These bumps are from some grasses and weeds. Enough already with the tests. Have you ever had a mosquito bite but couldn't scratch it? Imagine that 10 times over.

My previous visit they tested me for food allergies, which is why I went in the first place. The list of foods I can't eat is very long. Among them, my favorite watermelon. :( I have to avoid all of the melons including honeydew and cantaloupe. I can't have almonds or fresh green peppers. I should avoid fresh tomatoes but cooked is fine. No pears, apricots, plums or fresh apples..... :( :( :( No avacados. Which leads to a latex allergy. I know things could be worse so I won't complain.

More allergies :(

I made a second trip to the allergist today. This time they were testing me for additional allergies. See all of those nasty red bumps? Most of those are reactions to tree pollen. A few are reactions to grass. It itched so bad. It was maddening. This helps to explain the terrible headaches I get in the early Spring months.

I was able to get a picture of this Downy Woodpecker on our suet feeder today. It was right outside the window so I got a nice close-up view.

Kristen's Oil Painting

Kristen finished an oil painting that is yet untitled. She

hasn't tried oil painting since she was a little girl. It's amazing what a talent she has. She took the painting into school today and the teacher wants it for the art show in May.

This is a shot from 2-16. The upper right is a house finch and the rest are house sparrows. I love getting the motion shots! You really need to click on the picture to see a close up of the action. It's really looks great up close. ;D

Here are some back yard bird pics from today's count. The first pic has a dark eyed junco and a white throated sparrow on the ground. The second pic is a house finch.

Great Backyard Bird Count

Today is the first day of the GBBC. The count runs from February 15-18. Check it out here:

http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/

If we are lucky enough to get some good pictures I'll post them here for you. The common birds in our area this time of year are the dark eyed junco, house finch, wren, mourning dove, golden finch, sharp shinned hawk and turkey vulture to name a few.