No fear of Melanie catching us for a little while longer, she's out on her field trip this morning. Love the snake and turtle pics, too. I have Southern Black Racers in my garden, and saw two of them chasing each other right by my window yesterday. Almost no hope of getting a picture, though. They're very shy and as the name implies VERY fast. They also are adept climbers, so the birds have to choose their nesting sites very carefully. My bamboo stand is quite popular both for nesting (snakes have trouble climbing it) and just for good cover near the feeders. When the hawks are around, the little birds are all twittering in the bamboo because the culms are close enough together that the hawks can't get in there.
