Belated Response....
Thanks for the comments on the AZ Sunset.
SHIRLEY....
We live in Wisconsin, and for about 20 years, we trekked down to Siesta Key Florida for a month or so.
In 1995, our daughter, son-in-law and two grandkids moved from WI to AZ.  We haven't seen Florida since.
At first, my wife complained about missing the beaches but I convinced her that out here there is nothing but beaches...just no adjoining water .
We usually come out here for March and part of April.

  I loved the comment about there being nothing but beaches...just no adjoining water!

So here I am on the couch, kicking back with my crossword puzzle. I notice out of the corner of my eye, Farrah on the chair by the balcony, standing to put her front feet on the glass. I shift my eyes over to see what has gotten her attention and it's a freaking Bald Eagle perched on the railing, looking back at Farrah. He's a little worse for wear this last part of winter, his neck's white feathers looking a little yellowed.

When I jump up mumbling OMG, a bald eagle, he shifts his eyes to me and flies away. I did get a few quick ones on the electric pole a few feet from my building, but they're not great. The point is that we have Golden Eagles and the Bald Eagles are normally around Anchorage in the S.E.; so this was unusual.

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I swear, even in the distance between my apartment and the electric pole, it seemed as if he was still watching me and Farrah. I wish I had gotten a photo of Farrah and the Eagle's glass standoff! These photos aren't great, no extra lenses and not being prepared, but here you go.

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They look great to me, Patricia.  Don't know why but when I see one float by over the river behind my house you would think I won the lottery!  They are so big & free.... thanks.  Wonder if it is just thinking about the long trek back from Kansas..... would love to know where the ones we see come from. 

Shirley, thousands of Bald Eagles over winter at Haines due to the warm weather and the fishing trawlers. The one we have here normally, are Golden Eagles. I am including a couple of stock photos but they don't have that distinctive white head.



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Bald and Golden Eagle


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What beautiful birds.  I saved a link to some eagles near Grand Rapids so they are in our area but not around our complex.  We do have various hawks around because I've seen them flying and one time several years ago, a red (?) hawk landed on my deck railing.  I hurried to get my camera and took several shots.  Only to find I did not have film in the camera.  This was before digitals and I'm sure if I saw a hawk on my railing today, I'd find the battery was dead.  I envy you Patricia, having such majestic birds around.  I wish you had been able to get a picture of the eagle and Farrah.  Maybe some day.

Mary Ann

Patricia, those are great shots.  Have never seen an eagle in the wild, there are several nests in the Pittsburgh area.  All I get are the turkey vultures. 

Wow!   Wow!   Wow!

Those eagles are awesome!

And Jack, the only time I saw a vulture was in a zoo in a larger animal's enclosure. Golden Eagles are usually seen in cleared areas adjacent to the woods or a river, or in the sanctuary.

Thank you all for the comments. I do not typically look up to see an eagle, not six feet away, looking back at me. I think it saw Farrah as a snack. Since the building is close to the river, we see lots of smaller, birds, hawks and owls but that is my first local Bald Eagle. It helps that I am on the fourth floor.

There are some hawking societies here if that is a correct term. So we see several hawks, mainly peregrine. I'm not sure how I feel about that or that one of our most famous avian painters is an enthusiastic hawker. It seems cruel as they are not hunting for food but using the birds for sport.

ANGELFACE...
...some brilliant bird photography on the " Rolph Hicker " site...
I too have never seen one in the wild, only at outdoor falconry displays, which also display owls, hawks and falcons...
Oh Angelface, must have been quite frightening knowing your eagle was eyeing you and Farrah up, hope he wasn't feeling peckish...

Jackie, eagles, eat live food mainly with a little carrion thrown in for an appetizer. I'm sure Farrah had its attention rather than me. We see lots of Golden Eagles, owls and hawks here, but not Bald Eagles as they are plentiful in the southeast, about 400 miles from here.

Wish I could get my little weather "thingy" going... we had 90 degrees yesterday & feels like that today but not supposed to be as high.  Had sprinkler system man over today & he didn't have the equipment I told them needed to fix..... they really hate being told how to do their jobs.    Another trip back & he did say "we'll work it out on labor~"  Hot out there. Got the AC on in here.   

