I know, Ei.  The year has gone by so quickly and I do remember when he was taken to the nursery and we all worried about him.  I watch him every day and love reading about all his adventures.  They recently posted this about his sister, Mei Lan, who will be 3 in Sept.:

The year after the birth of a giant panda cub is a quieter year for our department. We don’t have the time pressure of a 24-48 hour fertile period to contend with and the long hours, anticipation, hope and worry that come with waiting for a birth and monitoring mother and cub during the critical weeks after. The year after a birth we are able to relax a little and enjoy watching the new cub grow and learn. We have been relishing this time with Xi Lan just as we did with Mei Lan. All too soon a cub grows up, becomes independent from its mother, and is ready to begin the adult portion of its life. That is the case for Mei Lan.

Mei Lan will be three years old on September 6. Those years have passed very quickly for us. Next spring she will very likely experience her first estrous cycle, which means she is officially an adult. She will be ready to mate and hopefully have cubs of her own. To do this, she needs to move to a new home where there are potential mates available for her. And so, we have begun preparations to send her to the birthplace of her parents, the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Mei Lan’s departure for China will be bittersweet for us. She is a member of our family, a favorite child. Sending her so far away will be difficult and we will miss her terribly. But we know it is the right thing for Mei Lan. She needs to have the opportunity to have a family of her own and we know she is going to a beautiful place where she will be loved and receive excellent care. It was bittersweet for the Chengdu Research Base staff to send Yang Yang and Lun Lun to us. Now the Research Base staff is looking forward to welcoming Yang Yang and Lun Lun’s daughter.

The date for Mei Lan’s departure has not been set, yet. We are planning for early 2010, so that she will be at the Research Base before her first estrous cycle. The Research Base staff probably will not try to breed her in 2010, but it will be a good learning experience for her to be around potential mates for her first cycle. We will update you periodically on plans and preparations for Mei Lan’s departure. We hope that you will understand that we too are sad about her leaving. We also hope that you will join us in celebrating her future at her new home.

   
   
     
Monday, August 31
For those that did not know, yesterday was Xi Lan’s first birthday. For the special occasion he was provided with a multilayer colorful ice cake (with sweet potato frozen inside) and papier-mâché balloons. We gave him about 10 minutes alone with his treats before we let Lun Lun in and he used his time wisely. He climbed on the cake and tried to eat parts of it and really examined it from every angle.  Then he approached his balloons with caution from the climbing structure. But, once he reached them, he had no fear and inspected each one carefully. He then decided he would take a short nap. But, as soon as Lun Lun was let in, he decided to go back after his goodies. Then, in an effort to protect his cake from Lun Lun, he carried each layer of his cake one piece at a time up the climbing structure, chewed on it for a bit, dropped it, and went back for the next layer. After all the adventures, he slept for the rest of the day!

Happy Birthday Xi Lan!   

Bai Yun's baby is getting BIG!  

I notice Quest's signal hasn't been updated for 6 days now, am I reading it right and is that normal?

Carly,

The last update was on Aug. 23 at 21:02 (9:02 PM)-4 days ago.

Kris

Nice house, Janet and loved the bird pics.  We have 3 Hummers that have been fighting for 2 days over the feeder.  They're so territorial and I love to watch them.  We have a weather stick just to the left of the feeder and every night that we're sitting on the back deck, a Hummer will fly in to feed and sit on that stick while we talk to it.  Totally not afraid of us and sometimes I'm holding Toby (our BIG cat)  and him being there doesn't even bother them. They're little but ....

Janet,

I finally got to look at your pics and really enjoyed looking at them all.  We haven't been to the Falls in years and only live an hour away but now after seeing them, I want to go again.  Thanks for posting them.

Kris

I knew this was inevitable -sad but a good decision.  I'll join you, Dot.   

Kris

They looked like they were having a ball!  Thanks for sharing the pics!   [/color]

Azalea on the Move: This is the last web photo of the season of Azalea as she looks down at Joe Foreman take her photo which has been posted on both forum sites. Shortly after this photo at 7:45am yesterday August 21, she flew from this nest tree branch.  As soon as I receive the detailed satellite map I will get it posted on this blog site, but we do know that she left Norfolk Botanical Garden by sometime mid-day on Friday and headed due north across Chesapeake Bay and by evening was on the Upper Peninsula of Virginia near Kilmarnock.

Here's the picture Joe Foreman was taking...

Don't know where you found this picture of Azalea but it's much better than what they posted.  Thanks!  She's a beauty for sure!

Azalea on the Move: This is the last web photo of the season of Azalea as she looks down at Joe Foreman take her photo which has been posted on both forum sites. Shortly after this photo at 7:45am yesterday August 21, she flew from this nest tree branch.  As soon as I receive the detailed satellite map I will get it posted on this blog site, but we do know that she left Norfolk Botanical Garden by sometime mid-day on Friday and headed due north across Chesapeake Bay and by evening was on the Upper Peninsula of Virginia near Kilmarnock.

Beautiful pictures, Lou!

Kris

Man!  That must have been an ugly storm!  I have never seen that either - even after hurricanes (squirrels, but not the birds).  Has anyone heard from Anne/Fred or Nicole yet?

Nicole messaged me yesterday AM -didn't say anything about a tornado in Montreal. 

Kris

Kris - we had a great time, but that place is huge!  The guys hit the overload and got a bit fussy - needed food, too.  A couple of days is needed to do the CMoG.  I loved the section with the American cut glass.  It is a good place to visit.  We had lunch at a local joint, so the guys were happy with "regular" food.  I will post pictures soon.

Can't wait to see them!

My time is embarrassing  but loved the picture!  Thanks, Aafke!

Kris

Janet,

I had talked to Sue just before you were coming to Watkins and she'd hoped you would make a stop to visit.  So glad that you did!  I lived in Corning for a couple years in the 60's and whenever anyone visited, we went for a tour of the glass works.  Haven't been there in years but would like to sometime soon.

Kris