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

Lisa and Cathy, Thanks for your encouragement. This year, the nest box is where I don't have but a few steps to run down should I have to :) Plus, I've had my knee replaced since last summer so I'm doing steps MUCH better. But the bottom line is THERE WILL BE NO HOUSE WRENS! I put a sign up where they can see it so I expect it'll work...I WISH! So far so good. I have two babies who are growing fast. And they are tough kids so there's nothing could stop them!! Bluebird blessings, Linda...

You are a busy lady! Don't you feel disconnected when the computer isn't in operation.? I know I do! But maybe you were too busy to care. Is 31 up or down from other years? My you have a lot of birds and animals to report on. Guess the squirrels wouldn't be thriving in your area if there was nothing to eat, so it must be working for them. Do you blindfold the squirrels when you relocate so they cannot find their way back? (just kidding)

dbarron, When we turned our screened-in porch into a fully enclosed, proper sunroom a couple of years ago, we turned one part of it into a proper mudroom wit a boot tray and shoe shelves and hanging racks for coats, with shelves for hats and gloves. I LOVE it. The mudroom catches so much mud and dirt that used to make it into the house, and with two firefighters in the family, there's always lots of dirty, sooty muddy, shoes, boots and socks. I It helps that a lot of the dirt and mud are left in the mudroom instead of being tracked all over the house. Now, if only I could convince Tim to build a mini Mud Room at the doorway on the opposite side of the house that leads out into the dog yard. Our dogs track in more mud than the people ever have. Living in the country is hysterically entertaining though. Yesterday when I opened the front door to let a cat go out, three banty chickens tried to run indoors. I don't know why. Just to see if they could I guess. I'm also astonished at how often a hummingbird will fly in an open door. Why? We feed them outside. Invariably they settle on a blade of the ceiling fan and ride it around and around the room while a cat or two go crazy trying to figure out how to jump out and nab the hummingbird. I have to put the cats in another room behind a closed door and turn off the fan and then catch the hummingbird and release it back outdoors. Then the cats sulk all day because I didn't let them catch the hummingbird that was foolish enough to venture indoors. One of my worst country living experiences (out of many) was one day when I was out working in the garden in 2009 and looked up and saw about 25 head of cattle running straight for me and the garden. I am pretty sure my simple little woven wire fence wouldn't have stopped them. However, we had an outer fence on one side only (the road side, from whence escaped cattle tend to come) with three strands of barbed wire and that diverted them. I had visions of being trampled, but it didn't happen. It took about a month of odd cattle appearances/disappearances for us to figure out whose cows they were and how they were making it onto our property---seemingly appearing out of nowhere and then disappearing as quickly. Once we alerted the rancher, whose land did not directly abut our land, he checked his water gaps and found a problem and fenced it and I haven't been visited by a herd of cows since. We've also been visited by goats, but not in a few years. There's also an escaped pea fowl roaming the area. Its owners and passers by have seen it on our property but I haven't, making me wonder if they were seeing the female wild turkey that hung around here with the injured leg until she healed. She might have looked like a pea fowl to someone driving up the road. Never a dull moment here. It is a zoo or a circus here just about every day. George, I did a lot of bee research before concluding it was more work than I was willing to take on until Tim retires and is here to help me more with the property and the animals. We have tons of native bees to do pollination (and all the hollies are in bloom and bees are everywhere around them this week) so we don't "need" bees because there aren't any around, but I want bees for the honey. Dawn