Spy

In the living room Fox News drones day and night. Politics, politics, politics. NOTHING is happening in the entire world except the presidential primaries. 

On the sitting porch the programming is much more diverse. Instead of the same old story attacked from all sides, with commentators like chickens pecking a mouse, something different is happening every second.

There is no Megan Kelly, but cardinal acrobatics are at least as attractive and much more natural. The male postures and twists, fluttering fancy red wings and singing eagerly, as he displays his talents for his lady friend. She shrugs, harrumph, and flies off in high dudgeon. 

Instead of false rivalry and folks talking rudely over one another, bunnies, Eastern Cottontails that is, are chasing robins off the lawn. They are equally rude, but much funnier. 

Bunnies have great press. Everyone thinks they are all cute and cuddly and Farmer McGregor-ish, when in reality they are violent little scoundrels, fighting at the drop of a dandelion head. In the short hour I steal out here, just enough past dawn to have adequate light to identify at least some of the birds, I see skirmish after skirmish. It's a wonder they find time to eat, between beating each other up and harassing the birds.

There are a lot of birds these days. Four new First of Year birds yesterday alone. Chimney Swifts, Wood Thrushes, Common Yellowthroats, and the Bobolinks. I think there is a Ruby-crowned Kinglet out in the brush in front of the house too, but the little stinker is too elusive for me to be sure.

The boss came with me on Bobolink watch last night and we had a nice walk. Even as crippled up as he is....and he is...that accident did him no good atall, atall.... he can out walk me. I had to keep reminding him if we were going to look for birds he couldn't get a hundred miles ahead of me, because they would all be gone when I got there. 

The jingly techno music of the magical little blackbirds greeted us when we crested the hill though, and his sharp eyes helped me spot things far away. Hooray!

It was funny about the turkeys though. We were at the exact crest of the hill, and he kept insisting, "They are right THERE!" And pointing. 

And I could not spot them.

I know I am kinda blind and all, but how can you miss an entire flock of turkeys?

Well, if you are a lot shorter than the guy pointing them out, and they are just over the top of the hill, you just might be a tad too short to see over the grass. I had to laugh.

Anyhow, outdoors is better than in, and birds and bunnies are better than the all day "news".

Congratulations to Becky for being promoted to manager where she works! We are pretty proud of her.

Sproing

Spring is springing up all around us. From parrot tulips the kids bought me last fall to Robins nesting everywhere, including places we would prefer they had left alone.

It's all good. Had a nice Mother's Day trip to Cabela's, which is where we found  a toy...finally..that Mack can't destroy. 

At least so far.

 A nice lady clerk told us that she had bought one for her dog, but dogs couldn't make the squeaker in it work. Too complicated because you have to turn it on its side to activate the noisy part.

I told her I had a Jack Russell Terrier. They can do anything they want to.

She said, "No, I have one too, and he can't work it". Although Mack loves noisy toys and squeaks and honks them all early and often, I did wonder why someone would be concerned about a JRT not being noisy.

Anyhow......

Guess how long it took Mack to squeak it....

Yeah, half a lap around the kitchen table and it was going. He loves it and plays with it by the hour. Honky, honky, squeak, squeak, squawk.

Just Passing Through

Woods and edges ring with the calls of White-crowned Sparrows.  It seems late for them this year....usually we notice their visit in April. The White-throated Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, and American Tree Sparrows are gone....vanished north about a week ago. We may see a few stragglers yet, but the ones that live here all winter and walk tame, practically underfoot, have left for the nesting lands. The White-crowns will not be far behind them.

On one hand I miss them, but it is hard not to enjoy the migrants showing up here every day to fill their niches.

Many of our winter sparrows summer and breed far to the north. I guess they are fueling up for the flight to northern Canada this week. I sure am enjoying them. 

Here's a bonus link about how false eggs are helping preserve bird populations.

Mom

I have written many times over the nearly eleven years that this blog has existed about how amazing my mother is.....mostly because she truly is. She supported my dad in all he undertook, which meant that although we certainly didn't grow up rich, we grew up well-rounded. He was president of everything from the local Audubon Society to the mineral and carving clubs and of this region of Clan Montgomery too. She was right in there helping, and doing all that good stuff right along with him.....And those were just some of the official things they did. I was learning about how the Mohawks lived in this valley long before we were taught in school.

However Mom has undertaken so many exciting projects there wouldn't be room for them here. They square danced for a few years...she handmade all their fancy clothes. Made kilts....real, properly pleated and stitched kilts for the male Montgomery descendants and dad.....and set  us all up with Betty Crocker cookbooks when we left home. Both of my brothers are outstanding cooks BTW. She talked me through stuffing my first turkey...over the phone....and making Thanksgiving dinner is something I do very well to this day.

She even makes good split pea and ham soup and that is saying something.

However, perhaps one of the most unsung, and yet incredibly heroic, things she has done, is tolerate a rock and roll band that practiced in her house.

