Here's a few pics from the storm that's still going on now. With the snowdrifts, we prob had about 15+ inches. Not a lot but enough and it was HEAVY!

(Janet, I just heard that they haven't even plow in GWL yet)

http://www.thelegendofpalemale.com/HOME.html

Nice!

Snowdrifts!

 I see you all have what we have, still snowing here, blizzard/like conditions. Can't really tell how many inches yet because of the drifts. Was out shoveling last night at 9:30 and when I came in, I looked like a frozen ICE man/woman. My sweatshirt was like a piece of cardboard. I don't think anything will be open today.

BRAVO    Carly....great post!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2_-lJILmO4  Ok now this is sad.....why???   

http://www.pacast.com/players/falcon.asp    bguitar

   Falcon there now calling

http://www.pacast.com/players/falcon.asp    bguitar

When do you have enough snow?
I had enough snow righ after the first 10 flakes!!!

After only 10 flakes?
This is not a real winter for me.

Yes, that's why I don't like winter at all.

Me Either.  Yuck!!

Come on guys....where's the love here? 

It's just a season, it shall pass!   

The 69-foot steel tug boat Big Al was sent to the bottom of the sea early Wednesday afternoon as an estimated 100 spectators aboard 20 boats watched, photographed and took video of what is Martin County’s newest offshore artificial reef structure.

And perhaps no one is happier than Joyce Powell.

For the past 18 months, Powell’s life has seemingly revolved around the big boat that was donated to the MCAC Artificial Reef Fund by American Custom Yachts in Stuart. The tug was originally hauled out into ACY’s boat yard for repairs, but after many months of non-payment, the owner abandoned the ship and ACY took possession.

The MCAC “Reefers� led by Dave Powell and Curt Croteau, and Martin County Coastal Engineer Kathy Fitzpatrick, coordinated efforts to clean the vessel in accordance with standards set forth by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Developer Ted Glasrud, of Stuart and Minnesota, underwrote much of the expense of the tug’s preparation. As a result, the reef will be known on future charts as Glasrud Reef.

The tug sank quickly after it was properly positioned in line with other artificial reefs created by the county and the foundation through private contributions. The crew working aboard the Regina T tug and Molly work boat owned by McCulley Marine Services, and Treasure Coast reef consultant Kerry Dillon battled current, wind and the edge of the severe midday squall that impacted Martin County on the mainland.

After reaching bottom in 187 feet of water near the Wickstrom, a 168 foot long steel freighter deployed in January 2003, the Glasrud Reef coordinates were very close to Latitude N 27 12.676’ Long. W 80 00.261’. It is part of Martin County’s Sirotkin permitted reef area located in deep water.

Dave Powell said that Kerry Dillon told him that after the follow-up dive to check on the tug’s positioning, it landed correctly, bottom side down. Powell also said the target was to set the tug in a north to south direction and that was achieved as well with the bow facing just slightly east of south.

�Capt. Frank Masters who directed the operation at the helm of the Regina T did an outstanding job of handling the complex aspects that arose (Wednesday),� Powell said. “He made sure his crew’s safety was the of the utmost importance and adjusted to several hiccups that came up.�

As for Powell’s better half, seeing the big boat slip beneath the waves was a welcome sight.

�This project has been such a big topic in our home the past 18 months,� she said. “I’m glad to finally get the kid out of the house.�

Nooooooooo, not yet!

http://falcons.hamiltonnature.org/HCPPgalleries/WhosWho.htm  scroll down for pics of Dundas in flight...amazing peregrine he is.

KITCHENER, ONTARIO:
Tuesday May 30, 2006
Mark Nash reports for Rudy Kruppa: I thought you all might be interested in this update now that we have confirmed the identity of at least one of the territorial peregrines that has been gracing the skies in downtown Kitchener Ontario these past 5 weeks.

While the pair has been very active in the Kitchener downtown core, they are not currently nesting as best as we can tell at this point. Their presence has been very apparent over the past 10 days as the increased e-mail communications of their activities has more than doubled. They have been difficult to identify due to the height of urban landscapes involved.

