DC brought another lunch at 1:38, and ate and fed the little ones with Beauty sitting right over them! They all had a bit of a snack before he left.

 

 

Beauty brought a big lunch @ 1... munchkins very eager to eat!

OK-is it just me or does that look like a chicken straight from the supermarket?  

I don't know, but it looked almost as big as DC when she first brought it in! And there were lots of leftovers...

Beauty brought a big lunch @ 1... munchkins very eager to eat!

Little ones peeping, B has prey! ezsha

Howdy to all! I've missed being here on the boards, but I see DC & B have been doing all right this year in the egg department  , and the drama department    !

Here is my annual posting of Linwood Gardens' Tree Peony Festival of Flowers. This year the flowers will be peak on the third weekend, just after the Lilac Festival.  Hope to see you there! ezsha

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Linwood Gardens is pleased to present the EARLY 2013 edition of the Tree Peony Festival of Flowers. The gardens will be open from 10 am through 4 pm on May 11 and 12, May 18 and 19, and May 25 and 26. Please note the new hours, and the usual three weekends of Saturdays and Sundays, but no longer Memorial Day Monday.

Due to the recent warm weather, the early varieties are opening as we speak, and we will be open for Mother's Day weekend! Also, we will be visited by several musician groups this year:

Dulcimers:  May 11, 2:00 pm
Recorders:  May 19, 1:00 pm
Alpine Horns:  May 25, 2:00 pm
Bagpipes:  May 26, 1:00 pm


Any festival day, rain or shine, provides spectacular views of the Genesee Valley, the summer house, and the rest of the grounds and gardens. The variable weather of spring strongly influences bloom times. The earliest tree peonies, the Japanese varieties, should begin blooming first, and current updates will be available on the website. Historical photographs are on display in the Summer House. If it gets chilly, there will undoubtedly be a cozy fire going in the Oak Room.

When you visit, the suggested donation is $8, which goes toward garden preservation. This donation also allows you to enter the raffle to win a tree peony. A $12 donation includes not only the raffle ticket, but also a guided tour.

There is no shade in the parking areas to allow animals to be left safely in your vehicle. As there are also several resident pets, for your pet's health and safety, please refrain from bringing any animals with you other than documented service animals.

Light lunch fare, cookies and tea cakes may be purchased on site. Additionally, small gift items are also available.

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If you would like to visit at another time this summer, additional options are available.

A number of workshops are offered this summer. Current information and registration forms may be found here.

There are five Open Garden Days this summer:  Saturday, June 8, Wednesday, June 26, Thursday, June 27, Saturday, July 20, and Sunday, July 21.  Bring your lunch and enjoy the visual abundance of Linwood Gardens for a day to paint, write, photograph, or simply explore and reflect. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. $20 and pre-registration are required.

Guided tours for groups of at least 15 are another option, perfect for gardening and architecture enthusiasts. Bring your group for an historic tour of the gardens, buildings and landscapes. Since the early 1900s, three different generations have added architectural features and unique plant collections creating a fascinating family history. We will provide light refreshments. $15 per person.

And finally, Linwood Gardens is available in the summer for wedding ceremonies, retreats and seminars. The historic gardens and summer house make a perfect setting for a peaceful day in the country.

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As spring is providing a beautiful and peaceful setting here, we hope to see you soon!

Sincerely,
The Tree Peony Festival of Flowers staff and volunteers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk5bfYeGI7M#

From Nothing To Do With Arbroath

[Ezsha,Sorry, I spelled your name wrong. Lola]

Ezsha, I split this into its own topic.

In the future, you can post your falcon watch reports by joining the FalconWatch blog.

Thank you, Shaky! Wow, there's a lot of information over on the FalconWatch blog joining pages!

Ezsha,
Sorry, I spelled your name wrong.   

                     Lola

Lola - not to worry... spelling errors happen!  I can't tell you the number of times I've used the <Modify> button on my posts to correct my boo-boos!  That little button is handy-dandy!

Glad to know how to post properly if I have the opportunity again, but hopefully never again as a result of a really bad day!

I'm posting this here, as it was a banding day watch, and I cannot otherwise post to this part of the board.

As a result of a very bad day, I unexpectedly was able to do a brief falconwatch when I found myself at the base of the Times Square building last evening.

No watchers could be found anywhere   , although the parking attendant said they were normally present about 6 p.m with folding chairs and tripods. He also said that he had never heard the falcons as loud as they were at banding. (For the record, walking around downtown asking people with cameras if they are falcon watchers only got me one crazy look, and led to a couple very interesting conversations...)

Thanks to the suggestions in previous forum posts, I went to He's and tried a coffee bubble tea. I discovered the drink was delicious, but I'm not so crazy about the texture of black tapioca blobs, especially when they get stuck in the giant straw. (However, the biodegradable spitball potential there...   )

I looked around trying to identify what I had only seen from the cameras, and was delighted to see someone on Mercury's foot. Armed only with a point-and-shoot, by the time I walked up to the BSB to get a better view, no one was there. Lots of ducks, geese, and seagulls on the river were swimming about.

A couple from Niagara Falls with two little boys were on the bridge with a camera, but weren't (yet) falcon watchers.  I shared more about the Rochester (and Buffalo, and Canadian) pefas, and I believe one little guy will hold his parents to checking out the website....

Coming back to the TSB, I saw a pefa catching thermals above the Old Changing Scenes restaurant, possibly hunting a meal. I believe from the shape and no missing flight feathers that it was DC. He was doing huge circles, when all of a sudden a much smaller bird decided to attack (kestrel?).

The smaller bird was flying great guns, and almost got to DC, when in a split second, DC did an aileron roll to prevent contact. (No wonder the military studies these guys for flight!) The little guy chased DC from the OCSR west past Times Square before I lost sight, with DC not appearing distressed or at full speed, and doing those amazingly quick rolls the three times his pursuer almost caught up to him.

Ten seconds later, coming in from the south, a pefa with missing flight feathers came to the platform and landed with a thud on the southeast corner of the platform. It was Beauty, checking in with Orion at 6:20.

After a bit, with a single cry, she flew toward OCSR and disappeared behind the building after a couple of circles.

At 6:30, with no other falconwatchers in sight, I departed downtown, happy that on a day that had otherwise been highly stressful, I had finally seen Rochester falcons at the nest site!

(Sorry for the poor picture quality - point-and-shoot with no folding chair or tripod...   )

ezsha

P.S. Thank you to all the street watchers (and others) who post enough information on the forum to make even a beginner's first watch possible to do solo without being completely lost.

Both calming down...  ezsha

on outer edge of nb 

Little GUY says hello! ezsha

According to Carol, he's a boy!

New bling right leg...

bare hands returned, baby quiet except a few squawks. ezsha