>> 
>> David
> 
> DAvid, pull yourself together!  You are slaughtering the Spanish
> language.  No such thing as LA NINO.  A boy child would be EL NINO.
> Then we are suddenly precipitated into LA NINA, a whole other kettle
> of fish.
> 
> <VBG>
> 
> HB

Maybe his parent dressed him in pink.

D

David E. Ross wrote:
> On 12/19/11 1:38 PM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
>> La Nino is the boy child who comes to visit at Christmas some years
>> and who takes our rain.  Here is one of the rare visitors of a La
>> Nina year when it is wet.  This season makes your tomatoes and
>> squash wilt with fungus. You will note the distinctive lichen which
>> develops only during high humidity and constant showers, there is
>> some on the post too.  It only lasts a week, already it seems she
>> has had too much holiday spirit and some of the growth has fallen
>> out.  By Sunday she will be back to her old self.
>>
>> http://s1086.photobucket.com/albums/j444/HareScott/
>>
>> Happy holiday!
>>
>> David
>>
>
> Where I live, El Ni�o brings rain, sometimes torrential.  My hill
> tried to become part of my lawn during two different El Ni�o winters.
> See my <http://www.rossde.com/garden/garden_back.html#hill>.
>
> La Ni�a brings drought.

So you are on the west coast of the USA?  That's how it works, when the bath 
water sloshes up one end it is down at the other.  I bet you don't get 
kookaburras with red crests though.

D 

David Hare-Scott wrote:
> David E. Ross wrote:
>> On 12/19/11 1:38 PM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
>>> La Nino is the boy child who comes to visit at Christmas some years
>>> and who takes our rain. Here is one of the rare visitors of a La
>>> Nina year when it is wet. This season makes your tomatoes and
>>> squash wilt with fungus. You will note the distinctive lichen which
>>> develops only during high humidity and constant showers, there is
>>> some on the post too. It only lasts a week, already it seems she
>>> has had too much holiday spirit and some of the growth has fallen
>>> out. By Sunday she will be back to her old self.
>>>
>>> http://s1086.photobucket.com/albums/j444/HareScott/
>>>
>>> Happy holiday!
>>>
>>> David
>>>
>>
>> Where I live, El Ni�o brings rain, sometimes torrential. My hill
>> tried to become part of my lawn during two different El Ni�o winters.
>> See my <http://www.rossde.com/garden/garden_back.html#hill>.
>>
>> La Ni�a brings drought.
>
> So you are on the west coast of the USA? That's how it works, when the
> bath water sloshes up one end it is down at the other. I bet you don't
> get kookaburras with red crests though.
>
> D

Our kookaburras are all on strike, it seems! Maybe the Corellas and 
SCCockatoos moved 'em along...

But just this week, we've had a huge Blue Tongue in our bathroom, a 
Water Skink in the living room and a Blind Snake on the front verandah. 
The reptiles must all be having their Christmas parties early!

Now, if only someone would move that blasted Koel along. He's driving me 
MAD!!!!

-- 
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Trish Brown wrote:
> David Hare-Scott wrote:
>> David E. Ross wrote:
>>> On 12/19/11 1:38 PM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
>>>> La Nino is the boy child who comes to visit at Christmas some years
>>>> and who takes our rain. Here is one of the rare visitors of a La
>>>> Nina year when it is wet. This season makes your tomatoes and
>>>> squash wilt with fungus. You will note the distinctive lichen which
>>>> develops only during high humidity and constant showers, there is
>>>> some on the post too. It only lasts a week, already it seems she
>>>> has had too much holiday spirit and some of the growth has fallen
>>>> out. By Sunday she will be back to her old self.
>>>>
>>>> http://s1086.photobucket.com/albums/j444/HareScott/
>>>>
>>>> Happy holiday!
>>>>
>>>> David
>>>>
>>>
>>> Where I live, El Ni�o brings rain, sometimes torrential. My hill
>>> tried to become part of my lawn during two different El Ni�o
>>> winters. See my
>>> <http://www.rossde.com/garden/garden_back.html#hill>. La Ni�a brings 
>>> drought.
>>
>> So you are on the west coast of the USA? That's how it works, when
>> the bath water sloshes up one end it is down at the other. I bet you
>> don't get kookaburras with red crests though.
>>
>> D
>
> Our kookaburras are all on strike, it seems! Maybe the Corellas and
> SCCockatoos moved 'em along...
>

I am in the middle of a clan war between two families of kookaburras.  They 
come to the power pole near the house to have a laugh-in to advertise their 
territory.

