At the Edge

Horse and pony tracks

Working on the Farm Side for this week and remembering a spring just before Liz was born. My brother Matt, whom many of you know, helped us out that year before he was deployed to Korea for a while. 

The weather was incredible. Snow melted before March. By April our oats and seeding were planted and growing, cows were out on ample grass, and we were getting corn in the ground. In theory this was a fairly normal scenario, but in Upstate NY it was downright notable.

We did lose some oats to torrential rain later, and some of the corn didn't germinate as well as we would have liked, but it was a phenomenal crop season.

It is not going to be repeated this year.

Nonetheless, we are perched on the edge of spring. Still no migrants and the birds are stupid tame, which is perhaps not a good thing, but the air is warmer than it has been in weeks and a melt-the-snow-quick wind is blowing.

I walked Daisy out in it early this morning and found a White-throated Sparrow sitting on the window of our car. I happened to be multi-tasking, filling the feeders while I walked the dog. Thus I held out a handful of seed to it. It looked it over, but didn't partake, and then stayed all the while I was outdoors before flying away.

Could have been the victim of window strike, but I think it was hiding from a hawk and considered me the lesser of two evils. Anyhow, I am sure it and its buddies are more than ready to head north for nesting time. 

And although I will miss their absurd level of tameness this winter, I am ready for Chipping and Song Sparrows to take their place.