The state road was blocked by a line of protesters the other day when we were heading up to Fort Plain. I couldn't believe my eyes, thinking closing roads and stopping traffic was pretty much an urban issue. None of them were carrying placards, although they all wore masks so we couldn't tell who they were.
Thankfully even protests out here in the country are pretty peaceful. They moved out of the road for us after a bit.
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| Not our hay crew, but everyone else is hurrying to make the most of the weather as well |
The hay crew has been hopping...and getting stung by assorted nefarious flying insects over the weekend. A yellow jacket nailed Liz on her back and caused much havoc and the boss disturbed some ground bees that he couldn't see with the hay equipment. When he stopped to feel the windrow for dryness he got stung about twenty times. Ouch! They work hard and I salute them from the kitchen where I watch Peg and handle phone calls...
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| Green Herons |
"Could you send Liz up with some Gatorade? Cold?"
"What's the weather for tomorrow?"
Liz has a new job, working on a farm where they have sheep and border collies. She is loving it.
Oh, and Dad gave me his treadmill for my birthday. We finally got it home the other day and we are having fun with it. Even Peg has fun on it. Who knew?
Meanwhile, migration has begun. Can you believe it? We saw an Upland Sandpiper today, which I suspect is passing through. Pretty cool. Families of assorted swallows are starting to line up on the power wires and we are beginning to see a few ducks again. On one hand I love having new birds to count. On the other hand......you know what migrations means, right?
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| My favorite Belted Kingfisher shot so far |
That last photo is a Keeper for sure. As for Migrations....sigh! I'm not ready for migrations. Although, the Rufus Hummingbirds made it in here a couple of days ago. Summer is fleeing fast now. Makes me sad.
ReplyDeleteLike Terry and Linda said, that last pic is fantastic. Up here, the sand hill cranes are astir, and the fireweed is already in bloom over halfway up. Early winter? Wouldn't surprise anyone.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Linda, I never understood how migration takes place pretty much all year until I really got serious listing on eBird. The shorebirds and gulls are already dispersing and moving out, and we will soon begin to see early sparrows and warblers. On one hand it is fun. On the other hand, I am with you in disliking winter. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteRev. Paul, thank you! I have yet to see a Sandhill Crane this year and I miss them. Our car won't make it up to the big swamp, Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, and I am jonesing for a fix. lol
Just showed Keith your wonderful pictures and read the section about Liz and the Boss getting stung. He said he had the same thing happen to him when he was helping bale hay when he was a teenager. He was on the wagon with the hook when the tractor went over a bumble bee nest. They kept hitting him and he was stung about 12 times. Said he felt really sick. People just don't appreciate what is involved in bringing in the hay. Hope the Boss and Liz are feeling okay.
ReplyDeleteCathy, we worry about Liz! When she was small she was very allergic to wasp stings and experienced several hospital visits. We were never without an Epipen and had to use a couple of them. Scary times! We took her for a full series of allergy shots (thank God we could afford health insurance back then) and she seems to not be bothered too much more than the rest of us. The tendency to the allergy runs in my family though and it is pretty darned scary. She keeps Benadryl close at hand. So far Ralph seems pretty much immune, although I know that can change. Good thing though, so far, as he gets stung a lot, being on the forefront so to speak with the machinery, which disturbs the darned things.
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