I received this lovely shot of sunrise from Gretchen Farnsworth yesterday. She mentioned that she's seeing lots of ducks in the air lately and figures they are getting flying lessons. They have to be strong and ready to leave before the pond freezes over.
     The young loons are also getting flying time in. One of the loon youngsters flew off the first pond, circled West Danville, ran out of "gas" and made a forced landing in the middle of the busy intersection of Route 15 and Route 2 the other day. Loons are virtually helpless on land, and this guy was in grave danger. Someone saw it and alerted the folks at the store - traffic was momentarily halted and Jenny Rafuse rushed out with a blanket,  captured the frightened bird and set it free in the pond. 
     Don't you love it when stories like this have a happy ending - with a real, live heroine? Good work, Jenny!