Nice owl! From the back I wouldn't have been able to identify it as an owl. It's amazing how similar raptor backs look - I guess that's a very effective camouflage pattern for a tree dweller. I wonder if sparrow backs work best in grassy environments. I can empathize with your DH slipping while trying to photograph the owl. When I was leaving my NYC neighborhood I wanted to take a photo from the sidewalk of the Siberian Elm outside my window. While backing up I tripped on the railing of the building steps next door and almost fell into the stairwell. I managed to grab the railing and pull myself back up without damaging me or the camera but it was a close call. Claire

I was so excited when I saw his tiny head this morning! The parents were acting funny last week, both crowded together and always in the nest...but I thought the hatching time had passed. I'm so happy they finally had a live birth. It's raining again today but it hasn't slowed down the little guy. Oh great, now I have my safari's in the morning on the Djuma cam, the eaglet and the raptor cam (5 chicks there). It's amazing I get anything done at work!! ~Susan

Annie -- the Pterodactyl story is just too funny. Would looooooooove to watch all the raptor going ons at your place. thunk -- a snowy owl????? Be still my heart, no lie. The fact that you saw Bald Eagles taking care of road kill is something I would enjoy watching more than 99.9% than whats on tv (and pretty much anywhere else) It's a bit of hazard driving with me if there are "flight" issues:) I ask my husband if he sees "that" and he'll say "Oh, that's a TV (short for Turkey Vulture)" and laugh, because he has no clue. I love turkeys 2Many! Don't you think it is utterly bizarre that they roost in trees HA! I've never seen them mating, but we did have a rogue guy who was going after people's wheels (image problems:) My husband wasn't going to move, and I'm like "are you're kidding me" and grabbed a coat from the back and began running at the turkey swinging it like a lasso :) not kidding -- not waiting for a turkey. Watched the vid of eaglets and could be such a HUGE TIME SUCK FOR ME! I love this stuff (we have some popular Peregrines in Pittsburgh) Utterly blows my mind how large the talons and beaks of the adult BEs are next to the eaglets. Would LOVE to watch them hunt! My goodness -- Smoky Mountains as backdrop -- spending ALL MY TIME OUTSIDE, 2Many. Not kidding. And you know what, I know people like your "acquaintance," which made me love your tomatoes even more HAHAHA! BTW, somehow I'm not surprised you have an artistic streak. That kind of stuff gives energy, doesn't it? CathyinSWPA

Looks like a hen got out of a caged area, or lost. They are no match for wild predators, of course. Poor chicky didn't have a chance in the wild outdoors. Predators must eat. I've been enjoying all the wonderful photos and stories. Jane, Susan and others, I love your hawk photos and, as I only know two or three hawks, I would like you to give the ID, if you know it. Were the above hawks Redtail and then Cooper's? I have had two gangs of wild turkeys, woodchuck (adorable pest, dug next to the foundation, Grrr), and my buddies, the Virginia opossum/s. A few weeks ago there was a black bear sleeping in a roadside maple a few hundred feet uphill from us. For the past few days there has been a "big brown bat" in the house. I suspect he/she got into the house when DH removed the stovepipe to clean it. He did block the flue opening, so maybe "B-cubed" was in the section of wide stovepipe and tumbled out before the stovepipe was taken outside. Two nights ago, I waited until dusk dark, open the front door wide, and waited to see if the B-cubed would exit. Nothing. I hoped that BBB had flown out the opened kitchen window the day before. But, no. Last night DH slept in a chair in the room where B-cubed was last spotted. He heard it moving or landing or flying around. Well, this morning, we looked around the area where it had disappeared and found it clinging to some wainscoting in the shadow of some furniture. We moved it into a little metal cage for now. We tried to let it go outside but of course it was daylight, and cold wind blowing and ruffling its fur. The guy had not eaten or had any fluid for two days or more, so we brought it back into the cage and inside the house and put a little bit a water in her dish and some bread. Maybe we can get some live mealworms at a pet store. I have the cage covered to keep it dark. But here is my dilemma: since the bat arrived the temperatures have gone from 48 to 28°F and I would think the big brown bat should be in hibernation this time of year (?). I want this bat to live, and so I don't want him to succumb to the frigid night weather. I thought that maybe we could drive to where it there is a cow barn of something and let it go at dusk; but that isn't much of a guarantee is it? Any suggestions? Thanks. ed-- for clarity