It has been confirmed that the adult territorial male is non other than “Dundas�, a one legged peregrine that was produced at the Hamilton Sheraton Hotel nest site in 2004. At some point after his fledge and disappearance / dispersal of the Hamilton Sheraton Hotel territory, Dundas was first observed at the Lime Ridge Mall in upper Hamilton –missing one of his legs. Not only has this little bird beat the odds and survived the past 3 Ontario winters on territory on the Hamilton Mountain area,,, it now appears that he has taken up residence and attracted a sub adult female companion. It looks like he has once again defied the odds, (given this bird’s obvious disability/handicap).

While is still very difficult to positively identify this male Pefa without reading the black coloured band number, we are not aware of any other “one legged� peregrines in the neighborhood. We have allot of colour video footage that was shot of this bird and submitted by a member of one of the local Hamilton TV/cable networks, in addition to the many independent observations and photos that have been submitted over the past two years. Dundas has quite a following indeed!!

This is a “tough little bird indeed�, as the last report that we had received on Dundas was approx. 10 weeks ago from Hamilton, where he was observed stooping on, and successfully killing a large pigeon. While he struggled to carry this very large prey to the shopping centre plaza rooftop, he was observed feasting on it atop of the plaza roof shortly after landing. Minutes later, he was both observed and photographed leaving his fresh kill, and chasing off two adult crows that had taken an interest in his meal. One of the crows was knocked to the ground in a spectacular hit. The crow was recovered by the observer, but had obviously died on impact as a result of Dundas’ strike. Dundas was observed returning to his kill on the plaza rooftop corner and finished his meal.

For the first winter, Dundas was constantly being observed and photographed in the Mall area eating his kills at ground level, - anywhere and everywhere! At one point he was observed eating on the sidewalk, twice in the street/roadway and actually disrupted the flow of traffic – (much to the delight of the many motorists and those who came to Dundas’ aid as they stopped the traffic in an effort to protect him). Numerous reports were submitted by local Hamilton residents and business community members as they watched Dundas eating in the mall parking lot on a bench, apparently not able to carry his prey to safer elevations. This past year - 2005, Dundas has been routinely observed carrying his kills to higher elevations without any problems.

You can see some of the video footage shot of Dundas as a juvenile on the CPF web site pages at the 2005 Hamilton Photo Gallery. It is a large download, but well worth the wait to see this little peregrine.

This just goes to show us, that some of these birds have an incredible ability to overcome and adapt. We are monitoring the situation very closely, and will continue to update.

Here's my daughters cat Mimi. Why do cats love to be on monitors and keyboards? Because they  us and always have to be near. Or their just nosy!

Ask someone what his or her favorite animal is and most probably won't answer "vulture." That doesn't mean the threatened scavenging birds don't have their defenders, though. According to NatGeo News Watch and Çağan Şekercioğlu, senior research biologist at Stanford University, vultures are so threatened by the toxins found in their carrion's flesh, they sometimes need special preserves stocked with clean meat to thrive. Call it the vulture's version of the regional, organic, neighborhood restaurant.

A new such restaurant just opened in Iğdır, Turkey, near the Armenian border in eastern Anatolia. The region is especially important to four types of vultures: Egyptian, griffon, bearded and black. Turkish officials and conservationists like Şekercioğlu hope that a fresh selection of untainted carrion will protect these species from the toxic hazards that have decimated populations in other parts of the world. California condors were so threatened by the lead shot lacing their scavenged meals, the bullets are now banned within their range. In northern and central India, the livestock drug diclofenac, present in the cow carcasses vultures feed upon, nearly drove the birds to extinction. Such veterinary medicines can damage vultures' kidneys.

For anyone skeptical of why vultures should be preserved in the first place, the situation in India provides a compelling case. Vulture deaths there started a nasty cycle: The scavengers became the scavenged as feral dogs started eating the poisoned birds. Booming packs of feral dogs meant an increased threat of rabies in humans. It's easy enough to see why Turkey would wish to avoid such a situation.

The big question though is where does all this clean meat come from? Şekercioğlu says it will be a mix of "road kill, butcher shop remains, the carcasses of farm animals that have died naturally […] or animals like wild boars that have been killed by local hunters." (Don't worry, no lead poisoning here; the hunters use copper bullets for their boar hunting.) And if vulture fine dining sounds like something you'd like to make your own reservation for, the new restaurant will also feature hides for tourists, wildlife photographers and residents to watch from. Bon appetit!

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2867624/Whale-kills-trainer-at-SeaWorld-show-in-Orlando.html

You really can't blame the animal when they are in captivity. Killer Whales belong in the Ocean, not a tank. How terrible for that poor woman.