I can't tell if there are three little ones or just two, but the egg is definitely cracked!

Stone owl isn't the only weird cohabitation on Beleef de Lente.

http://www.beleefdelente.nl/torenvalk

Who lives here - torenvalk or duif? I saw a dove come out of the nest, stand on the perch, and then go back in and sit on the eggs? hmmmm...

and some new nest material to block them from view!

From http://inhabitat.com/2010/04/19/cows-on-treadmills-could-produce-six-percent-of-the-worlds-power/:

Cows on Treadmills Could Produce Six Percent of the World’s Power
by Sarah Parsons, 04/19/10

At one farm in Northern Ireland, cows are giving up green grass in favor of green power. In order to decrease his reliance on fossil fuels for electricity, farmer William Taylor created the Livestock Power Mill, a treadmill that generates power as cows walk on it. It may seem like a kooky idea, but Taylor could really be onto something: According to his calculations, if the world’s 1.3 billion cattle used treadmills for eight hours a day, they could produce six percent of the world’s power.



Cows are locked into a pen on top of a non-powered, inclined belt. To avoid sliding down the incline, the cow needs to walk, which turns the belt. As the belt turns, it spins a gearbox, which powers a generator. A feed box hooked to the front of the device keeps cows occupied and happy. One cow can produce about two kilowatts of electricity, enough energy to power four milking machines.

It may seem cruel to make cows sweat it out on a treadmill, but the routine is actually quite similar to the animals’ normal behavior. Cows walk about eight hours a day while grazing. Doing that walking on a treadmill provides the same amount of exercise with the added bonus of renewable power production.

For now, the Livestock Power Mill is just a prototype on Taylor’s farm. But if the idea catches on, we could see farms all over the world employing the useful device. Taylor estimates that a small farm could earn back a 50-cow system’s $100,000 price tag in a mere three years.

Via Popular Science

My questions are How long was the egg out there by himself? Did Beauty push it over there by accident or on purpose? I wonder about that light colored egg if its OK. Time will tell.


Archer is a good Daddy.

Beauty pushed it out on her way out - I think it probably got caught by her talon and rolled forward. Archer had it back in within a couple of minutes, so no harm done. It wasn't the light colored egg. The light one just suffers from a lack of pigment - Beauty ran out, or so it seems... Other nests have all sorts of pigment variations with no ill effects, so I believe everyone is o-kay!

Archer did good!

Life on the ranch is never dull... in the nestbox, however, things have been rather quiet for our dear friend Orville... until....

Beauty took off for her morning constitutional at 5:48, and all looked well from the Main Cam.




However, Orville, from his ring-side seat, noticed something very amiss...


Under cover of shift-change, one little one, eager to explore the world outside, was making a 'break' for it...


Enter Archer, the egg-wrangler, to our rescue!

A flurry of feathers, a shuffle of wings, the wily thrust of his beak, and a flourish of his talons, and despite that little egg's best efforts...
(movie)

Archer did prevail.

"Oh, bravo, bravo!" Orville exclaimed with delight! "It was a valiant effort on both parts..."



"But, little one," Orville whispered, as his father settled in, "if you want to see the world, hatch first!"

There's a little one that was a bit anxious this morning to get out of the nest box... It seems he's forgotten he's still in the shell...


Not to worry, Archer swoooped right in, and in a furious flurry of feathers,


Archer wrangled that errant egg...


right back to its nestmates!


He's got it all under control, okay, pardners?

And he gathered up the runaway egg!
(movie)

If anyone likes flowers, creative landscaping, art sculpture, arts & crafts architecture, history, and/or simply a fantastic view, I highly suggest this festival held on a private estate. It is very small scale, and more like a retreat than a festival. Lots of tree peonies, and a gorgeous and serene setting. I compare it to Sonnenberg gone wild - formal bones with wilderness edges. No pfs, but often a red-tailed hawk, as well as songbirds.  I believe a couple of rfalconcam members headed out last year with a photography group, and the pictures were fantastic, and from 2008, as well. I hope you'll come this year! (P.S. Feel free to ask any questions - I've been going for more than a decade.)

ezsha

The nursery.



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Linwood Gardens is pleased to present the 2010 edition of the Tree Peony Festival of Flowers. The gardens will be open from 9 am through 5 pm on May 22 and 23, May 29, 30 and 31, and June 5 and 6. Please note that these include the usual three weekends of Saturdays and Sundays, and Memorial Day Monday as well.

Any festival day 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 $10 donation includes not only the raffle ticket, but also a guided tour.

As there are several resident pets, please refrain from bringing any animals other than documented service animals.

A limited number of tree peonies are available for purchase, to be picked up in the autumn. Additionally, small gift items are also available.

Hot and cold beverages, soups, light lunch fare, snacks, and desserts may be purchased on site. Sorry, no picnic facilities are available.

Further updates will be sent as necessary, including dates for musicians and the recorder group.

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

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If you know someone who would like to receive information by email, please have them send an email to linwood.gardens.updateATgmailDOTcom, with the Subject: "Subscribe update".

You can always find information about the festival, open garden days and workshops at:
    http://www.linwoodgardens.org/


--
Linwood Gardens is listed on The New York State Register of Historic Places. Linwood also serves as a private residence and is only open to the public for the Festival of Flowers and to registered attendees of the open garden days and workshops. Current information is always available at http://www.linwoodgardens.org/.

I did three I tried to do more but it wouldn't load again  ???

For some reason the site is having troubles today. (It's frozen Firefox on me twice!) When you hit the <Reload> button, press down the <Shift> key on your keyboard. That seems to eliminate the problem. You'll have to reenter the information, but it also gives you the new security key as well.

Hope this helps!
ezsha

For more of the story,
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/04/23/hero-dog-leads-alaska-troopers-explosion-site-injured-owner/?test=latestnews

A blog entry from National Geographic, with pictures of kittens...

Perhaps, while we wait, you could enlighten us as to whether the apparent recent preference for Mercury's foot (other than fond memories) over Mercury's money bag is, in fact, the case.  

For Lord G? How does he get up there? Or is it just for watchers in general?

From Rex Features, an article about woolly Mangalitza pigs.

I stumbled across a fascinating link, Why are things colored? It explains the why of the colors we see around us (some of it scientific-y, but none the less fascinating for less technical inquirers). There's a clickable menu on the left-hand side - lots to explore! (I love the explanation about butterflies!)


It comes from WebExhibits, which has several other fascinating topics to explore, including Calendars through the Ages, Pigments through the Ages, and Butter.