We took our show on the road after the first few years, but when we were in the trying to get to play at school dances, but not quite there yet, stage, she endured all of Creedence Clearwater Revival with a sprinkling of Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin and other  truly atrocious music thrown in, played, pretty badly, in the confines of their tiny house. That's a mother!

Later, we graduated to playing those dances, and playing clubs, and even a wanna be biker bar in a small town named after its lake to the north of us. (Born to be Wild!) She was always supportive, and we were often called upon to play a little acoustic stuff at family gatherings. How lucky is that? She has always been kind and supportive to the people around her and they love her for it....

So Happy Mother's Day to my amazing mom, and to all those wonderful moms out there on their special day.

The Other News from the Other New York

I could not wait for the Amish guy to leave. This horse did not like being tied to that tiny twig in a sloppy little knot and he spent the whole time he was here yanking back and forth and wringing the wagon around on the lawn, all frantic and scared. There wasn't a dry inch of hide on him and it wasn't raining. I was scared to death he would tug that knot out or pull up the little Box Elder tree and run down on the highway

We are all inundated by news these days, buried in it, smothered by it. With the rising of social media....like this in fact....we are bombarded day and night, if we don't shut the darned thing off and get out and do...until it can wreck our mood, gloom up our lives, and make us feel all helpless and sad.

The big Amaryllis bloomed. So did the Elephant Ear with TWO flowers this year
Hope I can get seeds again! We pollinate the Amaryllis too, and this is one Alan and I grew from seed

But that isn't why I didn't post much this week. That was more the cold, dismal, dragging-on-forever rain that fell all week. Every day I told myself....aloud....that with this rain we won't get fires. You  don't hear of them here in NY all that often, but my dad fought fires in the Adirondacks...big ones....either before I was born or when I was a baby....and there was that biggie at Sam's Point Ridge not long ago. And there are plenty of places that would give a lot for a week of rain. Still it doesn't exactly make me do caprioles and tap the keyboard like a dervish when we have to slog along in a soggy, slippery, mucky, muddy mess every time we go outdoors. I only walked purposefully one day all week.

Chick transport when you can't find the chickie box. There are SEVEN chicks in that pocket!

However, news was happening here just the same. First of the year Yellow Warblers, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Savannah Sparrows and Warbling Vireos.

FOY Savannah Sparrow

An Amishman showing up wanting to buy our old barn. Or not as the case may be. We didn't want to sell it anyhow, but the boss was polite and let him take a peek through the windows. He was afraid of the dog...

Not a happy fellow

Chicks hatched and then little turkeys, which are peeping now in the dining room. Imagine that? Little chickies in the dining room. Peggy loves them!

And there you have it, a different set of news stories from the endless politics and gloom and doom. We had plenty of gloom, but it was only weather

Sunny, the horse, watching deer up on the heifer hill. You can often find the wild things by watching the tame ones. If I see Sunny, or the pup, or the ponies, looking off into the distance, I always try to see what they do.

And the deer....looking back at Sunny....
or maybe at me, sneaking out of the house with the camera

Animals in the Fort Mac Fire

I have been watching, almost in real time, as people are evacuated and try to get their animals out of this utterly horrendous fire. Horses have been turned loose when people couldn't get them out in time, and others are being hand-led to safety. Once again the good hearts of people shine through in a crisis.

Dozens of offers of trailers, kennels, stables, feed, and monetary donations are showing up in groups I follow in Canada.

Prayers for these poor souls and for the good people who are doing what they can to help them. 

Recycling

Remember the poachers last deer season? The guys who shot the buck in the rump and shoulder after dusk, on our posted property, right next to the boys in the driveway?

Well, Alan found that buck a good while later, injured, full of rot and death, and put him out of the misery the not-so-good hunters inflicted.

He could have called DEC...we had already been in touch with them over the incident..and gotten the animal, which was not edible, picked up and had a new tag issued to him. However, we already had venison enough for winter, and he wanted to mount the antlers, so he kept him.

As suggested by the DEC officers, and as we have done in the past, we put the carcass out for the scavengers. Usually coyotes and crows fill that niche, but sometimes we get Bald Eagles.

The bones, long since picked clean, lie in the thick grass of the field behind the house. I had been thinking maybe I should move them down in the woods for the mice to chew, but hadn't...

Then this morning I thought I saw a turkey out there. Something thick and black and clunky was hunkering down there....I got the binoculars and, no, it was not a turkey, but a Turkey Vulture, picking away. Now there are several. I can't imagine what they are finding to eat, but they seem to be enjoying their bony breakfast.

Chicks is Chippin', Eggs is Pippin'

Yeah, the kids brought their incubator down here after a test run up at Jade's grandparents' house. It has been running in the dining room for a while or so.

Late last week chickies began to peck and pick their way out of their shells. These so far are mottled, blue, and black standard cochins.

They are also crazy cute.