> But just this week, we've had a huge Blue Tongue in our bathroom, a
> Water Skink in the living room and a Blind Snake on the front
> verandah. The reptiles must all be having their Christmas parties
> early!

No reptiles getting too friendly here but if it warms up we will see some.


> Now, if only someone would move that blasted Koel along. He's driving
> me MAD!!!!

You have to cut down all the large trees nearby so they will go and call 
somewhere else   :-)

David 

David Hare-Scott wrote:

<snip>

>> Now, if only someone would move that blasted Koel along. He's driving
>> me MAD!!!!
>
> You have to cut down all the large trees nearby so they will go and call
> somewhere else :-)
>
> David

Hah! No, *you* have to come and cut all the tall trees down!

I tell you, the damn bird's driving me nutso.

'Ooooo-oo!' he says, 'Ooooo-oo! Ooooo-oo!'

And as if to make matters worse, there's a tribe of Figbirds hangin' 
around as well and *they* make a noise like last year's office party 
about an hour before everyone passed out.

'WoopWoopWoopWoop-WOOOO!'

What is it with the bird world? Whatever happened to good ol' 'Tweet'?

-- 
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

In article <4efade5f$0$11128$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com>,
 Trish Brown <pmcbrown@internode.on.net> wrote:

> David Hare-Scott wrote:
> 
> <snip>
> 
> >> Now, if only someone would move that blasted Koel along. He's driving
> >> me MAD!!!!
> >
> > You have to cut down all the large trees nearby so they will go and call
> > somewhere else :-)
> >
> > David
> 
> Hah! No, *you* have to come and cut all the tall trees down!
> 
> I tell you, the damn bird's driving me nutso.
> 
> 'Ooooo-oo!' he says, 'Ooooo-oo! Ooooo-oo!'
> 
> And as if to make matters worse, there's a tribe of Figbirds hangin' 
> around as well and *they* make a noise like last year's office party 
> about an hour before everyone passed out.
> 
> 'WoopWoopWoopWoop-WOOOO!'
> 
> What is it with the bird world? Whatever happened to good ol' 'Tweet'?

Instead of ruing your fate, you may want to celebrate your sounds of 
nature. The are many places in the U.S. where the only sound is the 
background rumbling of traffic, or no sound at all in the wastelands of 
housing tracts.
-- 
- Billy

E pluribus unum
<http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/04/18/112346/obama-ran-against-bush-but-now.html>

$1.5 billion in US foreign aid at work.
<http://storyful.com/stories/1000016318>

none of the government programs targeted for elimination or severe cutbacks "appeared on the GAO's list of government programs at high risk of waste, fraud and abuse."
<http://www.politifact.com/ohio/statements/2011/mar/28/dennis-kucinich/rep-dennis-kucinich-says-gop-budget-cuts-dont-targ/>

"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the 
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.

This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 16 April 1953
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZkDikRLQrw>

<http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-great-american-bubble-machine-20100405>

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTW0y6kazWM&feature=related>

Billy wrote:

> Instead of ruing your fate, you may want to celebrate your sounds of
> nature. The are many places in the U.S. where the only sound is the
> background rumbling of traffic, or no sound at all in the wastelands of
> housing tracts.

Y'know, you're absolutely right!

I really do love the many sounds of Nature at our place. It's just... 
the bird in question (also known as 'the brain-fever bird) has an 
extremely monotonous, ongoing call that *never* lets up. They even call 
through the night! After a few weeks of that, I'm sure you can 
understand why people get a tad impatient. ;D

Other than Mr Koel, we also have a flock of two hundred or so Sulphur 
Crested Cockatoos that flies over our house a few times a day. They're 
*deafening* (ie. you can't hear yourself speaking), but I usually bid 
them a cheery 'G'day' because they're gorgeous, especially on clear 
sunny summer days like today. The pure white of the flock as it wheels 
across the sky is stunning. Then, in the right light, you see glimpses 
of the sulphur-coloured feathers in their armpits. Lovely!

