Hey ChickaDDD, I know what you mean about Chicklet's story. He sounds super natural or something. Sleeping on roof, resetting his own arm, Typhoon or something and his birthday. WOW. But like you said if it is true your are surely helping them and thats all that matters. I must have missed it when the unwelcoming committee killed a catbird chick. That is awful!!! And it is not FUN to get rid of HOSP. I dont know why they would say that and it makes me sick. I cant believe they said it was fun, that is disgusting and shows how stupid they are. I hope you dont dislike ME for it but I have seen them with my own eyes terrorize my other birds and not just the cavity nesters, but i dont enjoy it. I just want to save my other birds. They were after Braveheart today when he and Scardycat would try to feed their babies AND they are building two nests in two of my boxes right now :-( When papa tries to bring food they jump him and fall to the ground. It is just pure harassment and today i noticed his right eye was closed up. I dont think it was the HOSP because he was fighting two mockers today too and they probably got fed up with him getting in the middle and decided to kick him around awhile. My blue is insane they are twice his size. But now he will be at risk of hawk attack because he cant see from that side. Ahhhhhhh SIGH. I am having such stress this year with the bluebirds. I love them and all the birds except the HOSP and it is hard on me because I worry so about the birds. My other little sparrows are building in my holly bush that the robins used three times this year ( they were busy ), you know the little ones that i keep blowing there little babies out of the bush. So at least i know where they are this time and wont blow them out. Birds are so funny. She fusses at me every time i go out there but then builds her nest right in my back steps. Go figure :-) Why would they kill a catbird? I dont understand that, it must have been before i joined because i dont remember seeing it. Do you know what month and maybe i can go back and find that post. That is very disturbing, maybe they are just animal killers? Maybe they do enjoy it. They almost had me convinced that the house wrens were evil till Bet got on there. Maybe they kill all birds except bluebirds. That's sick :-( Well im glad you didn't have any little jets get confused and end up in your house today :-) Maybe they realized that outside is where they belong. Hopefully for you and your families sake. All summer without air conditioning is a horrible thought for me. You are a very strong and sweet person to sacrifice your comfort for the little jets. I bet Daisy was hot too with all that hair. My Mary is very hairy like that ( 4 layers of fur ) and she doesn't even like to be outside in the summer. We are very spoiled. Im glad your kitties got bored with the swifts, i know you were blaming yourself for the deaths but you didn't know they were coming so im glad all is good now :-) I better go because this is long but i know i could talk a lot more!!! LOL. She who is to long winded~~~~~~~Bonnie

Sherry, The Mojave is considered a "high and dry" desert. The high because it is between 2,000'-5,000' in elevation. The dry because on average it only gets a little over 2" of rainfall per year. The low precipitation is because of the rain shadow effect of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where falling moisture normally evaporates before it hits the ground. Hard to believe when the early or late monsoons are in and a thunderstorm floods the valley in mere minutes. It doesn't rain cats and dogs because they too head for cover when the sky opens up and literally dumps. It's common that 30 minutes later the water has soaked in and the surface is bone dry again. The Mojave is the most unique and diversified of our four deserts because it is nestled between a high plateau (cold) and a low (hot) desert. So it has habitats within it that run from one extreme to the other north to south and east to west. That is why it is anything but bleak, hosts more species of flora and fauna than any of the other deserts, and on the edges can be effected by non desert habitats. The canyon above starts low in the desert on the very edge of the true Mojave and the upper couple of miles of it runs into the lower foothills of the nearby high mountains that do get a snow base. Enough of a snow base to have a small year-round stream feed by those mountains. So along the stream it is very riparian habitat, and 20' away very desert habitat going up into high plateau desert habitat on the rim rock cliffs. IOW, a very diversified place with all habitats present except for the high riparian and arctic/alpine. So both plants and animals from the higher habitats can spread down into the true desert along the narrow stream corridor. That allows all species found in that greater part of the country to live and thrive in the same place. Not a well known place to Lepidopterists like Madera Canyon in SE AZ is, but it is truly a heaven for plant and bug diversity, and about the farthest north magnet for stray species migrating from as far away as Central America. The Las Vegas Valley, being 160 miles further down into the true Mojave doesn't share that diversity, except to a point on its NW edge where the Spring Mountains also create a drier but still riparian habitat. These mountains being well isolated and surrounded by the desert is what makes them unique. Being isolated from the gene pool, species have evolved on their own there into species that exist no where else on earth. The other areas around the valley are anything but bleak though, but the flora and fauna have had to adapt to and find their own niches to survive and flourish there. It may appear bleak to those who do not know how to find those niches, but it is far from it. BTW, there are many species that use cactus and succulents for their larval food plant. From utilizing the new growth, leaves, florens, or tunneling into the roots or stems. My son always loved going on Megathymus and Agathymus larva/pupa "digs", and we got a kick out of handing visiting newbie bug collectors a shovel instead of a net to go collect them. Larry Gene, Even though I have collected in many beautiful places around the world, I'd sure like to be able to go back to the Beartooth Plateau on the WY/MT border just one more time. Won't happen, but out of the hundreds/thousands of places I have been studying bugs, it is easily my favorite. It's a place every budding Lepidopterist should visit at last once in their lifetime, and although 11,000'-14,000' feet high, it can be easily accessed along Highway 212 even in a motor home. Seeing millions (literally) of dozens of arctic/alpine species of butterflies on the wing all at the same time is a sight few would ever forget, and there are species there that are not found anywhere else. Larry

