Winter is here. I saw a photo of a truck dashboard belonging to a farmer just to the south of us this morning that read minus one degree. It's 11 here now. The trees are rimed with frost and ice and it is freezing cold here in the kitchen, despite the stove cranking for all it's worth.
It is 37 degrees in Anchorage, Alaska this morning. Minus 1 in Upstate NY.
There is something wrong with this picture.....Daisy wants her spring weather back.
I tell people that I leave the window over the kitchen sink dirty to prevent window strikes. That is, at least in part, a lie. I just don't do windows.
There are at least sixty goldfinches on the two tray feeders that Linda sent me or on the ground or little honey locusts around them. I know because I counted, one bird, two bird, three bird, four..... There are no doubt a good many more than that as well, as you surely can't see all of them from the windows. They are very spooky, whether because of the wind or an accipiter being around I don't know, but they swirl like yellow snowflakes every few minutes. I put extra seed out this morning because of the weather, but it looks as if I will be doing a refill pretty soon.
We had a flock of three-hundred or so up in the old cow pasture all through the cold season. I wonder if this is part of that flock, driven to the feeders on the breath of winter that is wafting away our little bit of spring. There are also Common Grackles, Downy Woodpeckers, Song Sparrows, White-throated Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, a smattering of House Sparrows, Mourning Doves, and our good buddy, the Red-bellied Woodpecker, who never fails to amuse with his startled expression when he peers in through the kitchen window at me.
They all seem desperately hungry and very nervous.
This is all my fault. See, fool that I am, I washed my down work vest and my fleece go-out-in-public vest and put them away.I should have known better. So now, the irises that were coming up under the bird feeders are looking kinda black and squishy. Ditto pretty much everything else that was shooting for spring. The dogs came in from their morning constitutional both the same color.....Mack is always mostly white, but Daisy not so much. Ick.
Birding here is rarely dull.....these guys, about a dozen of them, stop by whenever they get wet to dry out on this dead elm tree.....
There is little to be said except bah humbug and I will say it early and often.
We took a drive in it yesterday....well, actually, when we left home it was cold, but clear and sunny....out to Bass Pro in Utica. Not too many miles to our west we drove into a truly nasty squall. The car was completely coated with slush and ice when we stopped. There were some horrible accidents around, especially that huge pileup down on I 88. Once there we discovered that fish tank is down for maintenance, which was a bit disappointing, but then Alan bought me a Crossman BB/pellet CO2 pistol, which is very cool. Consider me armed if not too terribly dangerous. We took it out to shoot enough so I would be familiar with it, after we got home, but before the storm reached us here. It makes a very satisfactory bang when shot and will no doubt deliver a nasty sting to anything that wants to give us trouble when we are out walking. Beck took Mack out walking Saturday and as soon as they reached the spring where I saw all the coyote tracks last week, he came right to her feet and would not go even an inch away from her. He is usually very bold, but his little tail was tucked right down. Thus the armament. There is no choice but to either crawl under the heifer pasture fence or walk through there if you want to get out on the hills....and we often do....so we have to pass that way.
Another squall hit here just as the boss and Alan and I went out to split some firewood. We had big plans, but it was snowing so hard my glasses were soon completely covered with snow and I was plastered with a coating of icy pellet stuff so thick it cracked when I bent over to pick up a block. We called it a day after only splitting one skid steer bucket full. No doubt better days are coming...and that much wood will last a little bit. Anyhow, Alan was supposed to have today and tomorrow off, a phenomenon to which we were looking forward quite eagerly, but late yesterday he was called back to work. To which I repeat bah humbug and heartily too. We so enjoy having him home, but he has a living to make....I guess. Anyhow, I apologize for bringing this weather down upon us. I should know better than to start putting winter clothes away before June at least.
