If you have not heard about the baby owls using a stuffed owl as a parent, you must check it out at Cute Overload!

I go all the way to south Texas to see things like the Inca Dove above and low and behold there's one hanging out in Two Harbors, MN. Doh! They kinda look like a small mourning dove with highlights. Although, they do fly as though they don't have much control, it' almost as though you can hear a thought bubble in their head, "Yeeeeeeeeeee-ah, how do I control my body?!"

So, I'm going through my photos trying to figure out how to use them in the blog. The Raptor Project was also at Harlingen and I got some shots of the gyrfalcon flying. Right after I got this shot, the gyr swooped down and buzzed the crowd-a thrilling experience. You could feel the wind in its wake as it passed. The bird did not take out any pigeons this time.

Father Tom, the festival president got to hold the falcon for a bit. I tried to get a photo of him with the bird, but you couldn't get him to look up and who could blame him? I'd find it hard to take my eyes of that lovely piece of bird flesh if it were on my fist too.

"Got Pigeon?!"

This is Chris Boswell, the Mayor of Harlingen. It's really incredible to see how the town of Harlingen embraces the Rio Grande Valley Bird Festival--the mayor himself came to the opening reception, there were big banners posted welcoming birders, and many of the hotels started a breakfast service early (we were at the Holiday Inn Express and they had breakfast ready at 4:15 am). Even my favorite restaurant, Alicia's was experimenting with later hours.

It's also fun to meet the locals who come in to the trade show on the weekend. This guy had been birding but had taken a break in his life. I just loved his Chuck Norris shirt--I'm a big fan of Chuck Norris Facts.