>Anyone else having couples settling down? What are you seeing? Do you
>encourage the birds by leaving bits of down & other fluffy stuff in your
>yard? What have you used?

I checked the two golden eagle nests that I am aware of in my
'backyard' here in the Methow yesterday; both had incubating eagles
on them. The nests have been used for many years; they are only
about three miles apart by air. At one site there are two nests, one
in a ponderosa and another a quarter mile away on a cliff. In 1994 the
cliff site was used, in 1995 and 1996 the tree, and this year they
are back on the cliff. In the previous two nesting seasons, even
though the cliff site was not used, evergreen sprigs and small
branches were place on the cliff nest by the eagles. The other nest
overlooks the main valley and has little ranchettes creeping closer
to it every year.

>Right now, though, it's pretty depressing around our property. "Development"
>is taking place all around and the big old cottonwoods that woodpeckers and

The population of the United States is currently growing at a rate of
1.2% per year, which gives it a doubling time of about 58 years. The
global population is growing at a slightly faster rate. The good news is
that the trend is downward and stabilization could occur in 100 years
or so at 9-12 billion. All naturalists should make population
stabilization issues part of their devotional work.

Dana Visalli