Winter Recess

Edge of the Mohawk

Grand Canyon of the barnyard ice

The Mudsissippi Delta

Gulls doing a little non-ice fishing

The Amish hustle

Tributaries of the Mudsissippi

Because there is no doubt in my mind that it will soon return.

Visiting dignitaries

Dairy Diets and Skittles Candy

The great Skittles spill in Wisconsin has raised an awful uproar about giving candy, bread, and cookies to cattle. I believe a little light needs to be trained upon the subject.

Modern dairy cows have been bred to be able to produce prodigious amounts of milk when cared for properly....and proper care is what farming is all about. This means that fewer acres, less water, less feed, and hopefully from the farmer's point of view, less money, go into making more milk from essentially better cows than we used to have.

Here is a picture of a Holstein in the '30s.

Here is a modern cow. 

Now I know most folks probably didn't do dairy judging in 4-H or raise cows to show or milk, but even an untrained eye can surely detect the difference between these two. Although cow A was a good cow in her day, today she would not be able to hold a place in pretty much any milking string. 

Check out cow B though.... just look at those strong, powerful feet and legs, that wide chest, straight topline, and those veins. They aren't called milk veins for nothing. And just look at that udder....high, and tight, and well connected to the cow....an important factor in a long life as a milk cow.

Of course cow B is a national show champion, but you can still get the idea that cows have changed since the days of wooden stanchions and shoveling out behind them twice a day.

The feed has changed as much as the cow. Nowadays, feeding cows is a complicated science. 

When farmers add such things as candy, cookies, and cake to cow rations they do so under the guidance of trained nutritionists, who balance  individual ingredients, such as sugars, starches, and proteins, to offer the most possible benefit to the animal, while costing as little as is reasonable.

Cows have different needs than people do, and utterly different digestive systems. When we were feeding cows one of the mantras that our nutritionists and veterinarians and speakers at meetings where we went to learn how to better feed cows, was, you are not feeding cows, you are feeding bacteria....

The bacteria in the cow's rumen help the cow to break down the ingredients of their feed in different ways than we break down our own groceries. Thus a cow can eat grass and make use of it for meat and milk where we would just get a belly ache.

And yes, the sugar in candy can help a cow get the right nutrients in the right balance to feel and act her best. Here is an article about the practice.

We worked with some amazing nutritionists, both from the companies where we purchased cow grains and from independent consultants, as well as with a group of bovine veterinarians who really knew their stuff. I personally attended many meetings and classes on cow management in all its aspects, from keeping cows comfortable to feeding them the best way we could. 

Beet pulp pellets, another byproduct fed to cattle

Soaking to feed the show calves bitd

We at one time even fed a grain product that contained chocolate left over from production for people. The barn smelled sure smelled good then! We also fed a broad range of other products you might not have found growing in a hay field, such as citrus pulp (another good scent in the stable) cottonseed, and other byproducts of food production. Pat, Jim, Kris, and a number of other trained professionals helped us use these ingredients correctly. Cornell Cooperative Extension put on many programs to teach us the craft of feeding cows, as did the feed companies and veterinarians we worked with.

So you see, reviling farmers who use ingredients, such as Skittles, for doing so is pretty misguided.

Here are some sample dairy rations so you can get an idea of just how carefully the modern dairy cow is fed. You don't have to read them all, just take a peek to see what's involved.

First, feeding TMR 

One set of ration guidelines.

Here are some comparisons on including candy in rations.

We waste a lot of food here in this prosperous world we get to enjoy. Why not spare some of that leftover stuff from the landfill and feed it to animals that can convert into nutritious food rather than throwing it away? Isn't that what sustainability is all about?

Stable

The three now ponies, plus my dear saddle horse, Magnum, and a long-ago pony,
Deranged Richard, teaching the girls how to pony.

Someone left the pony barn door open last night....probably because it's so warm and they didn't want it to get too stuffy.

Anyhow, I wandered over at o'dark-thirty this morning to make sure all was well. As the beam of my flashlight preceded, me a throaty chuckle came from Jack. He knows me of old and knows I'm a sucker, good for a treat or two. His nicker is so seductive, I swear if he was a kid, grandma would give him the whole cookie jar and then look around for something else tasty for him.

Diamond knows me as well and in the same way and came to stand tiptoe at the edge of her stall, peeking over to see what was up.