Here's what happened: Yesterday, I called the phone company bright and early and explained the problem. The guy said "We'll call you right back." And he did, claiming it was fixed. Alas, it was not, and I called him again to let him know it still wasn't working. This time, they tell me "we'll get a guy working on it, and call you back." (I guess the little Brownie that lives in the office wasn't able to figure it out, so they needed "a guy"...) Later that afternoon, I called my ISP and found out that four of their customers in the my area had no service. Four customers doesn't sound like much, but you have to remember the town has about 370 people. It's a rural area, not exactly booming economically (KWIM), so if you have 10% of the people with a computer online, you're doing good. Out of that number (let's round up and say 40), over half half are going to sign on with the phone company because they don't know enough about computers to even look for another option. You could divide the remaining twenty in half again, for wireless service, with the remaining ten divided between satellite and the only other dial up ISP with a local number for this area. So, four is about right. Yes, there are only two companies in the entire world that offer local dial up service to this area. Lots of companies *claim* to offer a local number, and it probably would be if we had service with another phone compnay, but we do not. It is what it is. My ISP tells me that if the routing has changed, it might not be a localnumber anymore, and if they can't fix it to call accounting to see about a refund. I call the phone company back to see if this is going to be permanent, and he said they were "tracking the lines", which I recognize from past experience is a swell technical sounding phrase meant to placify the customer. He asked meexactly what was going on, and I explained that although this had been a local number for over a year, as of yesterday it stopped working. I could dial in using the area code, but the number wasn't supposed to be long distance. He thought that was curious. I didn't think it was curious so much as irritating, still, I realize it's not this guy's fault, so I don't get upset. We continue chatting and he says "You know, I think we have DSL available in your area." (Technically they do, but despite that big fat cable buried right out in front of my home, the actual service stops two miles west. I called about it a month ago and was told that at this time there isn't enough "customer interest" to activate it further east anytime soon.) Bless his heart, not knowing that, he said, "Have you thought about switching to our DSL? We're running a special, only 69.99 a month plus tax plus..." (I'm thinking, Oooo, what a deal! That's only three times what I'm already paying the company that can't even keep a basic land line operational for 60 days in a row. I'm completely underwhelmed.) I politely cut him off saying "Uh, You know, right now is probably NOT the best time to hit me with a sales pitch to upgrade my service for an even *more* expensive plan..." He laughed and said "Yea, I know, but I'm supposed to..." I said "Hey, I understand, it's like, 'would you like fries with that?' We both laughed, and he promised to give us a call when it was fixed. He really *is* very nice, even if he can't help. Later that afternoon, I discovered that my ability to dial in using the area code had also gone pffffft. When I called the number direct, I got a "This number is no longer in service" message. Of course, that's not true, it's working number for everyone but us. When I called using the 1 plus area code, I got the recording that says 'We're sorry. It is not necessary to dial a 1 or the area code for this number. Please hang up and try your call again." With any other company, this might be discouraging, but coming from these guys it's means they're doing *something*, so that's progress. LOL This morning, the 13th, I call and tell the guy what's going on with the line today and he says "We're aware of the problem". (I get the impression the other three customers might have beat me to the punch with the status update.) Then he tells me, "We'll get someone working on it." I'm thinking, excuse me, but wasn't someone supposed to be "working on it" since yesterday? I'm sure there's a three dollar word for this kind of thing, but all I could think of at the time were the four letter ones. Not good. Instead, I tell him thank you, and go outside. The deal is that my DH works on a pipeline, and they've been laid off for most of the winter. They just started a job this week, but the budget is a bit pinched for me to run out and order a more expensive internet service even if it were available. We're talking dialup or nothing. I just walked around in the yard admiring the crocus and quince and was telling God about it. I mean, he already knows, but it makes *me* feel better to have someone to listen to me rant. ;^) So, I make my rounds inspecting the yard, finish my whine about the internet and said "and Bless my phone company". Now, that is the *first* time I have ever said that. Usually, if I think of them at all, my thoughts immedietly go over to the Dark Side. But there you go; here I was getting all warm and fuzzy over a utility company. I guess all the fresh air and sunshine went to my head. On a whim, I came in, sat down at the desk, tried to connect again, and voil Here I am. Which means the line is *still* local. Looks like God really was listening. That, and someone just had that coffee maker plugged into the wrong outlet afterall...

I had a horrible day with my computer as well!! I checked my emails and saw that all of them were dated 2010. All the 2011 emails were gone...I checked the "deleted" folder and nothing there either. I looked in the other folders..nothing. I checked C drive, program files, Outlook..nothing. After a couple of hours of this, I called my server tech. He said he'd check my account and see if they were still on the server...NO. He said I (or someone else) had to have deleted the emails, therefore putting them into the deleted folder. Then deleted them from the deleted folder, thus deleting them from the server..permanently. I absolutely did not do that!! DH said, "Well, maybe you did it and forgot." I can't even tell you my reply. :( I do delete the unnecessary emails as I read them. I flag the ones I need to save. I publish a monthly newsletter for our little city and have people who write some of the columns for me via emails. I try very hard to get the paper out by the end of the month with the details of activities for the following month. So as I was preparing to start the paper for January, my writers had emailed their articles. See? Now I'm rambling, of course. The episode ended about 4 p.m. with 2 Excedrins, coffee and a nap. Pulled the cover over my head and decided I'd surface next year. But, oh no, someone mentioned that Christmas had not come yet. Deep breath...I am now wrapping zillions of gifts, preparing bedrooms for DD and grands who will come home with us after Christmas & making cookies. Yep, all at one time. No stress...