Back to school

Dan returned to school today, which is actually our real 25th anniversary. We had a nice long call from Katy and a letter from Mooesie and Opa. Susy wrote to say that Nick is playing in a pub tonight with the Go Button! band. 'Wish we could be there.

Hanna has had a virus for a couple of weeks and has lost a lot of weight. I've taken a few days off while Dan is at school to help her rest and recover. It seems to be working.

Jim Winkler, Hanna and Dan.

Meanwhile we had a visit from Jim Winkler. You can look him up on the web. He works for the Methodist Church in Washington DC as a policy person. He is their senior lobbyist basically. It seems to be a very interesting job, especially during the elections. He passed through on his way to a UN conference in Paris. We really enjoyed his visit; I never stopped talking and Hanna caught up on old times and all that has passed since they both left Naperville High all those years ago.

Bird migration is a big interest for us at this time of year. There are a few migrants here now, including an American Baird's sandpiper on my reserve, but I ave been keeping up with the Bird Alert at Maine Audubon where there is a lot going on. Loads of nighthawks, hummers, ospreys and waders going through. Top bird seems to be a yellow nosed albatross that has somehow got into the wrong hemisphere, probably following the great shearwaters that are off shore just now.

What I'd like to see is the smaller landbirds which are following the coast southwards from Canada. There have been large falls of American redstarts and other warblers. It's all mouth watering stuff.