I got a different flu bug, started yesterday (but I was blaming heat).... was up all night with dry heaves, every hour.  Once you get down you can catch everything!  Hope this goes away fast, got down half a hard boiled egg this morning & half an orange for lunch.  Does not set well but kept it down. 

Off to take a nap..... I do love reading all the posts but brain & fingers aren't in tune today so having to re-type a lot.  Patricia, we do have the eagles with the white heads.... & osprey, turkey vultures, Cooper hawks & red tail hawks.... plus plenty of geese, crows & lots of different birds since we are on the migration path.  The egrets and herons nest here during the summer. 

Shirley, a friend of mine was just telling me this morning that she had those dry heaves Saturday night, but they were gone Sunday morning.

I always designate the Interior when listing wildlife because what we have is rarely found in the Southern or Western portions of the state and vice versa, for example, they have hummingbirds, and we do not.

We have hawks, eagles, kites, and harriers. We do have a red tailed hawk and we have egrets, loons and cranes, and herons. We have both the Trumpeter Swan and the Tundra Swan. We have a type of gull, inland variety that is smaller than a seagull and loves to dive bomb people.

We have geese of different varieties, grouse, ptarmigan, and Cuckoos as well as lots and lots of ducks. since the Interior is practically one huge forest, the majority of the smaller and songbirds are of drab coloring to mix well in the forest.

For those who like football, Auburn University which has an eagle/falcon department presents an eagle flight before every football game.  The Eagle flies following a lure down to the football field from the upper levels of the stadium.  All of these are eagles which have been hurt in the wild and are sent to the University for rehab.  These eagles are sometimes rehabilitated enough to return to the wild, but others are not (able to survive again in the wild).

SCFSue

Just a few random shots of  our recent low-keyed activities. There is, in my opinion at least, no celebration in the Jewish tradition that is more labour intensive intensive in its prepararation than Passover. This is manifested in two main areas: housecleaning and cooking and just stand back once that begins!  We got started with a trip to the market, a complex that occupies three large city blocks. The pictures don't do it justice because it doesn't capture the sounds of the merchants in their stalls all proclaiming their wares to the world. The cacophony of sounds provide an ambience that brings it all such realism.

Then home with our burden which included six pounds of large, flat runner beans, about eight inches long, 3/4" wide, cut into strips 1/4" wide and 2" long. It was quite labour intensive but it's true: time flies when you're having fun.


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Interesting photos, lots of food.  See you got Bubble to help carry the beans.

Don, I saw and commented on these while on Facebook, but these are wonderful storytelling photos! I wouled love to shop at that market!

Yes, Patricia.  I, too, would love to shop at that market.  All those different kinds of fish are interesting..  And, I am not familiar with that type of "string bean".  Looks like a lot of work to slice them up.

Sure looks like an interesting place. 

Thanks for sharing your marketing trip.

Joy

Joy, the correct name of the beans escapes me now, but my grandmother grew those annually and they are some kind of "runner" beans which means they grow on vines and in clusters (at least I think).

SCFSue

Don. Now you have me homesick for the UK. How I miss our big Market places. That one you are in looks just like our local one. But then there were others in towns close on different days.
Part of my MOthers family had been market people since the early 1800s. I ust to work on weekends at one of theirs when in school.  Loved doing it. Had I been in UK when mother passed they would have gone to me as she was the last owner.

One things for sure, plenty of fresh produce, fruit, vegetables and fresh fish...and certainly a very active and bustling market, very similar to what we have over here in UK....

JeanneP, I think England is calling, maybe time to come home...

Jeanne, the sun is out, it is dry and bright, just perfect for a Birthday girl...

Jackie when is your birthday, isn't it soon? I know you are only three or four months ahead of my July date.

Angelface...today...

...and do I feel any older? not yet...

And I hope it will be a very happy one too!

Thank you so much for my Birthday Wishes, it does mean so much to me....

We sixties people need to stick together! 

I do find it amazing that I am able to interact now presently, with you in England and with Bubble in Israel on a different site, at the same time while I am in Alaska! It is indeed becoming a small world.

It is indeed, now isn't technology marvellous, and the person who invented the camera, what would we do without one, well we wouldnt be posting on here for a start, would we?...


" Who invented camera? Johann Zahn designed the first camera in 1685. But the first photograph was clicked by Joseph Nicephore Niepce in the year 1814...."

...and I always thought it was someone named Kodak...