Not confirmed, but Rich did go back for a 2nd look - might be a Snowy near the Pax River - will keep you posted.

If so, we might do a father-daughter road trip soon.

Thanks,

Paul

Congratulations on the weight loss -- that's a particularly good accomplishment during the Christmas season!  Also, thanks for the great Pintail picture.  Those ducks are uncommon around here also. It reminds me that I should spend at least one day during this break down by the river, looking for waterfowl.


Paul

Thanks!
 
Amazon's also free Kindle application for Windows is quite cool.  I downloaded and installed it, and was reading Rise within a few minutes.  The e-reader works well, even without a Kindle tablet.

Now, the review:

O'Conner writes well.  I'd describe her prose as very University Creative Writing.  That's not a put-down - it means that went to scribble school (an MFA  from the University of California) and knows and uses all the tools.  Accordingly, her prose seems a a bit self-conscious. However, unlike most of the people who have studied the theory, she is also a fine storyteller. Let's put it this way -- in a game of rhetorical talon tag with the folks on the best sellers lists, she would win every time.  Her memoir, Lift, got good critical reviews, but only sold about 500 copies so far, and Rise is part of her effort to engage readers and introduce Lift to them.  I think it's a good strategy. I'm getting Lift, so it worked for me.

She reminds me a lot of the 19th century nature writers like John Burroughs. Like them, she writes gritty prose.  Probably too graphic for some readers -  death, blood, and so on.  After all, she's writing about raptors, and they kill. Her style is strong, immediate, direct.  In other words, she knows when to whack the adjectives.  Here's a sample:

Alone with my panting hawk, the jack rabbit in her feet, I ended the hare’s life and opened its chest so my hawk could begin to eat. The hare’s fur was coarse and dirty even though the rabbit was young. I wanted to think I had brought peace to a difficult life, but I knew it wasn’t that simple. I looked up with sweat stung eyes, stretching aching muscles and realized I was out of this time and yet a piece of the whole.

I wonder why their behavior is so different north and south of Lake Ontario?

Paul

Here's one of our new squirrels, whom Catherine has named Cha Cha. We don't know the age, ender, or anything else personal, but Cha Cha has distinct behavior, climbing right into the seed cake holder from the top.

Janet -- these new squirrels might be family members.  Here in Virginia, the last squirrels are weaned in early December, so Cha Cha could be her kid.  http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1656/045.016.n406?journalCode=nena

Paul

Count me in, too, please.

Paul

The last time we saw Zuzu, our flying squirrel, was nearly four months ago, on August 28, right before Hurricane Irene.  Had she died?  Did the loss of two trees make our back yard too exposed for a flying squirrel to feel safe?

We were delighted to see her again last night.  However, the biggest surprise was tonight, just an hour ago, as we were eating dinner.  It appears she has friends.  Zuzu is the small one in the middle.

Paul

OK -- one more time -- new method.


http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=3648598650103%3A446278080&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Images

Thanks for your patience,

Paul

Thanks, MAK - I think I may have found the problem and fixed it.

Paul

Fixed!
Try it now.

Paul

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=3648598650103%3A446278080&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Images

With lots of birds.

Paul

Happy Birthday, Ei!

Paul

Carly,

The people in Pennsylvania say that it's 9/C's sister, not brother,  8/Y, who has nested at the Cross Valley Expressway Bridge. http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/document/738856/71501-08z_pdf?qid=11984464&rank=2

This report has information on the 8/Y and her mate, *P/5, a 1996 hacked release from WIlliamsport, PA (page 180).

http://www.pabirds.org/PABIRDS/BackIssues/PBV12N4.pdf

Here is a story from Madame X's early days:

http://www.dvrconline.org/xvalley.html

Paul

That's a really good picture!  For those of you who have not been to the Model Boat Pond, the sight lines to the nest are not good and the nest is quite far away.  It's very hard to photograph.  I felt that Pale Male's light coloring was much more distinctive in person than in photographs -- did you have the same reaction?

Paul

Steve Faccio, Vermont Center for Ecostudies, in reply to my photo of 9/C: 

Hi Paul,
What a good looking lady -- she definitely takes after her mother!  We know little about her parents' origins, since they were both unbanded, but I can tell you that she comes from good stock.  Her mother was the resident female at the Fairlee Palisades for at least 11 years (hard to know exactly since she wasn't banded) and holds the record as the most productive bird in Vermont's post-DDT population.  She nested successfully every year that she was present, producing at least 35 fledglings, for an average productivity of 3.2 chicks/year! Her last year nesting was 2006. 

I banded chicks at Fairlee nearly every year that she was present, and after 4 or 5 years she began to get comfortable with us rappeling to the nest ledge.  In 2003, as I was preparing to band the chicks, she landed right next to me and watched the entire process!  In 2004 she did it again.  I've attached a photo of her from our 2004 encounter.  Just to reinforce how old 9/C is, I have no photos of her as a nestling because I didn't have a digital camera at that time!

An odd coincidence is that one of 9/C's brothers (there were 3 chicks in 1997; 1F, 2M) has been the resident male at the Cross Valley Expressway Bridge in Wilkes-Barre, PA since 1998.  As far as I know, he was there through 2009, which is the extent of our database, so he may still be there.  Weird that 2 chicks from one natural nest wound up nesting at bridges.

I've also attached our most recent newsletter which briefly summarizes results from our 20 years of banding data in one of the cover stories, along with a much more detailed report to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (if you're interested).  A manuscript from that report is also being prepared for submission to the Journal of Raptor Research.

Thanks for your info and interest in Peregrines.

Best,
Steve