Another Summer, Another Singer

You might remember how the little front porch opens onto the big front hall, with the tall stairway and two stories of space acting as sounding board and echo chamber for anything on that porch.

And how certain birds have figured that out and like to sing in front of the screen door when we have the big doors open....a small bird can sound like a screaming eagle...or a smoke detector out there. Prolly really impresses the ladies and scares passing intruders.

Over the years it has been utilized by all manner of birds, from the Great Crested Flycatcher with his strident "Wheep!" to Carolina and House Wrens and many others.

Yesterday and today the singer has been an American Redstart. Before I learned to recognize their song I thought it was a big deal to find one. Now I realize that we are surrounded. We hear them everywhere we go, count them on nearly every summer list, and see them much more often now that we can hear them if that makes sense to you.

Their call is pretty noticeable to begin with, but amplified by that hallway....well, it'll wake you up all right. I keep going to the door to see if I can see the singer.

Never Cut your Hair

In the dark. Just sayin'.

NASA's Phantom Clouds

Peggy likes the Sitting Porch too

Sat out until well after dark last night, letting the mosquitoes gnaw my bones, and watching the fireflies wake up and sparkle.....the sitting porch is like fairyland as the curtain of darkness is drawn across the sun. However, the company, biting insectwise, leaves something to be desired.

I was waiting for the colored clouds NASA is planning to release in the ionosphere sometime soon. The boss sat with me for a while, but the Mets called him away. Plus he is a little less resigned to skeeters than I.

Eventually I had to quit. After weeks of ice cold showers there was hot water and I wanted to avail myself while the getting was good. (It was good too, man, oh, man, there is NOTHING like hot water...nothing!!)

We did see one really strange cloud, shaped like a giant 'E' but plain white and possessed of four rather than the requisite three arms. It hung in the sky until the light was gone and then the bats came out.

It was good to see bats, Big Brown I suspect. Do you suppose they eat fireflies and then use their breath as a lantern to light the way when they go to roost? 

We used to have Little Browns in the cow barn but most likely White Nose Syndrome did them in. We don't see many any more.

The shower was great....but when I checked the news to see why we saw  only unconventional but natural clouds in our skies I discovered that the launch had been postponed until...maybe...tonight.

Am I tough enough to brave the skeeters again? I hope so! Then again the clouds are supposed to appear right where the mulberry trees block the horizon and we have a lot of light pollution to the east and south, so maybe i won't see a thing.

At any rate, it's worth a try, as this night show HAS to take place when the sky is clear. Natural phenomena, such as meteor showers and lunar eclipses are nearly always obscured by clouds here in the Great Northeast.

Playoff Wrens vs Robins

We just suffered through our annual, and sometimes even twice annual, sharing of the sitting porch with American Robins.

Some years it's not too bad. They are flighty, silly creatures but they eventually get used to us and will sit on the eggs and feed the nestlings even when we are watering plants and sitting out in the evening sun.

This year though, we had a pair of the most tom fool idiots I have ever seen. They would NOT tend the nest when we were out there, but they sure would dive bomb up over the railing at our heads and cheep and scream indignantly, and generally make the atmosphere so miserable that we gave up and went in.

Saturday the kids fledged.

Sigh of relief. However, they weren't off the porch for an hour before Carolina Wrens started checking out the flowerpots and the ornamental bird house, which has served everything from chickadees to both common wrens around here over the years.

Dagnabbit.

However, the difference between the two species is marked and welcome.

I was sitting on the porch last night enjoying the shadows of the end of sundown and listening to the birds. Both wrens flipped up onto the porch railing about two feet away from me. They sat there contemplating my toes while I enjoyed their company and then proceeded to investigate the whole porch.

Nice, companionable birds, which as long as I didn't move too quickly minded me not in the least.

Swans are just like Money

Yesterday the boy came home to work on the #*&#@& hot water system. He and the boss labored all day in heat and misery on the darned thing. At least, although there are still a few bugs to work out, Becky got a nice hot shower last night. (Thanks, Alan and Amber for coming down to deal with this and for spending what should have been a day off in such a way.)

On the way to the hot water parts store the boss saw a pair of Mute Swans along the river. When the construction project wound down for the day he took me down to see them. There they were, floating on the river by the Stewart's outside Amsterdam.

It made me feel rich indeed to add these strange birds to my year list even though they don't appear to be ABA countable here.

See, like with most folks, around here money goes first for bills....and then if anything is left over, also like most folks, we spend a bit on what pleases us. For me that's bird stuff, the recordings that come with Warbler Guide, membership in a couple of birding organizations, things like that.....all so I can hopefully see or hear...and most importantly identify...more birds. Well actually Becky bought those things for me......

Thus a new bird found for free, by my non-birder husband, who just knows what I like and provides it if he can, is just like finding money.

Almanac

Nobody we know....I just liked this scene...

The beginning of June.

Bought an invasive species yesterday and paid good money for it too. First seen in the US in 1765 and common then, no one knows its true origin for sure. It may actually be native.

