That is so beautiful, Jean!!! I love how your photos always tell the whole story...like the bluejay in the background. Very cool! Bad for the bird, but once again, AWESOME that you were there to help him on his way, Chicka! I can't even imagine how incredible it is to be that close to an owl, to touch it and cuddle. Ok, I'm getting carried away again. LOL LOL @ line dancing! I'm very shy about shining the light up into their eyes in the early morning. I always feel like I'm going to mess with their wildness or something, so I haven't tried getting them all to dance with me...yet. :D They are SO loud now, I'm also worried some idiot in the neighborhood is going to do something stupid to quiet them up. I sound like an irrational, nervous mom! Brenda

StP=I wouldn't stop feeding the birds. What happens with Mother nature, stays with Mother Nature. I have a red shouldered hawk in my neighboring empty lot. He sometimes wakes me with his call. Lately I hear my cardinal pair off it the same lot and they are avoiding the feeders because of the hawks presence. Still, when they can, in the evening they will manage to sneak over and chomp on some seeds. Hawks are amazing critters. I also have a pair of swallow tail kites that circulate regularily. Magnificent birds. The do keep the smaller birds at bay at times, but I love to watch them display their sailing ability.

That is so neat to have a pair of owls make your front yard their home! I know that we have a pair of barred owls in my neighborhood, I think they live in the woods behind my house. It is so wild to listen to them at night when they really get vocal. They sound like a pair of demented monkeys when they are calling back and forth to each other! So far I haven't actually seen the owls although my neighbors have.

Carl Hiaasen wrote Hoot, a young adult novel about those burrowing owls in SE Florida. They made it a movie, too, but I didn't see it. I did read the book with my 12 y/o. (Hey, you're never too old for mom to read to you!) Kids work together to save an area of nests about to be destroyed by developers. It's very funny, he uses wit and irony to tell the story (and a few 4-letter words, FYI). Great for kids 12+ with an interest in environmental causes, and a sharp sense of humor. Good contemporary YA books. The characters and situations appeal even to kids who don't love to read (like my DS). They are "real" and have their dysfunctions. But they are motivated by a strong sense of right and wrong. Sorry, I took a tangent there. I do that when I've had coffee too late in the evening (and other time, too).