Now that the Oceanfront peregrine falcon is back for the winter and roosting on its favorite "rocky ledges" at the Virginia House, pigeons are scarce. "We never see a pigeon when she's around" said Virginia House manager Cassie Gronda.

Azalea, one of three eagles born in the Norfolk Botanical Garden nest this spring, has been on an extended holiday, exploring the Chesapeake Bay region this summer and fall.

You may think you have to go way south in Virginia Beach to find a natural haven where you can get away from it all, such as to Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge and False Cape State Park - or all the way north to First Landing State Park. But you don't.

The brown garden spiders around my house become such close neighbors that I get to know them pretty well this time of year. Unlike the colorful big black and yellow sewing machine spider that spins her web across the tips of garden flowers, little brown garden spiders take up residence near the house.

The love life of slugs was not something I had ever thought about until Nancy Leavitt sent some photos of two amorous slugs on her front porch.

In all the photos, the slugs were wrapped around one another in graceful, most un-slug-like poses.

The tiny spider in the corner of the eaves of her house caught Bev Langley's eye. This was no ordinary spider, but one with a white-and-black, spined shell.

The monarch butterfly migration to Mexico in autumn is truly one of the most remarkable trips that any critter takes. The ephemeral orange and black butterfly is tough enough to fly almost 2,000 miles and survive a cold winter hanging from pine boughs in central Mexico mountains before it starts home again.

When Jared Brandwein moves into his new office this winter on Asheville Creek, all he will be able to see through his windows is water.

The other day when I came home, I found a visitor enjoying the mid-day sun on my front porch steps. It was big dark lizard with light brown stripes- a female broad-headed skink, I think. Our largest lizards, growing up to 12 inches long, these chunky skinks have a kind of swaggering attitude compared to the smaller five-lined skinks that skitter away when they see me coming.

Mary Reid Barrow collects readers' tales and photos of encounters with local wildlife with her Coastal Journal column. What surprises or puzzles have you come across in nature, or do you have a tidbit of local lore? Send e-mail to barrow1@cox.net. Include name, neighborhood and city.