We get Galahs too: they're a smaller pink-and-grey parrot with equally 
raucous voices. Oh, and Corellas (white). Rainbow Lorikeets 
(multi-coloured). Eastern Rosellas (multi-coloured). Crimson Rosellas 
(red/blue) and King Parrots (red/green). Then, of course, there's the 
overhead passers-by, like pelicans and egrets, herons and ibises. Very 
occasionally, there'll be something exciting, like a Spotted Harrier, a 
Sea Eagle, a Wedge-Tailed Eagle or the nifty little Australian Falcon 
who lives on top of our local hospital with his missus. He's *deadly*: 
so fast, you barely know you've seen him streaking by!

Reptiles are pretty plentiful too. We get big fat Blue Tongue lizards (a 
big female will grow to about eighteen inches or so) that eat the snails 
and slugs for us. There's all sorts of medium-sized skinks and then the 
occasional Bearded Dragon or Water Dragon might visit. For a few years, 
we had a Red-bellied Black Snake living under our house (name of 
Snidely). He was *great*. We never saw a single mouse in the house when 
Snidely was living with us!

I've counted five species of frogs in our garden and we encourage those 
by giving them lots of begonias to hide in and a pond for their - er - 
courtship requirements. I *love* the frog-music at night, especially 
when it's been raining. They all seem to want to sing in the rain and so 
we have a chorus of Gene Kelly wannabes to serenade us to sleep.

I hope this hasn't been too much raving on, but you reminded me how 
lucky I am to live where I do. I couldn't bear not being surrounded by 
living things! Here in Oz, even city-dwellers like me can have that.

-- 
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

In article <4efbc265$0$13913$c3e8da3$76491128@news.astraweb.com>,
 Trish Brown <pmcbrown@internode.on.net> wrote:

> Billy wrote:
> 
> > Instead of ruing your fate, you may want to celebrate your sounds of
> > nature. The are many places in the U.S. where the only sound is the
> > background rumbling of traffic, or no sound at all in the wastelands of
> > housing tracts.
> 
> Y'know, you're absolutely right!
> 
> I really do love the many sounds of Nature at our place. It's just... 
> the bird in question (also known as 'the brain-fever bird) has an 
> extremely monotonous, ongoing call that *never* lets up. They even call 
> through the night! After a few weeks of that, I'm sure you can 
> understand why people get a tad impatient. ;D
> 
> Other than Mr Koel, we also have a flock of two hundred or so Sulphur 
> Crested Cockatoos that flies over our house a few times a day. They're 
> *deafening* (ie. you can't hear yourself speaking), but I usually bid 
> them a cheery 'G'day' because they're gorgeous, especially on clear 
> sunny summer days like today. The pure white of the flock as it wheels 
> across the sky is stunning. Then, in the right light, you see glimpses 
> of the sulphur-coloured feathers in their armpits. Lovely!
> 
> We get Galahs too: they're a smaller pink-and-grey parrot with equally 
> raucous voices. Oh, and Corellas (white). Rainbow Lorikeets 
> (multi-coloured). Eastern Rosellas (multi-coloured). Crimson Rosellas 
> (red/blue) and King Parrots (red/green). Then, of course, there's the 
> overhead passers-by, like pelicans and egrets, herons and ibises. Very 
> occasionally, there'll be something exciting, like a Spotted Harrier, a 
> Sea Eagle, a Wedge-Tailed Eagle or the nifty little Australian Falcon 
> who lives on top of our local hospital with his missus. He's *deadly*: 
> so fast, you barely know you've seen him streaking by!
> 
> Reptiles are pretty plentiful too. We get big fat Blue Tongue lizards (a 
> big female will grow to about eighteen inches or so) that eat the snails 
> and slugs for us. There's all sorts of medium-sized skinks and then the 
> occasional Bearded Dragon or Water Dragon might visit. For a few years, 
> we had a Red-bellied Black Snake living under our house (name of 
> Snidely). He was *great*. We never saw a single mouse in the house when 
> Snidely was living with us!
> 
> I've counted five species of frogs in our garden and we encourage those 
> by giving them lots of begonias to hide in and a pond for their - er - 
> courtship requirements. I *love* the frog-music at night, especially 
> when it's been raining. They all seem to want to sing in the rain and so 
> we have a chorus of Gene Kelly wannabes to serenade us to sleep.
> 
> I hope this hasn't been too much raving on, but you reminded me how 
> lucky I am to live where I do. I couldn't bear not being surrounded by 
> living things! Here in Oz, even city-dwellers like me can have that.

