I dedicate the following photo to my mother:

Look, ma, it's your boyfriend Gordon (one of the owners of Adventure Publications), telling these two potential store buyers about my upcoming book:

Can I say how much I love the red-bellied woodpecker on the cover? It's exciting to see this early copy. Word from Adventure is that it will be out in April--whoot!

A quick note on a fairly exciting new feeder is the above. It's a solar powered electrified bird feeder. When I worked at the bird store in the past we carried a solar powered feeder that I believe was closer to $500. This one retails for about $150 - $160. It can be hung or pole mounted and has the shocking equivalent to sticking your tongue to a 9 volt battery. It looks very promising for the latest in squirrel proofing. I like the solar idea.

I wish I could put in more photos and updates but trying to load photos on the hotel computer is more daunting than I realized. I will say this, many bird store owners here are opening up to the idea of bringing in technology to the store. Many bird stores are looking into carrying the Handheld Guide to birds, iPod software, and even the Wingscapes camera. It's nice to see some owners willing to try new things.