However, after having raised many hatches of chicks and many store bought chicks on the porch down in the village, I am utterly attuned to the distress calls of chicks.

And every single one cheeps stridently for a while after it exits it's ovoid enclosure......

Yup, I been noticing.....

Yeah, it's that kinda Day

Blow up Dolls

For turkeys. They are eerily realistic! They turn and bob on their fake pink legs like.....like turkeys...... 

Mack was terrified of them. He nearly slipped his collar trying to get away from them when I walked him down near them, and then ran headlong into the back door. Crash!

And then we didn't use them anyhow.

See, we went out turkey hunting this morning. Opening day. Really Alan hunted. I tagged along a little and then ended up sitting on a log in the barnyard, as they were right down behind the house, and I am not up for all that creeping and stalking stuff.

It was kinda nice sitting out there listening to the birds and the noises of the poultry from the barn though.

Anyhow, Alan stalked and called, and stalked and called, and there was a good-sized flock of them right out there on the hill. He prolly could have gotten the tom, although it was just a small one, and there are much larger fellows out there somewhere.

And then, wham, a herd of deer ran right through the center of the flock.

Busted. It was starting to rain anyhow, and I had my toys....camera and binoculars...with me.

It was okay. It is more about the being out early in the day and creeping around in the woods than about needing a turkey anyhow. For me at least. If he gets one I have to cook it.....

And there is no accounting for deer. 

Game Day

A dozen last night

The Mechanic

Oh, noes, the noisy lion toy is broken

I fix it, me

This smells like the right sized wrench

Yep, it is!

Peggy helps her daddy work on machines all the time, handing him tools....making off with tools....and obviously it has rubbed off. BTW, the noisy lion toy from Hell was not broken, but it could have been....many times over the past few days. 

Yellow

We haz it. Spring is springing, although setbacks are possible. it has been pretty cold, but that hasn't stopped the Goldfinches from putting on their crayon colors and shining up the place. 

 

The wind has been tuning it up too. Laundry will dry on the line if you don't mind untangling it every little while....but the clothespins are taking a beating. Seems you can't buy good ones any more so you just have to make do with a lot of junky ones and replace them really often.

I took a little bird walk yesterday evening just to get out of the house. The barn gate was unlocked and open so our log guy could bring in firewood so I went down that way instead of up over the hills as is the norm.

Wow! I pished up a Carolina Wren that nearly hit me in the head. They seem to be using the old cow barn as a base. Two Bald Eagles soared over and then I was treated to a game of Turkey Vulture tag. They are ugly old things, what with their bald, red, heads, and dumpy mess of off-black feathers. On the ground you wouldn't give them a second look, except perhaps to mutter "Ick...."

However, when they fly.... When they swoop back and forth, low among the power wires, banking over the little cliff along the drive. When they maneuver swiftly, up and down, back and forth, passing one another and gliding like swallows....well, it is worth a few minutes down there, just south of river and road, just to enjoy the rural air show.

I was glad I went that way.....a quick trip up the usual back barn road yielded only a handful of birds, but the driveway was teeming.

For those interested in solar arrays on farmland, here is another article.
And still another offering many resources for gathering information before you jump off that particular cliff.

Tuesday

Observation tower at Montezuma.
And here I was hoping for a good thunderstorm so I could climb up and bird.

The Farm Side is done....this week it's about the farm bashing billboard/EPA funding controversy and 3-D food printing. Had fun researching the food part.....

It is raining, pretty hard....I guess we need it, as even the lettuce hasn't germinated yet.... I was about ready to start watering it. On the other hand, Liz sold some plants I started, over at the livestock swap, for good money. I wanted to get out and pot some more up today, but I guess that will have to wait. She got fifteen bucks apiece for jade plants and people didn't even quibble! I have jade starts all over the place. Heck they fall off and try to root themselves in the living room carpet.

I also have volunteer Egyptian Walking Onions and Garlic Chives all over the yard. Actually need to redo a whole flower bed that has been taken over by the chives......I am thinking I may just work on the sitting porch.....

But then again, it's only 38 degrees out there, and we have the heat going full blast. Maybe it would be a good day to catch up on book work. 

Yesterday we lost the boss. 

For a while anyhow. He took Becky to work and never came back, which would have been fine, except that he had Alan's coat in the car with him...they went racing the other night....and Alan's wallet was in his coat.

He had to be in DC at 6 PM to start working the night shift. He looked everywhere for his dad. We called everyone we could think of. We posted on Facebook for folks to be on the lookout. No Ralph. And then I took the Mackster out and looked across to the cow barnyard to see the car and a truck right over there....he was over there  looking at some work we need done. We are going to get him a cell phone this weekend!

Going through the photos from Saturday I added American Wigeon to the list. Got to get that gull ID'd now. Anyhow, stay dry and enjoy all that bright green grass. A farmer friend from northern NY shared a photo from his tractor of his family doing field work....in snow.....