Your Kookaburra sounds similar to our Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus 
pileatus), although it sounds as if you have way more birds than I do.
<http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?allSpecies=&searchText=woo
dpecker&cmdSubmit.x=13&cmdSubmit.y=10&GroupID=&curGroupID=1&lgfromWhere=&
curPageNum=4>

I attribute, in part, the lack of bad bugs in my garden to the bird 
feeder, and bath which attracts chickadees (Chestnut-backed Chickadee 
[Poecile rufescens]).

We also have many blue Jays that are really quite Stellar, but no one is 
going to confuse them with songbirds.

Newcastle, and its environs, looks to be a very nice place.
-- 

Billy

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 16 April 1953

On 12/28/2011 8:29 PM, Trish Brown wrote:
> Billy wrote:
>
>> Instead of ruing your fate, you may want to celebrate your sounds of
>> nature. The are many places in the U.S. where the only sound is the
>> background rumbling of traffic, or no sound at all in the wastelands of
>> housing tracts.
>
> Y'know, you're absolutely right!
>
> I really do love the many sounds of Nature at our place. It's just...
> the bird in question (also known as 'the brain-fever bird) has an
> extremely monotonous, ongoing call that *never* lets up. They even call
> through the night! After a few weeks of that, I'm sure you can
> understand why people get a tad impatient. ;D
>
> Other than Mr Koel, we also have a flock of two hundred or so Sulphur
> Crested Cockatoos that flies over our house a few times a day. They're
> *deafening* (ie. you can't hear yourself speaking), but I usually bid
> them a cheery 'G'day' because they're gorgeous, especially on clear
> sunny summer days like today. The pure white of the flock as it wheels
> across the sky is stunning. Then, in the right light, you see glimpses
> of the sulphur-coloured feathers in their armpits. Lovely!
>
> We get Galahs too: they're a smaller pink-and-grey parrot with equally
> raucous voices. Oh, and Corellas (white). Rainbow Lorikeets
> (multi-coloured). Eastern Rosellas (multi-coloured). Crimson Rosellas
> (red/blue) and King Parrots (red/green). Then, of course, there's the
> overhead passers-by, like pelicans and egrets, herons and ibises. Very
> occasionally, there'll be something exciting, like a Spotted Harrier, a
> Sea Eagle, a Wedge-Tailed Eagle or the nifty little Australian Falcon
> who lives on top of our local hospital with his missus. He's *deadly*:
> so fast, you barely know you've seen him streaking by!
>
> Reptiles are pretty plentiful too. We get big fat Blue Tongue lizards (a
> big female will grow to about eighteen inches or so) that eat the snails
> and slugs for us. There's all sorts of medium-sized skinks and then the
> occasional Bearded Dragon or Water Dragon might visit. For a few years,
> we had a Red-bellied Black Snake living under our house (name of
> Snidely). He was *great*. We never saw a single mouse in the house when
> Snidely was living with us!
>
> I've counted five species of frogs in our garden and we encourage those
> by giving them lots of begonias to hide in and a pond for their - er -
> courtship requirements. I *love* the frog-music at night, especially
> when it's been raining. They all seem to want to sing in the rain and so
> we have a chorus of Gene Kelly wannabes to serenade us to sleep.
>
> I hope this hasn't been too much raving on, but you reminded me how
> lucky I am to live where I do. I couldn't bear not being surrounded by
> living things! Here in Oz, even city-dwellers like me can have that.
>
I am so jealous ;-)
Granted I have lots of wonderful wildlife here in the Catskills of New 
York, but I guess anyone undervalues the commonplace and yours sound so 
marvelously exotic ;-)
Happily I haven't been dealing with any Whippoorwills lately - their 
song is loud, monotonous and endless, usually at about 3AM :-P

