Why I’m Thankful On Thanksgiving (and always) For My Nomadic Dudley Ancestors

This is a very personal post and will be atypical of my usual blogging regimen but I decided to share with family and friends and anyone else who might have an interest.  For some reason my thoughts often turn to this very subject on Thanksgiving holidays, both present and past.  It’s near the top of my list of things to be thankful for and my list is a long one. I’ll be forever grateful for the nomadic tendencies of my Dudley ancestors and I’ll explain why at the conclusion of this post.  First a little history,    Image copyright Jim Dudley, used by permission The Dudley clan is English and several of my direct paternal ancestors were among the Baron’s Dudley of Dudley Castle in the town of Dudley, West Midlands, England.  One of those Dudleys was John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who was beheaded for his attempt to set Lady Jane Grey on the throne of England.  This image of part of the castle was taken by my cousin Jim Dudley several years ago.  There’s not a lot left of the castle itself – some of it was destroyed by order of Parliament in 1646 and some destroyed by fire in 1750.  But what is left provides some visible evidence of the historic roots of my family.       My great (x8) grandfather was Governor Thomas Dudley (1576-1653).  Thomas was a Puritan who because of religious persecution in England sailed with his family to the new world in 1630.  He was second in command of 11 ships and about 700 puritans who…

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Red-tailed Hawk Just Prior To Reaching Prey

This first photo isn’t a classic buteo flight shot but I believe it’s fairly unique for a non-baited image. I’ve occasionally been able to capture raptors as they’re about to land on a predictable perch but this is the first and only time I’ve been able to get a shot I like pretty well of a raptor as it’s about to (or attempt to) “land” on prey it’s seen from a far-away perch.

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Barn Owl Hunting Rodents

I typically go about 10 months of the year without seeing Barn Owls flying in daylight but when snow and extremely cold temperatures arrive they’re often forced to hunt during daytime in order to obtain enough food to survive.

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