Photo by Alan Pulley (2008)
Thought I would share some interesting news I came across this week dealing with bird migration.
It seems that recently some tiny sensors were placed on a bar-tailed godwit to monitor their migration patterns. What they found out was amazing! Follow the link below to see a short video clip from ABC Good Morning America (give the video a few seconds to begin playing):
Today's skywatch post is of the Bodie Island Lighthouse of North Carolina. Earlier this summer my family and I spent some time there.
The Bodie Island Lighthouse (pronounced body) is one of three historic lighthouses on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The lighthouse was built in 1872.
Some Bodie Island Lighthouse Facts:
Height: 156 feet
Height of Stripes: 22 feet
Beam Range: 19 miles
Ownership: transferred from US Coast Guard to the National Park Service in 2000
Here is a picture from inside the lighthouse looking up:
There's a nearby nature trail that we were going to hike on until my wife saw this sign below...I ended up hiking alone.
Although we didn't have the time, Cape Hatteras National Seashore is a great place to go birding. Nearly 400 species of birds have been sighted within its surrounding waters. This impressive number is due to several factors: its location on the Eastern Flyway, varied habitats, and strong winds and storms that often bring in exhausted vagrants. They have quite an impressive bird checklist. http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/chekbird/r4/hatteras.htm
I hope to do more bird watching there next spring!
To learn more about Bodie Island and the Cape Hatteras National Seashore check out the links below:
I was originally going to post this photo as a Wordless Wednesday post, but decided I just couldn't stop there.
Here is my daughter Morgan lovin' on her pet rabbit Thumper. I know, it's not a very original name but its the only rabbit name that she knew, and her mind seemed made up. Who am I to argue with a 4-year old little girl?
She got Thumper as a gift from my Dad about a 1-1/2 ago. She has always enjoyed letting Thumper out of his hutch to play with him in the backyard. This was never a problem as a young rabbit, but now that Thumper is older, and much faster, he's not so cooperative when its time to catch him. Tame or not, Morgan hasn't quite caught on to that fact. All she knows is that when she's done playing, daddy's the one that has to chase him around the yard.
We tried the leash thing with Thumper (below), but he never seemed to like it too much. He would always squirm out of it some how, so we gave up on that idea.
So after some thought, Morgan and I came up with a compromise that would benefit us all - a rabbit playpen (partially shown in the 1st picture above). Basically it's just a 6' x 6' portable pen I constructed where she and Thumper can play together while he benefits from exercise and eating grass; and dad (me) can easily catch him when its time to go up . It's working out great so far.
Here she is feeding him a carrot from our garden - safe and sound in his hutch.