Think I’ll start a couple of quick Friday Features:

OUR OWN BACKYARD BIRD SIGHTINGS:

Current regulars: American Goldfinches, Least Goldfinches, Steller’s jays, ravens, crows, house sparrows

Semi-regular visitors: one pair Black-headed grosbeaks, an osprey (!), a great blue heron (we have a large pond), a red-shouldered hawk, barn swallows, violet-green swallows

The Very First for our yard: this morning, one male western bluebird

PLANET SAVER TIP OF THE DAY:

Honey bees are in crisis. Without them, kiss fruits, nuts and berries good-bye. Visit this link http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/26/MNLA11FN5B.DTL, which was in today’s San Francisco Chronicle for more information.

What you can do: Set aside, say, a six to ten foot square or so in your yard and plant it with bee-friendly plants like lavender, coriopsis, sunflower, thyme and coneflower. Your local nursery should be able to point you to bee-friendly plants for your area. If enough people do this, it could make a real difference. Even better, replace some or all of your lawn. Just think, no more mowing, dethatching, fertilizing, weeding and you’ll save water, plus have flowers for your home.

BONUS

Find the live cat in this picture: