I'm no botanist but in my experience annual plants generally sprout, grow, bloom then die once frost nips them when the weather turns cold. Perennials on the other hand send up new growth in spring, bloom during their annual growth cycle, then go dormant once frost nips them when the weather turns cold. They return from year to year and repeat the process. Pennisetum is an ornamental grass commonly referred to as fountain grass. There are several cultivars. 'Hameln' is a perennial cultivar. ' Red Bunny Tails' is an annual cultivar that may perform as a perennial in Z7 - see the link below for more information. It would likely be an annual in my Z6 garden. Here is a link that might be useful: Pennisetum messiacum

Boy, those are ACTIVE little babies, Alice! The one keeps flapping his "wings" until he falls over! The adult face is amazing! Almost looks like a primate from some angles! Fun to watch all the seemingly impossible ways they can turn their heads! At the Decorah eagle nest the first egg hatched yesterday and the second today. I haven't seen the babies yet. About the only time the adults get up off the chicks is at the Changing of The Guard and feeding time. Decorah is streamed by USTREAM too, and all the advertising is very disrupting! A few days ago I had Decorah on and they went to an obnoxious ad just as "something" was happening! By the time the ad was over the "something" was over too! Grrr! Skybird Here is a link that might be useful: Decorah Eagle Cam -- and more!

Feather, I'm also into photography. (Altho you can't tell it by the photos I am posting on this forum!! LOL) I just got a new zoom lens and I'm learning how to use it now. I hope to get lots of GOOD photos of birds, someday soon! I'm sorry you suffer from carpal tunnel. I have it too, but mildly enough that I can still draw. I'm planning on doing some bird drawings with graphite pencil, colored pencil, and water color. Those are my mediums of choice these days (I gave up oils and acrylics years ago). Did you do your artwork from photos or just from memory? I have to have a model or photo or I can't seem to get things right and I doubt that I can get a bird to sit still long enough to draw it! LOL Re: the hawks Thanks so much everyone for your input. I'm just not sure. I have seen photos of juvie red-tailed hawks that had lots of spots on their backs. To me the eyes don't look as hooded as the eyes of a red-shouldered hawk, but I would have to bow to your opinions because I've never seen one in person, just going by the photos I've seen! I'm on the lookout for more hawks...there's just something so cool about the raptors!!

Unless you are in the wide open, treeless spaces of the Plains, forget it. Redtails are highly unlikely to use such a nest site. If there is a tree within 5 miles, it will be used before a lone pole. (I've bred redtails in captivity, and study their wild nesting habits.) Sorry. Thanks for thinking of these great birds, anyway. Put up some kestral nest boxes way up on the poles, and they will be used.