Gambit however, is not so familiar. I tend to dogs and goldfish and people and house plants these days....not my ponies and all. The rustle of the hay I found by the door lured him over for the party though...

Two slabs of the boss's good hay divided three ways so as not to mess with anyone's diet. There was a rustling and a couple of sighs of contentment as I left, leaving the door open behind me. It must be nearly fifty out there.

It was a moment, short, yet utterly sweet. I've missed the quiet sounds of well-cared for animals taking nourishment without fear or discomfort. There's a bond. If you have livestock you know it. Sad to think that animal rights activists would call this exploitation and want it ended right away. 

Good morning ponies, I'll bet the ice is soft enough that you can maybe go out to play today.

Perfect

Although it is fairy warm today, it is gloomy and glum and water-on-icy-nobirdsaround, bah humbug January.

A perfect day to work on tax documentation and getting all the accounts in order.

Right?

Because math and record keeping and all.

So....until later....

Almanac

Mom, this is your Christmas cactus that I have had since I still lived home
It is really outdoing itself this winter!

Though we go deeper into January day-by-day, there are signs if scant, that times may change quite soon.

This morning the scent of Pepe le Pew floated on the early breeze. Time to start making sure the dogs are always leashed....although they pretty much are anyhow. Between Mack's tendencies to chase bulls and kill chickens, he surely can't be free, and Finn's recall leaves something to be desired....like maybe him actually coming when you call him.

Anyhow....

Tis the season of love for the smelly little weasel allies, therefore they, frankly, stink. They do have a pretty fascinating reproductive cycle though.

Soon many of our local raptors will be laying eggs and hatching chicks. Just this morning the darker of the two local Red-tailed Hawks crouched in a Cottonwood Tree between here and the river as a half a dozen American Crows screamed stridently and dive bombed its perch. Eventually it flew off to the other side of the valley to another Cottonwood, where hopefully the crows got bored and left it alone. We have had Red-tails nesting here since I met the boss, over thirty years ago, even when the nest trees went down and they had to choose new ones. When they are not actually eating chickens we much enjoy them.

This winter the little brook between the farms is tinkling cheerfully whenever I walk that way. Some Januaries it roars like a thousand lions, while others it is either dry completely or locked down in ice and therefore soundless. It never fails to surprise and entertain me when I hear it. Not so much so though, back in the days when it sometimes took out the entire bridge between the house and cow barn. Then the tanker couldn't get in very well and we had to drive a truck between the buildings, down to the road and back up again, to get over for chores and back. You realize just how often a dairy farmer goes to the barn when something like that happens. Nice to have the bridge in solid working order...even if there is only one beef bull over there to feed and water each day.

Anyhow, it was nice in a way to smell that skunk this morning....at least a little bit..... a gentle warning that better days are coming, even if it was in an olfactory message rather than fine print. 

Favorite Friends

I've always had a problem with the whole best friends thing. Best is a superlative, indicating that there can only be one. Thus you might have two friends that you love equally but in different ways. Which one is best? Is the other one second best? One can only hope not.

And then there's the arrogance of the whole best friends deal. Who is anyone to say? Supposing you do have one person in your mind that is the superlative, "best" of all your friends and acquaintances...and they don't feel the same way? Suppose they are closer to someone else, like you a lot, but not the most? Then what? It's all so very middle school-ish.

It's always bugged me, especially since I am not exactly the queen of social interactions, have a mouth big enough for both feet, and fast enough to outrun my brain any day of the week. Who am I to think I am best of anything?

However, favorite...that's a whole nother concept. Someone can be my favorite friend without any commitment on their end. I can have a couple, three, or even a dozen favorites, and enjoy them all quite specially. Of course favorite is also a superlative, but who among us doesn't have dozens of "favorite" songs, favorite books, favorite authors, favorite foods....see, it just works better than best.

If better than best is actually possible. Anyhow, best wishes to my favorite friend; if by chance you may be reading this. I am thinking about you....

Raven Quest

After a week in Seattle and flying in a plane and all that scary stuff, son and brother are back on the ground in NY. As is not unusual on a Saturday when Alan isn't working, he met me this morning with, "Where shall we go today, Ma?"