-- 

PhoenixWench

Toleration is not the opposite of intolerance but the counterfeit of it.
Both are despotisms: the one assumes to itself the right of withholding
liberty of conscience, the other of granting it.
       -- Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man
My fellow citizens, we live in a great nation. It's occasional 
resemblance to a
lunatic asylum is purely coincidental and doubtlessly not the intention 
of the author of us all.
      - Molly Ivins, 1944 - 2007
If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.
        Napoleon Hill, 1883 - 1970

http://www.flickr.com/photos/phoenixwench/
http://community.webshots.com/user/Slywlf
http://slywlf.livejournal.com/
http://phoenix-awaken.blogspot.com/
http://www.appletreemotelcatskills.com
http://slywlf-movealongnothingtoseehere.blogspot.com/

PhoenixWench wrote:

> I am so jealous ;-)
> Granted I have lots of wonderful wildlife here in the Catskills of New
> York, but I guess anyone undervalues the commonplace and yours sound so
> marvelously exotic ;-)
> Happily I haven't been dealing with any Whippoorwills lately - their
> song is loud, monotonous and endless, usually at about 3AM :-P
>

'Exotic'?

I would *so* love to see a Hummingbird!

And -

an Elf Owl
a squirrel
a salamander
a Snowy Owl
a Pileated Woodpecker (actually, *any* woodpecker would do...)
a moose
a grackle
a cardinal

I could go on and on. I'd even love to see and hear a Whippoorwill. We 
have a similar creature called a Tawny Frogmouth, but yours sounds so 
exotic! ;D

-- 
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Billy wrote:

> Your Kookaburra sounds similar to our Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus
> pileatus), although it sounds as if you have way more birds than I do.

The Kookaburra is a great big kingfisher in shades of buff and 
chocolate. They like to eat snakes and frogs and small birds, but most 
of all, they like to laugh maniacally at the misfortunes of human 
beings. A tribe of four or six of them will gather on a power pole and 
laugh for a good ten or fifteen minutes to announce their presence. It's 
a great sound and very loud while it lasts. Everyone smiles when the 
Kookas are laughing.

(NB. It's pronounced 'cook-a-burra' with the emphasis on the first 
syllable).

>
> I attribute, in part, the lack of bad bugs in my garden to the bird
> feeder, and bath which attracts chickadees (Chestnut-backed Chickadee
> [Poecile rufescens]).
>
> We also have many blue Jays that are really quite Stellar, but no one is
> going to confuse them with songbirds.

Oh! Lucky! I s'pose the closest bird we'd have to a Chickadee would be 
our tiny Fairy Wrens or maybe our Flame Robins (which are really 
flycatchers, but let's not split hairs). A friend once sent me a feather 
from a Stellar's Jay and it has pride of place among my natural history 
collection.
>
> Newcastle, and its environs, looks to be a very nice place.

It really is! We have a great climate and excellent beaches and access 
to all sorts of ecosystems ranging from extensive sand dunes to coastal 
heath to temperate rainforest to mediterranean wine-producing country. 
The city itself is full of trees (and therefore, wildlife), but the 
atmosphere is much more laid back and relaxed compared to Sydney. You 
should visit. ;D

PS. The best thing: our main street ends about a block away from the 
Pacific Ocean.

