I blogged about my Orchids in previous posts. And I promised an update. Two of my Orchids are doing great! So, I'm doing pictures of them first:
This is my Cattleya:
Taken on 11/10 showing the buds just coming out of the sheath:
Taken on 11/17, using my finger to show the size of the flower buds:
Taken on 11/21 just to look pretty. This is the first time I've ever seen this orchid bloom:
Taken on 11/21 to show size of blooms:
Taken on 11/21 close-up to show detail -- pretty and fragrant. Looks like velvet:
This is my Dendrobium:
Taken on 11/10 showing flower spike with flower buds:
Taken on 11/17 with one bloom open:
Taken on 11/24 with two blooms open. Pretty, but not fragrant:
My Epidendrum taken on 11/10. Still looks the same today... Not sure what's happening here:
My Mini-Cattleya taken on 11/10. Seems like the sheath died. Not sure why. We had a hot patch of weather while it was still outside and it might have gotten too dry. The Cattleya above was in the same environment. But it might have been better able to handle it since it's a larger plant. Maybe I'll have better luck with this one next year:
And a couple of random pics that were on my camera when I downloaded it... This is one of my Camellias. I love Camellias. They bloom in the cold weather when just about nothing else is in bloom. This particular one has a fragrance too -- kinda spicy.
And this is a regular visitor on my back deck. I had a bag of bird food that was infested with moths. (So annoying.) I put the bag outside so they wouldn't infest my house... Picture is taken through window and screen. Talk about being in hog heaven:
And in Bald Eagle news, it looks like the Northeast and Southwest eagle cam nests will both have two eggs this year. If either nest was going to have a third egg, it would have been laid by now. I checked in on both cams this evening and Moms were on the nest, incubating/sleeping. Seemed really cold and windy at the Northeast nest... And I looked in on the Berry College nest -- no one was home. But that's ok, since there aren't any eggs yet...
The SW Florida Eagle Nest has a second egg. Now we wait to see if the NE or SW Florida Nests with have a third egg... I checked in on the two nests this evening and find similar poses. SW pic is first.
And someone is home at the Berry College Eagle Nest. (And most of the plucked feathers are gone from the nest tonight.)
Pam Monahan has a blog entry about the pictures she took on 11/18 of Bald Eagle HK. This is so cool, being able to get the explanation about what's happening in the pictures... She has also posted two new pictures on HK taken today on her photography site.
If you like to deep fry your Thanksgiving turkey, don't pour the used oil down the drain! If you live in Hampton or Newport News, you can turn it in for recycling. Check this link for details and for other tips to keep the sewer system free of clogs. If you live elsewhere, check with your city about a recycling program. If a recycling program is not available, then go to the above link to find proper ways to dispose of used oil.
This is a sad story about an elk that had to be put down because it was too acclimated to humans. The elk no longer showed a proper fear of humans and was willing to engage people. Unfortunately, that poses a danger to people and the elk had to be put down. Please do your part to keep wildlife wild!
The US Fish and Wildlife Service has issued the City of Norfolk a new permit to continue harassment and nest removal at NBG. These people are such idiots. I'm starting to think that they actually think they are accomplishing something. Either that or they are crazy (the definition of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.)
I forgot to include links to the Florida Eagle Cams that I mentioned in my post last night. Here they are:
NE Florida with Mom sitting on the nest. Two eggs so far at this nest:
SW Florida with Mom showing off her egg. One egg so far at this nest:
These nests look like lights are shining on them. But that's not the case. There is an infrared light, which Bald Eagles can't see. But the camera can, which is why we can see the nest when viewed through the camera. We can't see infrared light either. If we viewed this nest in person, it would appear dark.
Location update for Bald Eagle Camellia. Can you call it an update if he hasn't gone anywhere?
Pam Monahan is so dedicated to Bald Eagle HK. She is doing a fantastic job of documenting his life at Honey Bee. She has posted six new pictures taken today. And... Exciting news! Pam has started a blog about HK. I have been wanting to know the story behind some of the pictures and am so excited to see this blog. Thanks Pam!
We have nests active! The NE Florida nest has two eggs already, laid exactly three days apart. I looked in just now and found Mom on the nest:
The SW Florida nest has an egg. I looked in just now in time to see an egg roll:
Pam Monahan has posted 37 new pictures of Bald Eagle HK taken on 11/14 and 11/16. You can see he still has a little bit of a dirty eye stripe. I wonder if he's old enough to reproduce this nesting season...