However, in places other than here it is a pest. In my little Rubbermaid garden pond it won't do any harm though. No egress, winters too cold for it, all it will do...hopefully...is clean up the murky mess left behind by the blasted grackles.

They nest in the grape vines on the front of the heifer barn, bringing forth fat broods of Darth Vader fledglings. They also attend mightily to the feeders....and the pond is on the path twixt the two. Seems dumping fecal sacs in water is the practice with grackles and the pond makes things perfect for them.

I went so far as to stop feeding until the babies fledged, but the pond is much closer than the river....so the nice clean water, in which we could happily enjoy the little fishies, is mud brown and foul....

Thus the water lettuce. I don't actually like the stuff, and prefer to use garden plants and wild natives to keep the water nice...plus the filter/fountain of course. However, on years from hell like this one I buy a water lettuce plant and let it take over. Pretty soon the water will most likely look a bit better...unless the grackles do another brood at least.

Meanwhile the profusion of bloom of riverbank grapes is unprecedented in my experience. Usually the little greeny-gold flower clusters run somewhere between unobtrusive and invisible on the showy scale. This year they look like fluffy clouds of lace, pretty in a subtle sort of way. And it is has finally dried out enough so you can smell them, although only a tiny whiff now and then, not the omnipresent waves of normal summer...I love the scent though and I will take what I can get. 

The House Finches have brought their babies in to eat at the feeder. Some fledgling Carolina Wrens checked me out when I was walking behind the barn last night as well. 

Tuti is still coming in too. She is a twisted-winged Tufted Titmouse that has been with us since last winter. It is easy to pick her out by her deformity, but she does not let it bother her. She scolds me ferociously should I approach the feeder when she is gathering gossip and sunflower seeds.

Although the weather has been chancy at best and downright cruddy at worst it is all too easy to love June, my favorite month of them all. 

There be frogs in the peonies

Oak Pond

Sorry about the lack of action here. The cold days are too depressing and the warm days too busy to sit down at the keyboard and say much.

However, we have gotten out birding here and there. Found a nifty little beaver dam in a place called Oak Pond, in the Charleston State Forest. It was a short hike on a path lined with the blue plant from a couple of days ago, which has been thankfully identified as Veronica or Speedwell.

At the pond itself there was evidence of  serious partying, with piles of glass shards from whiskey bottles that had been smashed on tree stumps. I shudder to think of meeting the perpetrators on the road after the party.

The dam itself was brimming to the very edge after all the recent rain. There was a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers right near us, which was pretty cool. We twisted down a couple of short paths looking for a vantage over the water to see what was out there....

And then I happened to glance down. I was up to my (bare, as I live in shorts when possible) ankles in poison ivy.

Yippy Skippy. 

We cut short our morning and hurried home to wash with plenty of soap and throw all the clothes in the laundry.

Must have got it in time, because no blisters resulted, but I guess we will cross that location off the list. Too bad...it was kind of pretty and I think on a better day...it was quite nasty as usual...we might have seen some good warblers. There sure was a loud Ovenbird crying teacher, teacher right next to the path.

Feels like Winter

ISO ID on these pretty little blue flowers. Thanks

Or almost. At least late October, early Novemberish. Still raining, or maybe again. 51 degrees, which is about 20 below normal for the season.

Everyone is pretty much just hanging around grumbling and wishing we could play outside. Supposed to be 70 tomorrow, so I suppose we should all stop whining.

Tranquil

Snakes in the.....

Water! When we visit the locks to look for birds we often find reptiles as well. We discovered that some of the piles of dirt that we see are probably Snapping turtle nests, which would certainly fit as we see plenty of snappers.

Big ones.

We also see a plethora of Northern Water Snakes. The bank is often swarming with them in fact...some of them are apparently busy making little water snakes. 

They are bold and not much bothered by our presence. Seems they eat fish and the like and the canal is teeming with sunfish, so there is plenty on the menu. Glad I have outgrown my penchant for capturing long, skinny reptiles, as they are reputed to be quite pugnacious. 

All Right Already

After a rainy start to the day yesterday, the sun actually came out, setting the situation up for a real hammer and tongs of a thunder and wind storm in the afternoon.

Since it was nice for a few hours, we put down landscape fabric in the small garden I have kept for myself this year, having let the kids have all the big ones. They get ahead of me camp week.....

Then the biggie hit. We were at the kitchen window as it happened and watched a doe scuttle for cover under some heavy bushes and trees along the ridge. She looked like a little kid, hurrying to get out of the rain, head ducked, ears tucked, high stepping it as fast as she could. (This morning she was in the same spot...might be a fawn there...)

We were expecting our best hay customers at the time, but of course they waited until the worst was over to come, and rightly....who wants to mess with hay in the middle of a thunder storm?

Then, the phone rang. The boss was over at the barn and Liz was calling to let us know that our customers couldn't get here because there was a tree down in the driveway!