-- 
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

On 12/29/2011 8:32 PM, Trish Brown wrote:
> PhoenixWench wrote:
>
>> I am so jealous ;-)
>> Granted I have lots of wonderful wildlife here in the Catskills of New
>> York, but I guess anyone undervalues the commonplace and yours sound so
>> marvelously exotic ;-)
>> Happily I haven't been dealing with any Whippoorwills lately - their
>> song is loud, monotonous and endless, usually at about 3AM :-P
>>
>
> 'Exotic'?
>
> I would *so* love to see a Hummingbird!
>
> And -
>
> an Elf Owl
> a squirrel
> a salamander
> a Snowy Owl
> a Pileated Woodpecker (actually, *any* woodpecker would do...)
> a moose
> a grackle
> a cardinal
>
> I could go on and on. I'd even love to see and hear a Whippoorwill. We
> have a similar creature called a Tawny Frogmouth, but yours sounds so
> exotic! ;D
>
Come visit, by all means! In summer I have 30 hummingbird feeders, and 
at twilight when they are betting finished for the day they come to my 
place for a nightcap - sometimes over 100 at a time ;-) The wings sound 
like someone kicked over a bee hive and the chirping is supersonic!!!!

Plus we have regular grey squirrels, occasional black ones, little reds 
and the ubiquitous chipmunks.

I did see a pair of Pileated woodpeckers doing their mating dance around 
a tree trunk once, but my suet feeders are more likely to attract red 
headed, red bellied, downy and hairy woodpeckers.

I've seen a great horned owl, some sort of very small white owl, and 
heard many unidentified others. Of couse we also get bald eagles in the 
area - gorgeous!

As for grackles and cardinals - they visit my feeding stations, along 
with chickadees, tufted titmouses (titmice?) red winged blackbirds, and 
legions of starlings ;-)
I have a little motel, so if you ever do decide to visit I think I can 
accommodate you ;-)
These pages have some pix you might enjoy
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/phoenixwench/page4/

> http://www.flickr.com/photos/phoenixwench/page11/


-- 

PhoenixWench

Toleration is not the opposite of intolerance but the counterfeit of it.
Both are despotisms: the one assumes to itself the right of withholding
liberty of conscience, the other of granting it.
       -- Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man
My fellow citizens, we live in a great nation. It's occasional 
resemblance to a
lunatic asylum is purely coincidental and doubtlessly not the intention 
of the author of us all.
      - Molly Ivins, 1944 - 2007
If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.
        Napoleon Hill, 1883 - 1970

http://www.flickr.com/photos/phoenixwench/
http://community.webshots.com/user/Slywlf
http://slywlf.livejournal.com/
http://phoenix-awaken.blogspot.com/
http://www.appletreemotelcatskills.com
http://slywlf-movealongnothingtoseehere.blogspot.com/

PhoenixWench wrote:

> Come visit, by all means! In summer I have 30 hummingbird feeders, and
> at twilight when they are betting finished for the day they come to my
> place for a nightcap - sometimes over 100 at a time ;-) The wings sound
> like someone kicked over a bee hive and the chirping is supersonic!!!!

I can't imagine what that must be like! ;D

>
> Plus we have regular grey squirrels, occasional black ones, little reds
> and the ubiquitous chipmunks.
>
> I did see a pair of Pileated woodpeckers doing their mating dance around
> a tree trunk once, but my suet feeders are more likely to attract red
> headed, red bellied, downy and hairy woodpeckers.
>
> I've seen a great horned owl, some sort of very small white owl, and
> heard many unidentified others. Of couse we also get bald eagles in the
> area - gorgeous!
>
> As for grackles and cardinals - they visit my feeding stations, along
> with chickadees, tufted titmouses (titmice?) red winged blackbirds, and
> legions of starlings ;-)

Hah! See? You've got your own line of 'exotic'. We have Starlings too, 
but the more recently introduced Indian Mynas have driven most of them away.

> I have a little motel, so if you ever do decide to visit I think I can
> accommodate you ;-)

If only...! ;D

> These pages have some pix you might enjoy
>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/phoenixwench/page4/
>
>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/phoenixwench/page11/
>
>
Oh YES! Wonderful video of the hummingbirds and I really enjoyed 
checking out your other pics as well. Thanks for sharing!