Props to McDonald's for using real dairy . I took this at our local one where we grabbed coffee and food yesterday
Yakushima Rain Duck, after deployment and subsequent molt
It is not terribly well-known, but Yakushima Island is one of the rainiest places in the world. It is said that it rains there "35 days a month." Even less well-known is the reason for all that precipitation. However, thanks to negotiations that have been ongoing over the last 36 months, we are going to be in on the ground floor so to speak, of the special feature that makes the little island so damp. We will be selling these rain-making capabilities through a franchise to drought stricken areas all over the world. Under the auspices of No More Sahara.com, we will be sending little rain-producing rockets wherever they are needed. That's right! We are getting...... Yakushima Rain Ducks! Yup. We had to jump through hoops you couldn't imagine, from background checks to year-long humidity monitors in all our buildings, including the house, (in case sick ducklings need to be brought indoors for extra nursing). There have been scientists here nearly every day since we sold the cows. You know how it's rained so much here over the past few years? I wasn't allowed to tell you about it, but the company was testing flights of ducklings, to make sure this was the right kind of location for them. Habitat is everything, you see. One worry I have had is escapees. It is hard enough to make hay here now.....guess we had better keep the pens real tight. Anyhow, we were finally awarded a franchise. Right now there are only five in the world! It isn't going to be easy. You see, for their entire lives, right up until they are deployed, the ducklings must be kept damp. Dry air triggers them. I can't reveal the exact percentage of moisture in their proper environment due to non-disclosure agreements we were required to sign, but as long as they are appropriately soggy, they will not deploy their special rain-making capabilities. However, let them dry out, even for a few minutes, and look out. They are very fast fliers too, and can fly within three weeks after hatching. They must be brooded, either under mother ducks, which must be allowed to swim in special, sterile water, at least 30 times per day (have you ever tried to keep water clean around ducks, let alone sterile?) in order to keep their feathers properly dampened........ ...Or else they are hatched in special sponge-walled incubators, and brooded in imported terry-cloth lined bread boxes, with special wicking technology that keeps them just wet enough, while warming them to the correct temperature with hot water bottles, which must be refilled every hour, around the clock. On their native island the ducks are raised in buildings that look a lot like greenhouses, with special green glass walls that protect them from excess sunlight (don't want them drying out) and keep them from flying too much as they fledge. The little white ducks ability to fly so fast and so early is part of what makes them so valuable. Here at Northview, we will not be allowed to keep mother or father ducks. No More Sahara is afraid of losing control of the breeding stock.....remember Noah? Yeah, he had two of them and look what happened. Thus the kids have been setting up racks of the brooders and incubators, and sterile pens (with very tight roofs) for the ducklings after they are fledged. You see, the secret to their ability to cause it to rain, is their feathers. Each duck has myriad curly feathers, covered with tiny comb-like cilia, which agitate the air when they fly, producing rain droplets 86.7% of the time. Two ducks flying over your house will result in a short shower, just enough to lay the dust. Two-hundred ducks will produce an all-day, all-night, steady rain, which is perfect for crop needs, or to help in postponing unpleasant social gatherings. When a couple of thousand escaped from a Chinese duckery back in 2004 the resulting monsoon was no joke. Right now, the ducks, when fledged, will sell for about 160 dollars each, but as they become more readily available, that will probably go down. Maybe not though. This may be the next big thing, like llamas and emus and all. The most elegant part of the rain duck equation is that once the ducklings have done their watery thing... and they can only do it once....they glide to the ground, molt the fuzzy white feathers, and quickly grow new ones that make them look like ordinary mallards....that huge flock that wintered down in front of McDonald's? Yup, they came from here. Thus the landscape will not be cluttered up with funny looking fluffy white ducks after every rain duck deployment. It's a win-win deal.. Meanwhile, Charles M. Hatfield, the founder of No More Sahara, believes that with proper use of duck technology, drought will be a thing of the past, and deserts optional landscaping features..Mankind has always wanted to control the weather. Duckkind has been doing it all along. Anyhow, the kids are out in the barn right now, unpacking the special cases of rain duck eggs and setting them in the fancy brooders....I suppose that I had better go help them.
