Tis the Season. . .

I just wanted to drop in real quick and share this link with you.

http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/channel/46/Great_Horned_Owls/

It's one of the many cams you can access thru Cornell University's school of Ornithology (just click on any of the links in their "Bird Cams" menu) to watch live feeds of bird nests as they bring their little ones into the world.

For me, it's more addictive than any human made show I could ever watch.
OK, maybe not Doctor Who. . . or the Man in the High Tower. . . or the Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt. . . but still. :)

So right now thru that site there are little Barred Owlets, (check out their link on the live Barred Owl cam page to the calls of the adult Barred Owls!) California Condors, Hawaiian Albatross and The Great Horned owls all with little ones being raised and fledged to watch right now!

But soon to come, the Barn Owls, Dottie and Dash, always the over achievers of the bird world, have SIX eggs (that's almost a sure recipe for a little heartbreak as it is likely that not all will survive) the Red Tailed Hawks have three eggs again this year (all survived to fledge last year) and the Osprey, Iris and Stanley,  are just going to be settling in in the next week or two to begin their season (last year they lost both eggs to a huge hail storm so I am rooting for them this year!).

Keep in mind. . . it's nature and it's uninterrupted and wild. . . so the larger the birds, the larger the prey they capture and return to the nest to tear apart and eat. Not always what you want to watch but, for the most part, fascinating. Like when the Barn owlets get big enough and start swallowing things whole. . . yikes!

I did feel sorry for the beautiful white Egrets who bathe in the reservoir beneathe the Great Horned owl nest. . . you'd think they'd learn! Anyway, fair warning!!

And the feeders. . . the FEEDERS! If you don't have access to watching a busy bird feeder around your home, I suggest the Cornell feeders which are a fine indoor surrogate and can just be left on to listen and watch birds come and go all day!

Hey, some people are crazy cat people and I, well, I am a crazy bird person.

And my own morning routine involves feeding our cat but then making my way downstairs as the dawn arrives to feed the birds. Here, I have around two dozen Sparrows, a few pairs of Mourning Doves, a few finches and a sprinkling of Starlings and right now, as it is nesting season, just a few of my fine fellow crows (Though in winter as many as 30 will show up daily and let it be known they are here for food!) and one resilient seagull who I have had many epic mental battles with to try and fool her so she does not eat all the food. We've come to terms it seems and so I now count her among the regulars.

Anyway, that's all for today my friends. . .

The writing project is still on task and I am 22 days in but more on that soon enough. . . but it just occurred to me how this same 30 day writing exercise could be applied to almost any creative endeavor. When I think back to what stopped me from writing so many times it was always the point A to point B syndrome. How do I get there? And the distance seemed so far. But in manageable 30 minute chunks? which will now add up to 15 hours in one month? Wow! I "found" the time and each little step is totally manageable and . . . ahhhh yes, yes, so much more for another post. . .

Have a lovely week ahead my friends and I will look forward to showing some new work in the coming days too. New statues, my first stand alone DRAGON and getting closer now to May, when I am determined to set aside all but what I truly want to make and to allow my heart to just play. . .

Until the next. . .

nicolas