Category: Brief Messages or Announcements

What’s Happening with the Hawks?

This morning I got a couple of videos of one of the hawks perched on the side of the nest fiddling with something in it. We can’t tell what’s happening with it, but I don’t think anything has hatched, if any eggs are in there.

We’re hoping the chicks hatch so we can see them before the foliage gets too dense on the trees.

Is Cannabis Reclassification Imminent?

I saw a couple of brief news alerts indicating that progress toward reclassification of marijuana from Schedule I to III could be happening as soon as today according to a Reuters report. I think that means we should pay attention to other stories and reports of cannabis use being associated with higher rates of psychosis in adolescents. That information is not new and it has been reported since at least since 2010.

The DEA is in charge of reclassification of substances.

Red tailed Hawk Pair Trade Places on the Nest

Early this morning, we saw the Red-tailed hawks trade places in the nest. This gives the mate a chance to grab a bite to eat while the other incubates the eggs we hope are in there.

Little birds tend to chase the hawks away from their territories. Even though the hawks are 3 times bigger than the little ones, they meekly oblige by moving away.

Sena’s Out in the Garden on Earth Day!

Today is Earth Day and Sena is out in the garden working. She’s doing it not just because it’s Earth Day. She’s doing it because she cares a lot about the garden and not just that. She’s often way out in the outlot beyond our back yard.

We got a message in our mailbox from Forever Green in Coralville. Of course, it’s an ad about a sale to buy stuff at their store on Earth Day through Arbor Day (April 22-25). The great part of their message is:

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not. 

Sena cares a whole awful lot. Happy Earth Day!

How are the Red-tailed Hawks Doing?

How about them Hawks! I’m not talking about the Iowa Hawkeye football team. Today, I got another video of the Red-tailed hawk pair in their nest that might make you seasick. It’s windy. Sena tried to get a video but often gives me the camera.

According the internet they mate around March or April and lay 2-4 eggs which hatch in 4-5 weeks.

They poke around in the nest as if maybe they’re turning eggs (we think). Tree leaves are starting to bud out so visibility will unfortunately diminish.

Earth Day 2026!

Hey, Earth Day 2026 is on April 22, 2026! If any of you are like me (and who isn’t?), you might have trouble figuring out just what you can do that would be meaningful on Earth Day.

Well, here’s a link to Earth Day Tips which gives you 50 easy ways to participate. You could volunteer, take a quiz, go to the park, or even eat kale! Try not to stand under a tree in which a bald eagle is pooping.

You can find Earth Day events in your area at this website.

How About Some Good News?

How about some good news for a change? See the Daily Iowan report on research being done at The University of Iowa examining how transcranial magnetic stimulation can help clinical neuropsychiatric conditions such as depression and Alzheimer’s disease. There’s also a link to the open access study which gives more detail about the process.

Reference:

Li, Z., Trapp, N.T., Bruss, J. et al. Multimodal evidence for hippocampal engagement and modulation by functional connectivity-guided parietal TMS. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70346-x

Red-tailed Hawk Fixing Nest

This is a follow up video of the Red-tailed hawks nesting in the outlet beyond our back yard. This time it seems to be fixing up the nest. We can’t tell whether they have eggs in it or not. It was pretty windy today, so the view is even more challenging.

Upcoming 9 Card Cribbage Wars Mashup!

Hey, this is an announcement of our forthcoming marathon 9 card cribbage wars mashup YouTube video. We played 9 card cribbage on our Cribbage Wars board. We made liberal use of the skunked.club computer scoring program, which is why I had the laptop computer on the table.

We had a fun, albeit at times confusing adventure on this experiment, which I don’t know if anyone’s ever attempted before. Give us a shout-out if you have!