The sound and feel of a deer tongue licking my ear for the salt at five AM sleeping on the beach at the Asilomar in Pacific Grove with the breakers on the rocks close by. (I used to sleep there instead of the barracks and will never forget that morning.) The loud purr of my 20 yo cat Liz on my shoulder while I sit in front of the computer and Max on my lap meowing to be brushed. The lonely cry of a red tail hawk flying over head. The raucous conversations of the wild flock of parrots that fly over the neighbor hood every evening. The buzz of a hummers wings as it dives when I get too close to the nest up in a tree. Our doves in the morning and bourkes in the evening in the aviary. The sound of a fire with some cedar or juniper in the mix popping and whistling. The trains that rumble by two blocks away twice a day and their whistle at the crossing. Icicles dripping and sometimes falling from the roof ledge when I lived in Iowa. The crunch of snow under foot when delivering the Des Moines Register at 4:30 AM and my breath as it froze in the scarf around my face 1962, 3 and 4. The echo of the slightest sound when hiking in the painted rock canyon in the desert. The wind across Pinyon Flats east of Idle wild as it rushes through the 5 needle pines and the water in the stream half way up the mountain from Hemet where alders grow in the middle of the stream. Disney Land and Knots Berry Farm shooting off their fire works every night at 9:30 in the summer. Haven't been there since I quit in '87.

Was just watching the Lucy the Owl cam (side by side with the eagles), and one of the babies backed right up to the camera and pooped into it (toward it)! Funny because it was so unexpected! The owl babies don't do much! Only 20-some viewers! The eagles have been great! Very active much of the time! When I tuned in, one of the babies was "out" and there were almost 150,000 viewers. The wind picked up and the baby crawled "inside," and a couple thousand viewers dropped off very quickly. Just a couple minutes ago ago the mother was up and doing stuff (butt to camera, couldn't see the babies), and then the father arrived with dinner. Couldn't see the feeding--butt to camera again! The mother left right after the father got there---he looked, as if to say, where are YOU going! Now Daddy Dearest is sitting on the Peeps, and the bloody dinner leftovers are laying in front of him! Chicks are taking a warm nap! Viewers going down again! Papa's pulling feathers from around him in against his body to insulate them more! I love it when the adult birds are sitting on the chicks and they suddenly look down as if to say: What the H___ are you doing down there??? Have stuff to do outside! Time to x out for a while! If anybody hasn't found it yet, watch the video of what the area around the nest looks like! I had visions of them being out in The Wild somewhere, but there are actually houses right under them! Skybird

I just brought up this thread to be mean . . . In my garden, the vole problem has been very limited this year. The owls moved out of the barn a few months ago but an owl flew over the garden back about October 1st when I was out there before daylight. And, I found pigeon and dove feathers in the barn on a couple of mornings - actually, what was left of a dove including the feathers. So, the owls still used the barn right thru the Summer. When I was in the garden yesterday, a large red-tail flew over very low. In a few minutes, he flew back over the garden. Shortly thereafter, we scared a rabbit out of the double row of mustard. It was remarkable that he was brave enuf to hide there with so little cover. The hawk probably resented our arrival and the subsequent departure of the rabbit. Here's something I wrote on the veggie forum just a couple weeks ago: "I've frequently seen a red-tail hawk sitting on a high post at the end of the neighbor's grapes. He will be out there for a little while even when we are just 50 - 100 feet away. The other day, he was eating something (and I'm absolutely certain it wasn't a ripe grape ;o). I stayed out of the garden until he'd finished every 'mousel' and flew away." Maybe a high post nearby would help encourage the wild birds-of-prey. They've certainly been a help for me this year. BTW - On 2 occasions, I have been successful with, at least, getting the vole to vacate its home using a hose and water. Filled in the hole with soil and that was that. Level ground but very porous, rocky soil . . . If I had to do this with every vole hole in the nearby alfalfa fields it would be a full time job. digitS'

I have fond memories of my dad taking me to see them when I was a kid. We'd go every year (probably drove him nuts after a while!lol) Thinking of Sweet Georgia Brown! Have fun!