It was a big box elder, but these ladies are so intrepid that before the boss had time to even get the skid steer started they had broken off enough branches...by hand...to squeeze their truck through under it! Farm girls!

I am sad for all the folks around the country who are too darned dry and I apologize for this area having all your rain. Wish we could share.

Later in the day we hit the parks, which were pleasantly empty, and saw this little mama Common Merganser with what looked like either 11 or 12 babies. Boy, could they ever move! 

Today was the big find though. We went to Yankee Hill because there have been Brants seen and photographed there. There were plenty of Canada Geese, but nothing unusual.

On the way home I suggested we stop just for a couple of minutes at Lock 12 because you can see a lot of river there. I didn't even bother to start a list, although it is rich with birds, because the river was bare.

Then, just after I tucked my binoculars and camera into the case, 60 or so small, black, fast geese flew right in front of the car, singing a much different song than the Canadas do.

We found the Brants. Or they found us. Wish I had the camera out, but I did get a good look at them..binoculars first, camera second. That was a big deal for me I'll tell you.

Made my day!

Marshmallows

Imagine my delight when writing the Farm Side this week led me on a tangent that turned out to be a lot of fun. 

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised though...that is often the case. I will start to do a bit of research to flesh out an idea and discover something I had never imagined. There is often more to the history of things than appears on the surface.

This week it was the history of marshmallows....

Pretty unexpected, huh? I figured they were invented maybe in the 19th century or so, by some confectioner in a room behind a candy store somewhere, but the reality is much more interesting.

And it has been heartening a way to read that Congress, as well as the mainstream and alternate press, are finally taking notice of this story. This has popped up on farm pages for ages and I have written about the "mini'mountain range" nonsense several times, here, as well as in the Farm Side in more detail. Bout time the bigwigs took notice of the egregious stuff going on in the name of environmentalism.  Maybe now things will get better, although I should know better than to expect that.

A-a-and...it's raining again as usual. I got up to write while the house was quiet to find it sprinkling lightly. The birds were doing a mighty dawn chorus, although the dawn itself was darned thin soup. Suddenly, with a crash, it began to pour. Now it is steadily sploshing down, drip, drip, drop, drop, drizzle, drizzle, drizzle.

Enough already! I feel like Forrest Gump. (thanks Rich)

 "One day it started raining, and it didn't quit for four months. We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin' rain... and big ol' fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath. Shoot, it even rained at night..."

Some Gave All

The boss's best high school friend did not come home...he still tells stories of their adventures as lively young men. We visit the cemetery every now and then...

Mason Lake

We tried Pecks for a boat rental and fishing trip, but there was no one at the marina, so we headed North.

Open freshwater mussels like this were scattered everywhere. Raccoons been busy maybe...

There we discovered a road, heretofore unmarked, which took us to a little kayak and canoe launch on Mason Lake, which is a really nice little gem south of Indian Lake.

12 little Mallards swimming in a row

The kids fished for a while, while I hunted for birds, as I had forgotten my fishing license (it is now in my camera case). They hooked some bullheads, which promptly dragged their lines under rocks, and saw a nice Small Mouth Bass as well.

The birds were enthusiastic, and included the first Veery of the year, Ovenbirds, and Red-eyed Vireos.

Alas, the blackflies were even more eager at their work and Alan wanted to barbecue, so we came on home fairly early. Fun trip though. I have always liked that little lake and it is even better to actually be able to access the shoreline and adjacent woods.

There was even a Ruby-throated Hummingbird enjoying an apple tree plumb laden with bloom
And with bumblebees, as it is finally warm enough for them to be out pollinating.

Week of Birds

Baby Grackles. Their parents have utterly fouled...or should it be fowled...my garden pond,
dumping fecal sacs into it. Can't wait until they fledge.

LOTS of these around this year

Brown Thrasher. They nest in the wild roses near the lawn

Baby Starling, yippee skippy

Right Place, Right Time

Got lucky with this photo of the dam at Lock 12...it was so pretty there that evening.

To our favorite Farmer Chick

You know, the young lady who has an incubator in the dining room and lambs and ducks and turkeys and chickens and guinea hens and quail and a calf etc. in the old heifer barn.

Happy Birthday!

Too Late for Photos

Sunny Destin, Florida, a place we really, really liked

Bought some grapefruit in sunny Florida when Alan took us down the last week in December. We ate a bunch of them...so much tastier than the kind in stores up here...and then I FORGOT THEM!!!

They languished in the crisper drawer until this morning, when I realized that I should probably throw them away. I hauled them out to the compost but then decided to cut one in half for the Catbirds.

It was perfect! Juicy, fragrant, and lovely. The Catbirds think so too.

So I hauled the nicest ones back in and am eating one with fresh May strawberries. Awesomeness in a bowl, I gotta tell you. Two seasons and two states combined to make a breakfast surprise that is certainly going to be duplicated on the morrow.

How about that? Who knew?

The combination is so delicious that it is too late for photos.

Sun dappled NY. We like it here too...at least this time of year