Besides starting a Facebook page for her crocheted stuffies, our middle kid can also wire lamps.If you go to the link and like her page you will automatically be entered in a drawing for a stuffed bear or bunny when she hits 100 likes. For this I am most grateful, as without her technological abilities, the office would be mighty dark. Wish we had bought her the parts earlier!
And then there is the book she bought that I hadn't read in 30 years or so. Spent a most enjoyable evening racing through it faster than the horses that grace its pages. Thanks, Beck!
Niagara Falls was full of tourists. Who'da thunk it? People visiting one of the great natural wonders of the world? Amazing.
I'd been there a couple of times before, but in really cruddy weather. Those times we only saw a few hardy souls, who braved the winds and cold to stand on the unprotected banks of the Niagara River and shiver. Saturday it was full of people speaking dozens of languages, with only a handful of Americans. It was kinda cool hearing the Quebecois visitors chattering half in French and half in English and being able to understand all of it....that high school French still comes in handy sometimes.
The falls are so different now than when we were on our honeymoon 30+years ago (on our way to a cow auction). Then there were just concrete reinforced banks and water. A lot of water. Now there are fences, parks, walkways, and people. Of course on Saturday the weather was great. It all started with a visit to Bass Pro that wasn't. We had stopped at the Seneca Falls McDonald's and Alan said, "I don't really want to go to Bass Pro. It would be cheaper just to drive out to Niagara Falls. Wanna go?"
See, his impulse control in stores that sell objects that propel pointy bits of soft metal rapidly through the air is not the best. Hard to get out with his wallet intact. And Bass Pro fits that description.
So we went. I would not have recognized the place. Besides the lovely infrastructure, all was much quieter. The ground did not shake even on the closest approaches to the water. I guess this is because of the many hydroelectric plants that divert water into power generation, but it was not loud and the ground did not tremble.
It was pretty though. The water was a beautiful deep green. The mist was glittering white and silver. The gulls were graceful. Very nice. I'm glad we went.
Poor Mack has seen more crate time than I like in recent days for various reasons, so I resolved to take him on a long enough walk to erase all that and tire him out.
Tumultuous tearing
Besides, it was one of those days when I hadn't walked enough myself so I wanted to rack up some steps.
Machinery imspections
At least he is the only dog I have ever had that will stay with me without being laboriously trained to do so. Even the most loyal of the Border Collies would leave me if they thought there was a sheep to chase ...or a cow....or running water....or a bird....or some air. Not Mack. He will run and race and rip and tear, but he always comes back. And he has this thing for closeness, as in he will ram into your legs about thirty miles an hour if he can. Kind of a drive by knee capping. Thus I carry my old shaker stick from cow herding, collie training days....a Mountain Dew bottle with a few stones in it electrical taped to a fiber glass stock stick. Works the nuts. He isn't afraid of it, but he knows it's there.
Found some old feed bag
We discovered all sorts of things. Although a dog can disrupt a birding walk by disrupting the birds, they can also alert you to things you might not see otherwise. Little dog frozen in alert pose staring down the hill in the dim light of dusk....oh, cool, a flock of turkeys slipping silently across the road headed for the roosts....I would have missed them. Thanks, Mack. Mike stood on his hind legs once peering over some weeds into the hedgerow. Twin fawns, one dark, one light, snuggled together in hiding. I would have missed them too. He had no desire to disturb them....just wanted me to know they were there.
And then there were the coyote tracks. We know we have them, but I figured on maybe just a few. Instead, between the spring behind the barn and the 30-Acre Lot the road is completely mashed down by hundreds and hundreds of canine footprints. Some of them are as big as the palm of my hand.
Took it on tour
Are they denning there? The grass is all tracked and stomped in the whole area, but that is where we saw the turkeys. Were they just partying?
Coyote tracks were this thick over the ENTIRE road!
