Folks,

Dux:

The pix are excellent and the Nikon is as good as the photographer. I have an idea that the retro fitted dorsal turrent is simply an attempt to keep a weather eye out for Olga's possible approach. After that long stretch when unusually colored garments were found and flight crews gone missing, word has gone out.

Shocking! At first glance I wondered if you had painted the lovely nose art on that Lanc. But no... I thought to myself, Dux would never be so misguided, churlish or even so brave as to call SWMNBN "Just" anything. Also the spelling is incorrect, is it not?

You ask about an eagle? This is, after all, a fowl place, but mostly we have the commonest of fowls here. They are a treat to see nonetheless. I cannot remember any 'eagle' thingy. We do have a resident Red Tailed Hawk that I sent you a photo of in flight months ago. The Red Tail is our most common hawk here. Frankly though I get a thrill every time I see one. So do the squirrels.

This past week "our" hawk has been most sociable, alighting on the ground or perching upon a low pine branch where he sat preening, allowing me to get very close indeed. Unfortunately my son's camera only has a digital zoom rather than the far better optical zoom of your Cool Pix. I was not able to get a suitable photo under available light conditions.

Here, by the river, there is an abundance of raptor food. Fat squirrels, rabbits and other tasty rodents are always available fare. There are plenty of deer as well but even the offspring of deer would be too much for this large hawk. There is a Bald Eagle nest within easy driving distance from here. We have visited it twice but never seen the occupants.

A flock of large, iridescent-blue-black crows makes its home way over the river near a well filled dumpster. We affectionately call them the Beagle Boys. It is not uncommon for them to fill one of our tallest oaks cawing amongst themselves and making raucous comments on all they survey below. That can get quite noisy.

Each year we have several Canadian geese visitors who live on the river behind the house and sail majestically about giving an occasional honk when the kids are fishing. They feed miles away and it is always a treat seeing their v-formation settling behind the trees at twilight.

Now and then a stately water bird, a crane or egret is seen on land or plodding about in the shallows. There are plenty of frogs, turtles and snakes to satisfy their pallet. Watching one of these large, gangly birds settle in and touch down so gracefully is a true delight. Yup, we are all common here, common as the dirt but we are also uncommonly lucky and content.

C51:

Your ticks are absolutely legendary across the northern border and that unsurmountable reputation is spreading swiftly by word of mouth down here in the states. It was you, I believe, that first ticked the Maple-Leafed-Hockey bird and the Snowy Topped Raven (that during the blizzard of '08).

You will get that sandpiper I am sure. We have many sandpipers along our coast, come and look here. Quite a few sea birds have come even this far inland seeking food. We have seagulls and sandpipers darting about our wet parking lots quaffing the odd discarded French fry or hot dog from time to time. In fact the seagulls live here all year long. Perhaps one or two of the sandpipers are stilted? What does that mean anyway, I'll help you look.

Mad:

You are welcome at anytime. Thanks for posting. Come often, you never know what you'll find.