Just enjoyed a pleasant half-hour (ok, probably more!) going through Jim and Dawn's trip to Italy. Did not dare go to other links as I would still be there. (As it is time in Ireland for tax submissions.... eeeeeeee-uuuu!)

Anyway - if anyone has not hit it, off you go. We do not need to read other travel writers while he's around. So vivid and fascinating. Thanks for the break!

(And why, might I ask politely, are you Lord G? And a March Lord to boot? [I kept reading "Marsh" for some reason.] I am not quibbling or trying to usurp... just sooooo curious!)

http://birdblog.marchlords.com/

Glad you're enjoying the posts Bobbie.

Regarding my screen name, it's not so much that I am Lord G, as that I invented him.  He's a character in a novel, a nobleman who lives in the border region (marches) of a fictional kingdom.

It looks like Italy was the place to go this summer.  Dawn and I spent nine days there earlier this month.  I've begun chronicling our trip on my blog.  You can view my posts on our day tour to Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii over at Peregrinations.

I'll be publishing more dispatches from our time in Rome and Tuscany in the coming days.

Our neighborhood is basically a woodland, and the Pileateds have been regulars in our back yard.  They were a bit scarce in the summer, but have started showing up daily once again. This is one of the juveniles who's just come into his adult plumage.

2001 introduced the Kodak Birdcam discussion board, on which you could attach up to 3 pictures to a post.  The problem was that, at that time, the 4 available Birdcam cameras did not produce very good images, and I suspect viewers were not as sophisticated about things such as capturing/archiving images a decade ago.  Banding was also a pretty low-key affair, and the available consumer-grade digital cameras were in the 1-3MP range, so I can't say whether any pictures were taken at those early events.

I used a Kodak DC3400 to take pictures of the fledglings in 2001 and post them on the Kodak Birdcam board; a very primitive version of my Pereginations posts.  I used a teleconverter to extend the camera's 2x zoom range, but I recall most of the pictures being pretty poor quality, and I don't have any of them from that time.

That was awful, glad no one was killed.  No offense to anyone, but shouldn't someone have to speak English to drive here?  At least highway signs are still in English.  Sorry, but that's how I feel.  Maybe that would have helped avoid the pain everyone is in 

Actually I think the pain would have been avoided had the driver of the van (a) followed the vehicle & traffic laws and (b) made sure everyone in the vehicle was appropriately secured with either a seat belt or a child safety seat.

Language has nothing to do with it.

The corner of Plymouth and Brown is notorious for traffic accidents because drivers try to beat the traffic light.  Kodak Office Building # 10 is right on the corner, and it effectively blocks the view of drivers on Brown and Plymouth (both of which are one-way streets at that location).  So someone trying to run the red light inevitably gets T-boned by someone who's zipping through the intersection because they have a green light and don't see the oncoming traffic from the other street. 

The problem there is not the location; it's that too many people in this world are "stuck on stupid".  Sorry to sound so harsh about this, but I'm in EMS and I get to see the results of people being stupid on the roads all the time.  This collision was entirely avoidable.

Those are some nice pics of the falcon at Kodak, Joyce!  Thanks for being sharp eyed (Brian too!) and being on the spot.  I couldn't make out anything definite on the band ID; as you said someone will probably have to get a scope on the bird, or one of us photographers with a long lens will have to get lucky before we ID this one.  She's a good looking falcon, to be sure.

I must learn more about that wonderful river. Thanks for the reports. Jim, will you have pix up on your blog soon??

I'm working on it!

Here's my latest Peregrinations post, with pictures of the juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron and some minks:
http://birdblog.marchlords.com/2010/09/at-riverside-herons-and-minks.html

Had a chance to read the Imprints piece more thoroughly since my last post - and I am wondering: Will Alkyonis stay around the area, or is it more likely that she will be driven off by Archer & Beauty? How much overlap is there in falcon territories? And of course we may not know this, but has Alkyonis found a mate? As usual, wild things give us more questions than answers. One of the reasons they fascinate us, I think.

Bobbie, Alkyonis is in Michigan, so no worries about territory disputes with Archer and Beauty.  The new falcon at the Eastman Business Park (EBP) is more than 5 miles north and west from downtown Rochester.  If it decides to stay I don't think there will be any problems with Archer and Beauty.  We don't know the gender of the EBP bird, but I'd guess it's female, based on a report we received from the Kodak folks who saw it stating that it was "dining on pigeon".  Time will tell if it attracts a mate to that site.  We've let the DEC know it's there, so if it stays around they'll hopefully work with the Health, Safety and Environment officials at Kodak to erect a nest box.

We've asked the folks at the Macomb County Audubon for more information about Alkyonis's situation; whether she has a mate, where she's staying, and so on.  We'll post whatever they send us, so stay tuned.

Another shot of Alkyonis from when we released her on June 30, 2004:

The Imprints post has been updated with a couple more pictures.  Alkyonis looks amazing!  Just like her mother, I think.

Great news to know that our rescues and her rehab at Wild Wings paid off.

I must learn more about that wonderful river. Thanks for the reports. Jim, will you have pix up on your blog soon??

I'm working on it!

Tam O'Shanter - Tam O'Shanter is Robert Burns' most famous narrative poem about the problems of bumping into witches at Halloween, particularly when under the influence of drink! The neighbourhood takes its name from the Tam O'Shanter Golf Course (Wikipedia article on Tam O'Shanter-Sullivan, retrieved in May 2008).

While Donna is quite correct about the origin of "Tam O'Shanter," I associate it with a hat of the same name (and origin).  They were popular for little girls back in the 30s and 40s (check Shirley Temple) and I had one that I was quite proud of.  Fancy new things were a rarity during the war years and that is probably why I remember it.  That, and the neat name.
Kapi in VT

They used to be popular headgear for golfers...

Our fierce Mariah, posted by Dumpsterkitty back in 2009 on the Yahoo board. Banding day, not sure what year. Ei, do you know when this was?

I think it's 2008...need to check my files...

Yup-2008-by Jim P.

One of my favorite shots from that Banding Day...

[I agree Janet, these pics of Jemison are one of Jim's best. Thanks Jim.]

I agree Janet, these pics of Jemison are one of Jim's best. Thanks Jim.

Carol, great job on the videos, wow, I had tears too. He wasn't making any sounds? Just flew free. I know MAK's out there looking for a blue band with a red stripe. 

He never made a sound.   

I heard the wind in his wings as he passed by.  That was all the sound I could have wished for.

I've published a few more pictures from Jemison's release event at Peregrinations: