HAPPY NEW WEEK!!!
Here's a link to last week's Weekly Chat thread. The code for this week's Weekly Chat is WC250813 (in case you ever want to search for it from the search box).
I was away most of last week, and I think it's too late for me to get caught up on replies. I have read all of your news and have loved all the photos! I enjoyed the report and pics from AQ's most recent trip (yay, ducks! And loved that pelican, also the big trees). Wonderful photos from Mulberry and NiteOwl (lilies are one of my very, very favorite flowers; yours are super lovely!). Beautiful dragonfly from Alicat. I really loved the very majestic photos from Lindy -- ducks and deer! Woo hoo! That's an especially beautiful species of deer. Beautiful hibiscus from Alan. Love your increasingly subversive signatures, Alan. LOL! Glad that Mulberry saw an osprey! Happy belated birthday to Jess.Glad that Cerist at Dyfi has been found! Nice to see Mike posting here. Brenda: Are you glad or relieved to say good-bye to the puppy? LOL OG: Hope your sparrow hawk was okay after the window strike! Thanks for posting the excellent photos of handsome Diesel, handsome George, and your own beautiful self!Nice to see Lynette. I hope you have a grand holiday in Austria.I hope that Limpy is feeling better!I'm so very glad that Margo has had good results from the chemo. Sending good energy to you, Margo.Everyone have a great week! It's Indian Summer here and the temperatures this week will be 90 - 100 F (32.2 - 37.7 C) with very high humidity. Yuck.
Hi Diane! What will this new week bring, I wonder?
Hi, Mulberry. I don't know about this week. My crystal ball hasn't been working well at all. LOLOL!Hey, Annette: I hope you've enjoyed your various trips and visits this past week! I've just looked at the most recent California Fire Map, and as near as I can tell, you aren't in imminent danger. I hope it stays that way. The fires burning in the U.S. west are utterly mind-numbing in size and devastation. I've just seen that Governor Jerry has declared a state of emergency in San Francisco because the power grid is at risk. San Fran is one of my favorite cities. I hope it stays safe.Annette, if you are missing the whale watch, you may want to check out this link. It's an elevated webcam -- a sky cam -- from Prince of Wales Fort National Historic Site. It shows the Churchill River Estuary in Churchill Manitoba, Canada. Over 3,000 wild beluga whales are summering there, giving birth and feeding. A cam operator focuses on the whales. They're very beautiful.You'd better relax and take it easy this week. :-)
Watch for auroras (northern lights)!!! There's a 60% to 70% chance of polar geomagnetic storms this weekend. A coronal mass ejection from the sun on Aug. 21 is expected to hit Earth's magnetic field on Aug. 24, continuing through Aug. 25. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras . Watch online here. :-)
Good morning, all! How strange to have no DU to check on - however our own birdlife is doing its best to fill the gap! After the very wet weather we had yesterday it seems that everything is appearing - loads of chaffinches, two greenfinches and a goldfinch, gorgeous! Limpy also noticed yesterday that the feeders had gone very quiet - a closer inspection of the woodland revealed a beautiful male sparrowhawk! We're planning to go to Minsmere today as it promises to be nice and sunny.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
Maybe if I start early I shall keep the impetus going this week!
Diane, thanks for starting us off with such efficiency! I too worry about those wildfires in California – apparently three hydroelectric plants serving San Francisco have had to close and the city’s main reservoir is threatened.
Have a good trip to Minsmere, Clare and Limpy. Pleased the garden birds returned after the rain you had yesterday.
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
For a few years, it appeared that the LG ospreys left two sticks prominently crossed in the middle of the nest when they left for migration -- possibly as a symbol of ownership to discourage other ospreys from claiming the nest.
However, I just checked the empty nest, and this year the symbol is kind of iffy. :-))) LOL
EDIT: Oh, I've just seen that Limpy and others made mention of the "crossed sticks" or lack of them on the last Daily Update thread. LOL!
EDIT: I suppose the lack of a strong symbol is because Odin wasn't the last to leave. :-)))
Hello, All. See that Diane has been busy!! Must go back and investigate her links.
It's sunny here, now, after a dull start. Enjoyed seeing the family, and we are now preparing to go away ourselves, next weekend.
Don't know the answer to the riddle of the 'crossed sticks' although its always intrigued me that the birds seem to do this. Like a "keep off, this nest is taken" sign.
If you've not discovered it already, there is now another NEW BLOG charting the youngsters amazing progress!!
Pleased LINDA and family had a good weekend. The two boys really have made amazing progress since leaving, strong and well-fed by Odin!