After six consecutive days of pretty heavy birding, I finally got around to painting my house, which is why I took a week of vacation anyway. On a brief break I saw the first ruby-throated hummingbird that I have seen on my feeder this year. There have probably been some already, but I've been everywhere but home. Later I caught a glimpse out of my eye of a medium sized dark bird landing on my feeders. I immediately thought it was a starling and I was about to shoo it, when I looked and saw it was a catbird eating jelly from my oriole feeder. That's the first catbird I've ever seen in my yard. I still haven't seen any orioles here yet. I tried for my seventh consecutive day of life birds this morning when I briefly stopped by the Sauget marsh off Moussette Ave. I was hoping to get a rail. No luck. I did see one sora though. Starting Saturday, I had the following lifers: Saturday, Carlyle, Ill. - eurasian collared dove Sunday, Castlewood Sp, Chubb Trail - Henslow's sparrow Monday, Horseshoe Lake, Ill. - yellow-headed blackbird, cinnamon teal Tuesday, Ten Mile Pong, Mississippi Co., Mo. - tri-colored heron Wednesday, Eagle Bluffs CA, Mo. - Wilson's Phalarope, common moorhen, great-tailed grackle Thursday, Lincoln Sheilds, West Alton, Mo. - black-bellied plover What a week. Shawn Clubb, Collinsville, Madison Co., Ill. [log in to unmask] _________________________________________________________________ STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail __________________________________________________ * Audubon Society of Missouri's * * Wild Bird Discussion Forum * *------------------------------------------------* * To unsubscribe send the message * * SIGNOFF MOBIRDS-L * * to [log in to unmask] * * To subscribe send the message * * SUBSCRIBE MOBIRDS-L your name * * to [log in to unmask] * *------------------------------------------------* * To access the list archives from July 2002 on: * * http://po.missouri.edu/archives/mobirds-l.html * ##################################################