Two excitements in the garden today: A yellow swallowtail, which Wikipedia tells me is one of the largest butterflies on Earth (fo sho), and, of all things, a peregrine falcon! Got up for breakfast (okay, it was noon, bear with me) and it was just sitting on the lawn next to the melon patch. Spotted me instantly and flew away a second after that (smarter than your average sparrow apparently), but almost as astonishing as finding a bobcat in the backyard. No idea what it was doing there. I half expected to see a partially gnawed prey carcass left behind, but there was nothing. I've seen the neighborhood and cheered them on--they upset the crows terribly, but this was an unexpected gift.