Hi,
Last time I noted that birds (and fish and crabs) are dropping dead at alarming rates... Here's a likely explanation from National Geographic:
But the in-air bird deaths aren't due to some apocalyptic plague or insidious experiment--they happen all the time, scientists say. The recent buzz, it seems, was mainly hatched by media hype.
At any given time there are "at least ten billion birds in North America ... and there could be as much as 20 billion--and almost half die each year due to natural causes," said ornithologist Greg Butcher, director of bird conservation for the National Audubon Society in Washington, D.C.
Not exactly the stuff of "The X Files", but still disturbing. You know, a part of me wonders if wildlife was like this before humans were around. Yeah, I know something like 99% of all species that ever existed on this planet are gone (Mr. Life, meet Mr. Darwin, existentialist), but it truly bugs me to see needless suffering and death... If it does turn out that something like fireworks did start the Arkansas panic, that would really be a shame... (On the other hand, I wonder if a shifting magnetic north pole had anything to do with this???)
Other stuff... We've finally got the hutch upstairs...
But the project didn't come without its more-than-fair-share of "ouchies". Each of the four major components (bottom and top carcases, drawers, and back) bear my initials in blood...
That really isn't so bad in that this was a large endeavor using a very hard wood (cherry) and lots of sharp tools. But the beast did have one last tantrum left in her. We were placing the 50 pound top when it noted my lack of leverage and felt the insidious urge of gravity... It dropped 40" (without the doors thankfully) taking out the bookshelf, phone, birdhouse, and yours truly. The noise was something spectacular really - sort of a sickening, chain-reaction roar. Here's my damage...
The immediate aftermath found me et al scattered helter skelter. Mrs. CCA kept yelling, "Are you alright?!? Are you alright?!?", to which I kept saying, "'Bleep' me, how's the hutch?!?", "'Bleep' me, how's the hutch?!?". Thankfully, I tend to overbuild things (in the extreme), and the monolith is now fine, all secure, and ready for the finish team. (Read that, "The wife and my old cabinetmaker boss, Rick...") Another day in Paradise... All told, it was a great undertaking - I learned so much.
And what's next? Well, the next adventure will probably be this work skiff - a cakewalk compared to the brute above... Time will tell...
See you by those never-boring feeders...
CapeCodAlan
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Here are the same two trees down (with the massive maple -- a victim of 
