Live from Decorah, Iowa

Join over 100,000 viewers simultaneously watching the bald eagle (mother, father and 3 chicks) in their nest.
http://sportsmansparadiseonline.com/Decorah_Bald_Eagle_Nest.html
The live coverage includes sound and a great Q/A and comment section.

EEG Day 6 to 11- The March Continues

Day 11, March 31 Violets coming up

Day 10, March 30 Growth coming as apparently twisted - waiting to open and unfold

Day 9, March 29 Budding cherry tree on the lake side

Day 8, March 28  Brush budding

Day 7, March 27- The future of yellow forsythia blossoms

Day 6, March 26- New skunk cabbage continues to sprout through the leaves

EEG- Day 5 Cold refresh

Snow is gone again. Temperatures overnight hit 25 yet these crocus know no limitation.

EEG- Day 4 Snow again

No one told these dogwood tree buds about nature's indecisiveness on the coming of Spring.

EEG- Day 3

More snow and schools have a delayed opening. However what has begun growing in the back can not be pushed back underground.

EEG- Day 2

With the snow gone and temperatures in the 50's the wild flower knows what to do. The woods provide the shadow to the violet pronouncement of growth.

Effortless Emerging Growth (EEG)- Day 1

It's the first day of Spring and time to highlight all the emerging growth. It snowed today; did someone forget to tell Earth? This photograph was taken with flash and contrasts large still snow flakes with woods and a bird in the background.

Over the next 30 days there will be a new post and photo. Nature serves as the example of Effortless Emerging Growth. Check back often. Better yet, feel free to send me your pictures of spring and EEG and I will post them on your behalf.  

Where Birds, Squirrels and Humans Meet

For over a decade we have supported the winter feeding of birds. Right now we have a hexagon shaped feeder that holds over a gallon of sun flower seed. blue birds, red headed work peckers, cardinals, finches and a few other bird species love to visit. Our back yard is like an air field. Birds first line up in the back woods and wait for a clear approach. They approach the feeder, avoiding mid air collisions, and land on the ledge for a seed extravaganza.

And along with any free food outlet come the squirrels. Through the years we have experimented with different squirrel defense fortifications, or maginot lines, designed to keep the squirrels out of the bird feeder. I have come to learn that squirrels are very creative. They use persistent experimentation to find ways to reach the feeder. Some historical data- Over the past four years the squirrels have learned to jump eight inches higher. Second, a twelve inch disc that provides a protective squirrel collar no longer works. The squirrels now jump from the railing to the pole, shimmy up to the collar and do a wrap around maneuver to get up to the feeder.

So today I added a sixteen inch collar that goes on top of the twelve inch barrier.  Three hours since placement the squirrels efforts to reach the feeder have been subverted; my victory for the day.

p.s. the squirrels do not go hungry. At the deck level they feed on the seeds dropped by the birds at the feeder.