Karen, much earlier there, wonder why that is when our climate is more mild. Last year the first egg was laid at Lake Washington on 3-13, I was still watching eaglets (2) practicing flying, branching, in August. And I did notice Phoebe is building a second nest. I've been wondering if food is plentiful enough here that our winter residents (annas) are nesting or beginning to. They are still coming the the feeders several times a day, but this week they don't seem to be guarding, watching, the feeders where I can find them at almost any daylight hour perched someplace in my backyard. More like they are dashing in to eat, then leaving for periods before returning again - going where, I don't know.

Thanks-getting a Brown Creeper that close, while actually holding a camera, with sun behind me, has never happened before! I heard it coming and got ready, just had a fraction of second to get it, and had to focus though intervening branches, so it was a serendipity Trail cams could be considered OFF TOPIC, but I frequently get photos of wild turkeys, have also captured photos of owls, hawks, and ducks, etc. I usually put the cam on top of the mountain behind our house near a pond. From Game cam pics From Game cam pics 2-27-09, Farm pond trail, Eastern Screech Owl making a catch, 12:22 a.m. From Game cam pics 4-25-09, Our pond, American Crow, 2:44 p.m. From Game cam pics 5-4-09, Our pond, male Wood Duck, 11:10 a.m. From Game cam pics 4-27-09, juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk nailing frog (?) 6:33 a.m. From Game cam pics I bought the Non-typical Cuddeback Capture game cam last Feb. It uses a regular flash and is fast, clear, works perfectly, but animals quickly learn to avoid the flash, so I kept trying to buy an infra-red cam, but in vain. Even though I bought one IR cam after another they had to be returned because NONE OF THEM WORKED; in all of them the sensors were too slow to capture passing animals unless they hung around in front of the cam, the cams all had blurry low-quality images, and two had malfunctioning software. Fortunately, the companies supplied shipping labels for returns. These are the cams I bought March 26- HCO ScoutGuard SG550 5MP Infrared Hunting Game & Scouting Trail Camera May 18-Stealth Cam Rogue IDVR with 36 Infrared Emitters June 1-Timber Eye 5 megapixel game camera from the Sportman's guide. Finally, June 30, I bought a 2009 Cuddeback Capture IR 5.0MP Digital Game Camera on Amazon, thinking this would solve my problem, since the first Cuddeback works so well. At first the new cam sort of worked, although the images were blurry even in daylight, it was very slow-often completely missing us when we walked back and forth in front of the cam each day to test it. After a month the cam suddenly stopped working altogether and I returned it. I've read really good reviews on Amazon on the Leaf River IR trail cams. Here's one model on Amazon, but there's no review for this one http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Flash-5Mp-View-Mots/dp/B001F0MERG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1264032284&sr=1-2 There's a more expensive model that also has audio http://www.amazon.com/Digital-7Mp-2-4-View-Mots/dp/B001F0O5NC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1264032284&sr=1-1

The first egg hatch is expected any day now. They say it takes about 24 hours from the first pip to actual hatch. Claire

The red-tail hawks have returned to their nest on a ledge of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. There is a camera just inside the window. I watched them hatch three eggs last year and all three babies made it and flew away. This year they have three eggs again. I love the owls. What fascinating birds. Here is a link that might be useful: hawks