The Adirondacks were calling to both of us, so off we went to Long Lake. We weren't really in search of Common Ravens, but we saw a lot of them. They are really big birds and in the brilliant early sunlight they gleamed like the brightest of bright coal. Seemed as if they were everywhere.

There were also snowmobiles and trailers and snow shoers and back packers and a lot of lousy traffic associated with same. Thus there wasn't a lot of peeking into the woods to see what we could see. If I am riding in a car, I can't look away from the road for more than a few seconds....years of driving has made watching the road an ingrained habit....

However, in one spot I looked into the trees and saw a grey stone ledge draped with ice from water flowing out of the ground behind it. In itself that is nothing unusual. All the road cuts along the way are covered with flows of frozen water, some bright blue, many yellowish or greenish or brown, and some just a dull, almost plastic, shade of white.

However, the ice on this little ledge was absolutely crystalline and pristine and perfect. It must have been a foot thick and several feet from top to bottom, but as clear and prismatic as the best optic  you could buy. Except free....Alas, the busy highway full of grannies and NASCAR drivers was no place to slow down let alone stop, so it will only remain in my memories...

Anyhow, home again, home again, out for a quick bird list...brrr....and then not much else today. Have a good one.

January Thaw

The kitchen reeks of wet dog. 

Not that I mind. At least they are contented, napping, dogs, full of kibble and canz. 

It is raining over ice, melting all the sand that has been scattered on drives and walkways over the past couple of weeks. Not gonna complain though. Warm is good.

The sunlight is thin soup indeed most days..this was a couple days ago

A thing that I like about this time of year is going out before dawn and hearing the Mallards and Canada Geese nattering and complaining as they rock in the gentle curves of the river where the current is quiet. 

With the low cloud ceiling the sound rises clearly to us up here on the hill and it is nice to listen to the muted chatter of hundreds or even thousands of birds.

Yesterday, in bright sunshine and steadily warming temperatures I counted 354 geese taking flight and heading off to cornfields somewhere to the south of us. 

Around dusk they return, crying like a pack of hounds for their beds at the river's edge.

Mallards and Black Ducks, down on the river yesterday

Gator Quest Serendipity

While finding only the tracks of resident alligators at the Village Point Park in Daphne, Alabama, we happened upon a fascinating surprise.

The park boasts Jackson's Oak, where Andrew Jackson is reputed to have once perched among the branches to give a speech to his troops.

The tree is magnificent, and nicely protected by a raised walkway and railings. I had seen photos of it in books before and it was a delight to stumble upon it while looking for birds and reptiles. Alan got some good birds too, as it happened, Some Hermit Thrushes, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and there were Carolina Chickadees everywhere.

Hermit Thrush by Alan

Leaving on a Jet Plane

See the "T" field over on the right? It sure fits
its name....

Back in the days of the infamous bar and garage bands, Hereafter (We'll be here after you're gone, but you won't be able to hear after) and Stone Free (AKA dirt cheap), that is one song I used to sing. The other one was this one....I could actually play them too once upon a time.....no more though...

I am not much of a singer...no ear and no range...but that doesn't stop me from loving music and singing every chance I get. I sang a couple of other songs for the bands too, having the advantage of being young and blonde and thus able to get away with a serious lack of actual talent. The boys were all good singers though and most likely made up for the loss.

Anyhow, that song was brought to mind yesterday when our boy and my younger brother hopped on a jet plane for work in Seattle. Alan had never flown before. He liked it though and said that he has to get one of those engines for the Camaro (if he does I'm staying home.)

While they were on layover in Chicago he discovered that the bank had frozen his card for a fraudulent charge. Thus in between walking the dogs and writing the Farm Side guess who has been on the phone for two days......yeah...you got it....the one who can't sing.

I have to say, the folks at our local branch and the people who work fraud during normal business hours are a whole lot more helpful than the weekend warriors. At any rate, chasing down phone numbers and typing in account numbers helped keep my mind off worrying about my kiddo while he ventured off to the left coast for the first time. Hope it's warmer there than it is here.

BTW he took that photo, which is of our farm and some neighbors, from the plane as they flew west. Pretty cool huh?

As close as I need to get to a jet plane in real life

Creepy

American Goldfinch

I've been getting out each day to do an eBird list, as well as looking for new birds for this year's farm census of species. I did two lists yesterday, as the walking wasn't terrible...a little sticky snow on top of the treachery that is ice made it possible to walk if very carefully.

