One warm spring day

On a recent day in March we visited the property in North Carolina. Thanks to the recent rains, the pond had water. Cody was so happy to see the water. Cody loves water, loves to swim, and loves retrieve sticks (since there aren't any ducks).





Sky does not like to swim. She doesn't mind the water. She will wade in until the water is high on her sides, but she always has her paws firmly on the mud. Thinking the main point of the game is to bring a stick back, Sky looks for a stick bigger than the one Cody is carrying.




Another game Sky plays is to wait for Cody to come back with the stick, grab it from him and bring it the rest of the way back. She then drops it before she gets all the way out of the pond. It means there is a constant search for a new stick to throw.








Cody really doesn't care for this game.


Staying in deeper water does help to keep little sister away.


But she can be very determined.


They had great time that afternoon. After all the romping in the water the two found a sunny place to stretch out. It didn't take long for the sun to dry them off.

A day in the life of a Raptor

Over the years I have enjoyed visiting nesting raptors. Eagles, falcons, osprey all are being spied upon by web cams. Fortunately they do not seem to mind. I thought I would share some of my favorite Raptor Web Cams with you. Please note that I have saved images from the cams and uploaded them from my computer, so not to take bandwidth from the sites.

These are two fluffy eagle hatchlings from Cambridge, Massachusetts.


The same site has an osprey cam, but as of today there is no activity.

The Sutton Center Bald Eagle Nest Cam originates in Oklahoma. There are two cameras on the nest giving a great view of the activity. As of today there are 3 eggs in the nest. It can take a few seconds for the web cam to load, so please be patient.

In downtown Portland, Oregon there is a Red Tail Hawk with a nest in a fire escape

An Eagle cam is located on the campus of The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services' National Conservation Training Center located in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, along the Potomac River. I could not get the streaming cam to load, so the link is to the still camera that uploads a new image every 15 seconds.

Three eggs are in the nest of an Osprey located at Hilton Head, SC. The picture quality isn't that great. It is a still picture uploaded every 5 seconds.

Two Great Horned Owls are nesting in a man-made nest in central New Mexico. Look around the page as there are archived pictures and more information about the owls.


There are several Eagle cams in California. I think the one below came from the Pelican Harbor CamThere is a Channel Island Forum that has a great deal of information about the eagles. I found four cams in the area. The Pelican Harbor listed above, West End Cam, Two Harbors Nest Cam, and the Seal Rocks Cam (which was off air when I posted this).

I know there are many more cams available, but these few will allow you to spend hours of enjoyment. I'll try to post more later and would love to know about your favorite cams.

Winter Flowers

One of the nicer parts of living in the South is that flowers bloom all winter long. They make the cold bearable. I guess many would not consider the winter temperatures here cold. When the temps do drop below freezing the blossoms wilt and fall. A long period of sub-freezing temps can cause leaves to turn brown. Some how the tightly packed flower buds are protected and fresh flowers open again when the days warm.