love their spunk. And I know it's an attempt to humanize, but sometimes they appear as if they were flying for the sheer joy of it. The first animal I ever took to a rehabber was a kestrel. I can only imagine how terrified it must have been when I bent to scoop it up. My mother wouldn't have approved of me having it in the house, so I had to hide it in my room until my grandpa (who understood the situation)could get a hold of his neighbor, who was a certified rehabber, to ask when we could bring it. I kept it in a cat carrier with a cloth over it to darken it, but once the bird cried out in that loud shrill "KEEEE KEEEE KEEEEE!" and Mom came to the top of the stairs and called down to ask what that noise was she'd just heard. I told her it was the radio and she actually bought it, which is no surprise, considering the junk I listened to in high school. As a kid I was always running in and asking for a coffee can with a good tight lid or a jar or something, so by then she should have known better. Anyway, the kestrel ended up making the rounds of classrooms and nature awareness programs because its wing was permanently damaged.

Sadly I cannot see the pics. But having known an American Kestrel up close and personal, I know they are incredibly beautiful and colorful falcons. They will sometimes take small birds, but definately not their primary diet. They will nest in appropriate nestboxes in the right habitat, but they also have to compete with the invasive European Starling. When we lived on a farm, we had kestrels nest in a box mounted right outside our window, so we could watch them bring food to their young, and perch nearby to hunt. What a wonderful memory. Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.mn.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/ecs/wild/kestrel.pdf

rhizo, I live in West Australia and I get so many little geckos at my place but strangely never used to get them much at other houses here. I love them, and have stumbled across little baby geckos in various places too which are super cute!(usually somewhere dark like in the garden shed) I can't remember the technical names but there are two types I usually see, some little black ones, and some flesh coloured ones (almost translucent). skinks I'll usually set down in a garden bed and the geckos I'll let them go against a wall so they can climb up to safety - they seem to always want to head upwards (really cute when they stick out their front legs to grab a hold of a wall) :) Im not sure why there are so many here at this house and I'm always finding gecko eggs lying around in odd places too.

@User I can totally relate to decision fatigue. There are so many decisions to make. When I was buying lights I called Lighting New York with a price question. The lady who answered was so nice and ended up giving me a pretty substantial discount. @shead Congratulations! I remember when you posted the pictures of the damage. It must have been devastating, but now you can look forward to getting back on track. @Lou Myers Thanks! One good thing about our former builder was that he hired an excellent trim crew. I was going to wait until all of the floor is down to post a picture, but what the heck... Pardon the trash and dust. I'd estimate we are about 40% complete. Unfortunately even when the inside is complete in less than two weeks, we can't get a certificate of occupancy without the yard being graded and the landscape installed. The ground may not be dry enough for another month or two.