Bald Eagle Camellia is dumpster diving at his 11/15 check-in.
Bald Eagle KE isn't being very adventurous, with a check-in on 11/16.
Bald Eagle NX has been spending her time on the Upper Machadoc Creek. She's had some missing data points. I hope her transmitter isn't running down...
The Center for Conservation Biology (CCB) has tracked three Osprey this past year. It's amazing to see how far they migrate. Here's a link to the page where their migrations was tracked. Thanks to Ann for pointed out this page on the Norfolk Eagles Forum.
Ron Dudley has a post on his Feathered Photography blog about the different nests of the Ferruginous Hawk. Very neat to see the different examples. The bottom two nests look like pieces of art to me...
Reese posted a new location for Bald Eagle Camellia today. Cammy has been sticking to more rural settings lately...
Pam Monahan has posted 49 new pictures of Bald Eagle HK that she took on 11/10, 11/11 and 11/12! All kinds of different pictures. HK carrying a fish, carrying sticks, in the nest he built, arranging sticks in the nest, in the Osprey nest, perched, eating, flying, taking off, and landing. Awesome job Pam!
Love the "Find Momo" for 11/9 and 11/11. I think the pictures on this site roll off the bottom as new pictures are added, so you need to see them before they disappear!
Been spending my evenings trying to get one of my applications to work on my new computer. I had to go back three older versions to get it to work. What a pain trying to get back to where I was...
While I was without a computer, Eagle On Alliance (EOA) filed an emergency injunction to stop the destruction of Dad Norfolk and DT's nests. Very interesting reading. EOA is really doing some good things on behalf of our Norfolk Eagles!
Bald Eagle Camellia missed a check in when his battery went really low. But then he finally had a check-in on 11/6 and another right on time on 11/9. Azalea's transmitter worked for 1,397 days. So it's too soon for Cammy's to give out. He's only at 1,284 days...
I got my Garden Of Eagles 2014 Calendar in the mail. It is awesome! Debbi (Congowings) never takes any credit for the calendar, but she puts so much work into the calendar and she does such a great job and takes no credit. If you happen upon her, and if you appreciate the beautiful Garden Of Eagles Calendars, please take a moment and thank her!
Of course, Pam Monahan took some new pictures of Bald Eagle HK over the past couple of weeks. He is looking so handsome, just like his Dad!
There is a training update for Bald Eagle Buddy posted on 10/30. He is getting additional training for a couple of upcoming events.
Someone using the name "arbitrage" posted a series of pictures of Bald Eagles on a photography forum. They named the series "Arial Acrobatics". This is an incredible series, and for some reason, the last picture makes me smile. I guess it's just the success factor...
Here's a picture of a Bald Eagle I found on flickr. Posted by Brian Kushner. Beautiful detail! Finding this picture lead me to look at his other Bald Eagle pictures. Very nice set!
I'm back! Having your computer die makes you realize how much you rely upon it. My new computer is so pretty! And it arrived faster than they had promised. Happy, happy! I just hope I didn't lose any people that follow my blog...
Here are Bald Eagle Camellia's location updates:
10/22 exploring Virginia Beach lakes
10/25 Kemps Lake
10/28 does some exploring
10/31 off to a new location
And there is an update on Bald Eagle KE. She is really off on a grand adventure!
The Center for Conservation Biology's (CCB's) Eagle Nest Blog has an item about Libby Mojica attending the Raptor Research Foundation Meeting in Argentina. Libby is responsible for placing the transmitters on Bald Eagles, including Azalea and Camellia. The location data obtained from these transmitters helps to identify which areas are important habitat for Bald Eagles so that conservation efforts can be directed where it does the most good.
There is a star fish die-off happening off of both the east and west coast. They've named the problem the sea star wasting syndrome.
Ice age fossils are being excavated from LA tar pits.
30,000 miles of roads have been built in the Amazon over a three year period. I'm conflicted over this. The Amazon is such an amazing ecosystem that I hate to see the destruction necessary to put in these roads. But the roads are part of the forward progress of the people who live there. I don't feel I have a right to sit in the lap of luxury (comparatively) and demand that they not advance... Hopefully, they can find a way to elevate the standard of living while keeping conservation in mind.
I know I'm late with this. But this is my favorite picture of my girls... So, better late than never! We hope you had a Happy Howl-O-Ween! (l-r Sky, Daisy, Shannon)