For myself I don't worry too much, but I was a little concerned about the pup. He is a toughy, but very small. I think I will look for a CO2 pellet pistol and holster....I know, I know, it won't kill one, but it might make it let go and leave. I already have too many things to carry to consider a long gun. Then again, maybe they have been hunted enough to leave people...and tiny, white dogs.... alone. Anyhow, I was alert every second while walking, which isn't a bad thing to be anyhow. You never know who or what you'll meet back there. It was a great hike. Well over 10000 steps for me and nearly10 billion for him. Was he tired at the end? Well, maybe.....
Despite grey on grey bands in the sky, blustery winds, and chilly drizzles, some signs of spring are sneaking up on us. Just a few though. While some folks whose blogs I visit have daffodils and snow drops, magnolias even, we must content ourselves with the garlic just nosing up out of the ground and shoots of this and that peeking out from under leaves and litter.
And lambs. We have lambs, which are much enhanced by a toddler's enjoyment of same. We have a few chickies left too, and Liz has an incubator full of eggs up at the great grandparents' house.
On the bird front, Goldfinches are changing just a bit, Song Sparrows abound. The Purple Finches look like flying raspberry ice cream cones. I feel so fortunate to host at least two pairs and sometimes three. I think they nest in the blue spruces out front, although I couldn't prove it.....but that's where they hang around in the summertime. I am ready though for some spring birds, beyond blackbirds and robins, to show up. I held Peggy up to the big windows and pointed out a robin to her. She liked it! "Mine," she said. Sounded like a plan to me, "All right, that one is yours......" But then she said, "Pet, pet," and made stroking motions with her hands. Can't help her there.
"Gave a luster of midday to objects below...." Yeah, a snapping, snarling little squall dumped a smattering of snow on us last night. Just enough to make it feel colder than it was, and it was plenty cold enough. Then the wind rattled the trees and scooped up the flakes and gave them the old who-flung. I came downstairs in the middle of the night and it was bright enough to throw sharp shadows from the trees and through the banister in the front hall. It caused me to remember a couple of words from another Christmas classic........ "Bah humbug!"
On Dancer and Prancer, on Dunder and Blixem.... only there were an even dozen there this morning, not just eight Kind of like spare tires right? Only spare deers.
To this guy. You can always count on him....and we have a lot of fun too. Thanks for the road trip yesterday and for getting the wood up for me so we will be warm for a couple weeks. And for all that other stuff too numerous to list as well.
Hope you have a great day even if you do have to work in a different state.
The NYC crew is only home for a few hours this weekend, but the best will be made of the interlude. Last night, after supper, Alan and I took the "new" Durango on its baptismal birding run. We went first to the pond up by Lykers Road and then to the Rural Grove State Forest, where there are both another small pond and a number of vernal pools.
At Lykers we saw a low-swooping Red-tailed Hawk, which barely missed dragging his talons through the water, so low did he fly.
A pair of Canada Geese, not much concerned about our arrival, plus a pair of Hooded Mergansers sailing among the cattails. I was watching the latter when the male spread his glowing crest, just so the light of the setting sun shone right through it. Wow. You can't make that stuff up.
As we drove to Rural Grove the sun continued a long, slow, decline from the day, turning the still-naked horizons amazing shades of peach and clear, crystal, orange. There was little moisture in the cold, sharp air, and the views were stunning.
Even more stunning were the things we found, just as we entered the state lands. Someone had evidently been butchering and there were three of these things sticking up from the ground like macabre sentinels guarding the gates.
Undaunted, we proceeded anyhow, and found Mallards, the remains of someone's wild bonfire night, and peepers singing the siren song of spring. They were all around us but not a single wood frog chuckled from the wooded puddles. Might have been too cold as temperatures dropped into the teens very rapidly. Anyhow, it was a fine interval between work and worry, and I thank Alan for thinking of it and for taking me out there. Now the new car knows the way to at least a couple of our birdy hotspots......
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