The eagles

The tall bearded iris at the edge of the vegetable garden are doing very well this year.

Lately, I have been waking up at about 5:00 am and cannot get back to sleep.  So, I sit at my front window and watch the animals and birds.  There is a bit of traffic, and a very few walking people.  The drama of this morning was the eagles and crows dispute.  We have a nesting pair of eagles in our neighbourhood.  Last year I watched them flight training 3 of their baby eagles.  This morning one of the eagles came swooping in ever lower circles towards the tall trees across the street and along the power line area.  I have never seen the eagle hunting that low or close before.  On its swoop towards the trees, it was immediately mobbed by about 6 - 8 crows.  The eagle then flew away back up over the roof of my house.  The other eagle then arrived and took up a perch on the top of the power line tower.  It was attacked by a couple more crows as it sat there.  I wonder, if maybe the eagles nest has been raided by the crows.  I don't usually see both of the eagles away from the nest at the same time, at this time of the year.   I don't know where the nest is, but I think it is somewhere in the Panama Flats park. 
After all this excitement, I got out my new Rebel camera and played a bit trying to get good shots of the Limoges box with the 50mm lens.  I did get a couple of eagle pictures in RAW but have not uploaded them to my computer yet. 
It was a beautiful day today.  After lunch I went out to the garden and got the new plants I had purchased at Brentwood Bay nursery transplanted.  I now have 4 gentians in the front inner garden area.  I added a thrift, a pink geranium and a Johnson's blue geranium, and a blue daisy like one to the rectangle closest to our driveway.  This little area is seen from the street and our driveway.  It is nicely cleaned up now.  The bamboo is running into the bed and I have to clip it back every year.  I weeded some of the area by the smoke bush, and moved the ratty looking hebe from there to the strip in front by the purple plum tree.  I have this little area cleaned up, also.  The rectangle area behind it on this side is rather wilder looking, but has some nice plants in it.  The peonies are not doing well on this side, but the other side the peonies have lots of buds.  I have the butterfly bush in a pot.  When I get the woodland cleaned up, I will be able to just cut this pot off the bush and plant it.  The plastic is not very thick.  I added the butternut squash and 2 tomatoes to the vegetable garden and the marigolds along the edge of the veggie garden.  I see last year's potatoes that did not do well are showing little leaves.  I planted the 2 new primulas near the little spruce tree just behind the snapdragons I have along there this year.  The soil was very soggy in this new bed  from the winter rains.  The soil needs more improvement.  I have only 1 1/2 bags of compost left now, as well as the good woodsy stuff I have in 16 or so bags, that I took from under the st. john's worte, when I cleaned it up.  With a bit more weeding and grass edging the front should be in pretty good shape and it will be time to give the woodland some serious attention.  Its so much easier to have the big green bin for clippings, and the cordless mower and hedge trimmer.