I was no more than out the door when I saw a Red-tailed Hawk. Not at all unusual as they have nested on our land since I met the boss and probably long before that. However, a new bird for both year counts.

Got all the way to the cow barn and back without slipping, which is a big deal in our frozen world, and was standing by the spruce in the driveway, reluctant to go in, because even at 13 degrees it was good be out.

Suddenly a tiny bird rocketed from the overgrowth in the front field to land at the base of the spruce right at my feet. It caught my eye because it was so very small and fast.

Tufted Titmouse

It quickly began hitching up the tree, probing for insects as it went. A Brown Creeper! Right in the yard! I know Alan sees them up in the woods in back all the time but I rarely get out in those woods. To have one right in the yard, right next to me, was a real delight.

Good birds, you gotta love 'em.

What birds do you see in this admittedly lousy photo? I see five species and eight birds

Treasure Chest

I am such a treasure hunter...can never resist looking for cool stuff, whether it be shells, or stones, or interesting plants and animals. I think that is why I like birding so much....never know what you might find next.

Anyhow, my mama and dad gave me this box for Christmas. The box itself is treasure enough, but it was full of my grandmother's correspondence...... letters, Christmas and birthday cards, my aunt's 1953 Social Studies homework and tons of other items of interest. Even old phone bills for six dollars.....

I discovered that my late Godmother, my mother's college roommate, carried on an extensive correspondence with my maternal grandmother, long after college was over. She was such a dear and much missed. It was nice to read of her student teaching days and nice things said about my mama and aunt and uncles.

It made me feel better about those stacks of old Christmas cards and stray birthday cards and old newspaper articles and other odds and ends that occupy various spots in our domicile. I keep thinking I should throw them out...but maybe someday, someone, will find them and think they are amazing and awesome. You never know.

Passwords

This guy is more patient than his wife

Is anyone else having trouble with websites failing to recognize passwords and having to change them every month when paying bills? This is driving me nuts. I write them down, plus ask the browser to remember them. They are always forgotten and never right.

This is only with utilities. Everything else works fine and as expected. Since we got this new computer I have had to change my pw every month on both the power and cable company. Sometimes more than once. Dang it is aggravating.

As Alan says, why do you make it so hard for me to give you money? I think they make it hard so people will just give up and sign on for autopay. Not happening.

When taking down the Christmas tree

Saving the Mugo

We had a nice little Mugo pine down in the village. Alan bought it for me, and it grew quite nicely. We missed it when we came here, so he planted this one fifteen years ago when we made the Long Lawn.

It has grown and grown and gotten nice and fat. Catbirds, Song Sparrows, and the Willow Flycatchers love it in summer....it makes a fine staging area.

It was thriving....

Until yesterday when it underwent a severe pruning. You could throw a cat through it now if you were so inclined.

You know you have married well when your significant other not only takes a bar of Irish Spring out to hang it for you, but also shaves his head...in the middle of the winter...... and donates all his hair to the deer repellent effort.

Now we wait and see if it all works. If not Jade has a couple of ideas......

Resolutions

The Sanderling Three-step by Alan at the beach in Destin

I don't do them. I have never succeeded, so why set myself up to fail?

However, I do have goals for the coming year. They pretty much all relate to chasing birds so......

First, ten-thousand steps a day. To keep fit enough to keep birding. I was doing pretty well until I hurt my knee last July. Getting back there slowly, but I am going to keep working at it. I sure was frustrated when my phone battery died in Alabama, where we were doing a really long walk looking for gators on our gator quest (we did see tracks at least). Sure would have racked up some steps that day...but for the battery....

90 species of birds on our annual farm census. We found 88 in 2016, with the highlight for me being the Cerulean Warbler in the Cottonwood Tree by the driveway on Big Day, but they are all fun. I was out of commission with the knee and Lyme Disease for the best part of three months last year. Hopefully I can stay healthy and get er done this year.

I had too much tequila last night

Birding is so weird. I never got a Great Black-backed Gull for our count last year. This year I got one on New Year's Day. The new binoculars might have had something to do with that....

And this....this is new....I have been eBirding for a while now, doing checklists fairly regularly, but can I do it every day? Maybe.......Becky just bought me a membership to the ABA, which may spur me to keep at it. So far so good.