And don't forget hardy hibiscus and Russian sage. Woody material is important to mix into perennial gardens - heptacodium is wonderful for its fall flowers and viburnums with showy fruit are a great addition too. 'Pink Beauty' potentilla is still producing some flowers, although it's not as prolific as in previous months. 'Queen Elizabeth' rose is a stunning, disease resistant bloomer into late October - every garden should have one!. (Unfortunately, it's out of this picture on the right...)

We have quite a few cardinals as well, though none have been all that cooperative with photo opprtunities. Same goes for our Blue Jays who mainly visit for the bird baths. I don't provide nut-based feed as the squirrels killed my native persimmon tree trying to get to the feeder and the nuts drew in a rather large rat that then went after my worm bin. I figured he was going into it for the veggie scraps, but I no longer have any worms in the bin, so I guess rats like worms too. He met the business end of a trap and was tossed into the field behind me where he became a snack for a turkey vulture. I see Mockingbirds sometimes but they are more likely to be high up in the trees around my house than actually in my yard. We have a breeding pair of Red-shouldered Hawks and sometimes I hear a Red-Tail Hawk. Sometimes the Red-Shouldered Hawks will divebomb the feeder area, but so far they have been un lucky. My neighbors tell me the Red-Shoulder pair often visit the Watering Pool in the morning, but I have yet to see them there. Last week I had two occasions to witness two Bald Eagles in the sky. Their trilling call is unmistakeable. One of the times I saw them it looked like they were getting ready for the 'Courtship Drop', but I was on my way out and couldn't stop to watch for very long. It's quite rare that I hear owls at night and I have yet to see one. As for the pictures, I've started carrying my camera with me as I work in the yard. I got tired of snapping pics with my phone and having them look horrible. My camera isn't too great and lacks the ability to really zoom in, so I have had to cheat here. I adjusted the camera to take pictures in the highest resolution possible. When I upload them to my computer, I copy/paste the images into a 1280x720 template (which is a fair bit smaller than the image itself) and adjust the scale down until only the part I want is in frame. It's a bit more work, but the results are on par with my mother's Nikon w/ Macro Lens.

Well, I'll be...thanks, Susan. GW is one of my 'Liked' pages, but seldom do I see it on Facebook. They used one of my robin with berry pictures earlier this year and one of nhbabs's landscape scenes. Today I got a deal on a SX50, so I sold my Sx40 (there is a 400mm difference in focal length) so we'll see what the future holds. It was kind of you to bring this to my attention, thanks again. :). Hope you don't get snowed in again this weekend. Jane

Lol Dr. Nature - 72 degrees huh? I'll think of you over the next 3-4 months as I brave our winters here. Actually, I was surprised to see a new male house finch at the feeder the other day. He was alone - no female with him which I thought was odd. Then yesterday I saw a female at the feeder and today another female. So some other ones have decided, for the time being anyway, to brave our winters. Would be nice if they stayed as my feeders have gone unusually quiet the last week or so. I have my chickadees that come around, but haven't seen the downy woodpecker that was coming for about a week now and haven't yet seen any red-breasted nuthatches. I live in an urban setting so I don't get any of the grosbeaks or crossbills but I'm still hoping that some day they might find my feeder.