Hi all. Just got this started before zipping off to bluegrass concert. Check out the previous blog for nifty photos of alpacas from OG and more!
I'm pushing buttons too quickly here now! I was going to add that I'm a local Kestrel Watcher for the Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota so the bird's appearance was very exciting in that I added him to my count for 2009. My reporting involves recording the latitude and longitude coordinates of my sightings, the bird's gender, number of birds seen and their behavior; ie hunting, flying and so on. The center believes the American Kestrel may be in decline based on their statistics and so I'm taking an active role in watching them with the hope they have simply shifted their territory, not that their numbers are down. Time shall tell......
Evening/morning all:
Alan: Thanks for explaining the link to the eagle cam and the additional info on the stills..
Lindybird: I can add to Gary's neighbor's horror stories of people falling off ladders/roofs!
Wattle: Good to see you here again! Pre-Christmas events already? Wow, you're starting early.
Caerann: Lovely photo; we have kestrels around here but was unaware they may be in decline. So sorry to hear that you had a down day. :-( How do you usually celebrate the holidays? Here's a Big Hug!
Oh thank you Annette, I appreciate the hug. My partner John and I celebrate the holidays with my family as he has none that he's close with. My family is originally from this area but I'm the only one still living here, though my folks are snowbirds, as I mentioned.
Do you usually handle the holidays for your family or how does that work?
We have it at our house with my daughter and grandkids, but this will probably be the first year without my granddaughter, who is now living and working in Arizona; she's an EMT, so probably will be working over the holidays. I expect my daughter to get quite depressed about it! Then, of course, I call the family in England and end up boohooing when I've hung up!
I understand how you feel about being so far away from your family. Unless it's the holidays or vacations and such I don't see my sisters or brother very often. I have one sister in Utah, one in Atlanta, the other in Minnesota and my brother is in Illinois but very close to the Mississippi River. We're invited to Minnesota for Thanksgiving but we can't afford the gas and motel this year so I don't know what we'll do. I've never been without family on Thanksgiving before so it's really bumming me out.
Oh dear, that's too bad. Not the sort of break with tradition anyone would want. This country is so huge and families are so spread out; it can be really hard at holidays, especially with the economy so bad. Is everyone else in your family going to Minnesota this year? What about your snowbird parents?
No, my folks will be with my sister and brother in-law from Atlanta, the Utah sister is staying home but also will be without family and for my brother it's a 6 or 7 hour drive one way to Minnesota and all his kids live close to him anyway. He also can't leave his farm as someone needs to feed the cattle and my sister in-law is employed by the U.S.D.A. so she works the next day. I'm sure something will work out somehow. We may be invited to my brother's but he lives 5 miles from the nearest paved highway in a very rural and hilly area so weather would have to be favorable traveling to and from there.
It's late here so I'm going to turn in now. Thanks so much Annette for listening, it's really helps. Hugs to you!
Ah. So that's what you meant when you said your brother lived in Illinois but very close to the Mississippi. So let's at least hope for favorable weather! Sleep well.
Morning/afternoon/evening all. 12.15pm here, temp -2C sunny and very slightly snowing. I`m having a day of and just enjoying the freedom to do absolutely nothing!
Caerann, what a lovely Kestrel and thank you for those bird cards. Hope you are having a better day today. Hugs and warm thoughts to you.
OG, hope your tilers do their job fast and WELL.
Watched on telly the other night documentary about Kingfishers in Germany. They are like jewels. I found it quite fascinating that when they have caught a fish, they hit it against a branch to kill it.
Have a good day each and everybody in every side of the pond.
my photos in flickr
Caerann so sorry you are going though a tough time. I sincerely hope things will improve for you soon.
Lovely picture of the kestrel. I find it amazing that looking at nature can cheer things up. I get such pleasure from my garden birds and even when I felt so sore and bruised I only had to watch the birds and the 2 grey squirrels that visit my garden every day to fill themselves up with nuts as well as burying them all over the garden, and they made me feel a little less sorry for myself. Chin up Caerann will be thinking of you.
Margobird