I sure miss Marty's view of the world!   
Patricia (Florida)

Me, too.  She really added something.    

She sure did.

Blackwater and Norfolk are going to go under snow late Friday morning/early afternoon.  Governor McDonnell of VA has already declared an emergancy (more for SW Virginia).  12 to 30 inches of snow is predicted (and the weather people have been horrible so far).  Both nests are going to be probably experiencing NE winds, as the snow is going to pick up wet from the Atlantic.  Nor'easters are the bad boys.  Fingers crossed, as both sets of parents are going to have about 36 hours of a very full nest of heavy wet snow.   

Yeah, this is gonna be the BIG one. Poor Eagles, hope they can handle all that snow. 6 to 12 predicted here but most accumulations in the South. I wanted snow but this is ridiculous. The stores are going to be crazy!!!

Now, don't go blaming NASCAR, please?


Feb 2, 2010 10:30 pm US/Eastern NJ Man Indicted For Shooting His Pet Parrot

MORRISTOWN, N.J. (AP) ― A New Jersey man accused of shooting and killing his African gray parrot with a BB gun because its screeching annoyed him while he was watching a NASCAR race on TV has been indicted on an animal cruelty charge.

Dennis Zeglin, 67, of Randolph was indicted Tuesday by a Morris County grand jury. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $15,000 fine.

Zeglin allegedly shot the parrot, named "Mikey," three times on June 7. His wife called police when she saw that the bird had been killed.

Zeglin's attorney, Stephen Fletcher, said his client was intoxicated at the time and afterward received treatment for alcoholism. He said Zeglin regrets the incident and hopes to be accepted into a pretrial intervention program.

I remember that story in the paper.....was horrific. Poor bird.

What a long successful day for the oversized whoopers. Great post gayle...thanks. Hope they do well.

[Unfortunately Scratch has gone into "henopause" so no eggs from her anymore. She did enjoy the whipped cream frosting and cherry filling Craig made for my Schwartzwalderkirschtorte!]

Unfortunately Scratch has gone into "henopause" so no eggs from her anymore. She did enjoy the whipped cream frosting and cherry filling Craig made for my Schwartzwalderkirschtorte!

Wow, I had to look that one up: Black Forest cake (American English) and Black Forest gateau (British English) are the English names for the southern German dessert Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, correctly spelled Schwarzwälder-Kirsch-Torte (literally "Black Forest cherry liquor torte").

Typically, Black Forest cake consists of several layers of chocolate cake, with whipped cream and cherries between each layer. Then the cake is decorated with additional whipped cream, maraschino cherries, and chocolate shavings. In some European traditions sour cherries are used both between the layers and for decorating the top.[1] Traditionally, Kirschwasser (a clear liquor destilled from tart cherries) is added to the cake, although other liquors are also used (such as rum, which is common in Austrian recipes). In the United States, Black Forest cake is most often prepared without alcohol.  GO CRAIG!!!!!   

Join the crowd Scratch!!!! I can't lay any more eggs either!   

With more snow coming in, Rich was making sure that the feeders were full.  He even checked on the squirrels.  It appears that Ruby has been dining well, as our squirrell population is greatly diminished.  She is not dinning where she is "shopping" - she's taking her food "home".  ???

Poor squirrels....and well-fed hawk.

Glad to hear that Ruby is having a good winter.

Aren't Red Shouldered Hawks great!  The pair at my office did a low level pass over my building today, flying less than a wingspan apart and calling loudly to one another.  They looked wonderful against the snow covered trees.

Paul

Ahhh, I can vision it, the snow was beautiful today.

[Happy Birthday Deborah!]

Happy Birthday Deborah!

Thanks Donna and Gayle for the info.  The video was entertaining, but how in the world did the alchohol get there and now we know!     Another urban legend debunked!   

I guess there's pretty much a "debunk" for  everything....even Beauty taking that pigeon..she "debunked" us..that little----

 National Geographic Crittercam and WildCam

 As most of you know, Afke made the difficult decision to move on to other endeavors. The cam has been down the last few days as we haven't yet found someone to take over for her. Pete has recruited some folks to help us for a while and the cam should go live again tomorrow morning (Botswana time).... We appreciate your patience as the program goes through some changes. Kyler

Reply:

I liked the cam better years ago when it was just Pete's Pond and didn't make you watch a National Geographic commercial every time you reloaded it. The reliability was bad, but it hasn't been that much better during the few times I've watched since NG took over. I'd love to see it go back to being a private project. What kind of $$ do they need?

Reply: This is the lastest from the Mashatu website
The National Geographic camera at Pete's Pond has a planned cut off date of 28th February 2010. We are in the process of trying to source staff and resources to continue with the live streaming from Pete's Pond, and in the pro...cess have run into unforeseen difficulties. We are doing our best to get "... See More the show on the road" again, and ask that viewers please bear with us in the interim. We will keep you posted. Many thanks for your patience and understanding. From The Mashatu Game Reserve Team

Well there ya go...thanks Gayle....sometimes ya just never know.

What's with the second picture??  A skier with an umbrella???

The Morton Salt girl in a hurricane.

LOL...I had to go look at my salt container!!! Perfect!

The humor of seeing tipsy critters all aside, I've wondered about the overall attraction to the fruit (alcohol aside).  Then, does the fruit ferment on the tree?  I think it is pretty interesting all told.  Wonder what the fruit is?

Are you familiar with the Marula tree? If not, it’s a beautiful African tree that produces wonderful and tasty fruits! Yummy fruits, which apparently make elephants drunk…? The story has been going on for ages…so much so that it has even become a liquor, called “Amarula� for connoisseurs (very tasty by the way, a little like Bailey’s)!
The story is traced back to the 1970s (1974 to be exact), when a guy by the name of Jamie Uys produced two documentaries called “Beautiful People� (he also directed “The Gods Must Be Crazy�). The footage, among other things showing wild animals getting drunk after eating the marula fruits, became an immediate hit (and even received an award for best documentary). Since then millions of people are still persuaded that elephants do indeed get drunk with such “potent� fruits! The question is: is it true?

What's with the second picture??  A skier with an umbrella???

LOL, I didn't even notice that!!! Maybe a weather vane...who knows....but thanks.

Looks like Quest likes flying over Lake Ontario. I believe this was yesterday. Good girl....I  her.

http://rfalconcam.com/imprinting/?page_id=737