Grandma is 83 years young today!

Marcella Emilie Rudolph

(I will put the original on SmugMug if you want to print one.)

In which we get a new visitor to the pond...

This morning, I heard Deb call from the bedroom to look out the window at a beautiful bird that had landed in the pond. After recognizing that it was a juvenile falcon, I ran downstairs to grab my camera. Carefully opening the blind in Tyler's old room, I was able to get a couple photos before it flew away. The quality is not great because I did not take time to mount the camera on a tripod because I was afraid the falcon would fly away before I could do it... that and the fact that I am shooting through a window that has not been cleaned on the outside since last spring, contributed to the not so tack-sharp results.

The falcon flew from the submerged rock to the Japanese Maple that overlooks the edge of the pond...

What was the falcon interested in... long time returning visitors (5 years now I think), Donald and Daisy. Fortunately, they proved a little bit too much for the young raptor.