-- 
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

On 30/12/2011 1:14 PM, Trish Brown wrote:
> PhoenixWench wrote:
>
>> Come visit, by all means! In summer I have 30 hummingbird feeders, and
>> at twilight when they are betting finished for the day they come to my
>> place for a nightcap - sometimes over 100 at a time ;-) The wings sound
>> like someone kicked over a bee hive and the chirping is supersonic!!!!
>
> I can't imagine what that must be like! ;D
>
>>
>> Plus we have regular grey squirrels, occasional black ones, little reds
>> and the ubiquitous chipmunks.
>>
>> I did see a pair of Pileated woodpeckers doing their mating dance around
>> a tree trunk once, but my suet feeders are more likely to attract red
>> headed, red bellied, downy and hairy woodpeckers.
>>
>> I've seen a great horned owl, some sort of very small white owl, and
>> heard many unidentified others. Of couse we also get bald eagles in the
>> area - gorgeous!
>>
>> As for grackles and cardinals - they visit my feeding stations, along
>> with chickadees, tufted titmouses (titmice?) red winged blackbirds, and
>> legions of starlings ;-)
>
> Hah! See? You've got your own line of 'exotic'. We have Starlings too,
> but the more recently introduced Indian Mynas have driven most of them
> away.

  Nothing a slug gun doesn't fix with almost noiseless impact



>
>> I have a little motel, so if you ever do decide to visit I think I can
>> accommodate you ;-)
>
> If only...! ;D
>
>> These pages have some pix you might enjoy
>>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/phoenixwench/page4/
>>
>>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/phoenixwench/page11/
>>
>>
> Oh YES! Wonderful video of the hummingbirds and I really enjoyed
> checking out your other pics as well. Thanks for sharing!
>


-- 









X-No-Archive: Yes

On 12/29/2011 10:14 PM, Trish Brown wrote:
> PhoenixWench wrote:
>
>> Come visit, by all means! In summer I have 30 hummingbird feeders, and
>> at twilight when they are betting finished for the day they come to my
>> place for a nightcap - sometimes over 100 at a time ;-) The wings sound
>> like someone kicked over a bee hive and the chirping is supersonic!!!!
>
> I can't imagine what that must be like! ;D
>
>>
>> Plus we have regular grey squirrels, occasional black ones, little reds
>> and the ubiquitous chipmunks.
>>
>> I did see a pair of Pileated woodpeckers doing their mating dance around
>> a tree trunk once, but my suet feeders are more likely to attract red
>> headed, red bellied, downy and hairy woodpeckers.
>>
>> I've seen a great horned owl, some sort of very small white owl, and
>> heard many unidentified others. Of couse we also get bald eagles in the
>> area - gorgeous!
>>
>> As for grackles and cardinals - they visit my feeding stations, along
>> with chickadees, tufted titmouses (titmice?) red winged blackbirds, and
>> legions of starlings ;-)
>
> Hah! See? You've got your own line of 'exotic'. We have Starlings too,
> but the more recently introduced Indian Mynas have driven most of them
> away.
>
>> I have a little motel, so if you ever do decide to visit I think I can
>> accommodate you ;-)
>
> If only...! ;D
>
>> These pages have some pix you might enjoy
>>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/phoenixwench/page4/
>>
>>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/phoenixwench/page11/
>>
>>
> Oh YES! Wonderful video of the hummingbirds and I really enjoyed
> checking out your other pics as well. Thanks for sharing!
>
Happy to share ;-)
Oh, and on hot summer nights we often hear coyotes howling on the 
mountain ;-)

-- 

PhoenixWench

Toleration is not the opposite of intolerance but the counterfeit of it.
Both are despotisms: the one assumes to itself the right of withholding
liberty of conscience, the other of granting it.
       -- Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man
My fellow citizens, we live in a great nation. It's occasional 
resemblance to a
lunatic asylum is purely coincidental and doubtlessly not the intention 
of the author of us all.
      - Molly Ivins, 1944 - 2007
If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.
        Napoleon Hill, 1883 - 1970

http://www.flickr.com/photos/phoenixwench/
http://community.webshots.com/user/Slywlf
http://slywlf.livejournal.com/
http://phoenix-awaken.blogspot.com/
http://www.appletreemotelcatskills.com
http://slywlf-movealongnothingtoseehere.blogspot.com/