Hey Grandma

"You wanna come walking with us?"

"Why sure, let's go!" I walked....they ran....

 

Ice Cream for Breakfast

Almanac

First, let me thank everyone who generously provided a quote on this summer's weather in their area. From Alaska to Florida and a number of points in between, these reports made it easy and fun to write the Farm Side this week. I am ever so grateful.



I'm glad I needed to change dog water this morning. Staggering around half awake lugging buckets, I noticed that a tiny, thumb-knuckle-sized toadlet was floundering around in Finn's pail. It seemed relieved to be rescued and carted down to the garden by the back door where I released it under a rhubarb leaf. There is something irresistible about a baby toad.

After Montezuma the August birding doldrums have set in with a vengeance. A week ago nine species singing and flying by in the first three minutes would have been the norm any morning. Counted them faster than I could write them down.....

Yesterday I hiked all the way back to the Old Spreader Field and only saw or heard 19 species. Not a Bobolink, Red-winged Blackbird, or Savannah Sparrow to be found.

This morning bird songs showed an odd juxtaposition of seasons, an Indigo Bunting singing over behind the cow barn, a Blue Jay screaming at me for being out in the yard, Chickadees all over the place after a long summer silence, and a Carolina Wren who couldn't decide whether to come investigate my presence or join the jay in alarm.

Summer? Fall? they don't seem to know either.

However, migration is already under way, whether it is obvious or not. Can fall warblers be far behind?

Meanwhile, if the chipmunks can be persuaded to take their ratty teeth elsewhere, we will have tomatoes soon, and the beans and squash are thriving. I don't know about you but I never seem to get tired of raw beans out in the garden or a nice batch with dinner, sauteed in butter and seasoned just so.

We have all had colds lately, but I am hoping to feel good enough to pick today....

Just one More

First of all, thank you to the kind folks from near and far who left quotes about the way the weather is affecting their ability to farm. Now, just one more.....I know, I know, it's a lot to ask but......please...

If you have anything to say about this summer's strange weather across the country, have at it.

And thanks in advance.

Your Chance for Fame

Rain, on an otherwise excellent hay day

Although, alas, no fortune.

This week's Farm Side will be, as have been many before, about the weather and its affect on agriculture.

If any of you fine readers are willing to be quoted, either by name or by, "A farmer from the Midwest...or East....South....Northeast.....or the nation to the north etc.," said this week, of the ongoing strange weather.....

Then I would happily, nay eagerly in fact, share your thoughts and opinions on the summer we have had and are having, in Friday's Farm Side newspaper column.


Real material like that makes things click if you know what I mean. Leave a message in the comments or on Facebook if we are buddies there or send a pigeon with a leg band. Anything would work for me. Deadline is Wednesday noon as always. 

Thanks in advance.

C'mon now, don't be shy......

37

Some kinda heron...not sure

Great Egret

Caspian Terns

Pied Billed Grebe with chicks

Trumpeter Swans

Lotsa Great Egrets

Species, plus a huge flock of indistinct ducks. A good time had by all at Montezuma today.

Good Bird

Despite a week busy with hay and such, we saw some decent birds. One was lifer for me, a Louisiana Waterthrush, not a rare bird, but a kind of dull, secretive ground-dwelling warbler.

We went down to the river the other day. It was low and as in fall and spring I could walk right up the edge to the aqueduct. There, shuttling around in the phragmites, bobbing like a sandpiper was the waterthrush.

Just call me Mr. Blue
Indigo Bunting

 I was quite thrilled. Yesterday rain once again shut down haying operations plus a spring broke on the baler. No parts on Sunday so we are going to give Montezuma a go today if everything works out all right. Fingers crossed.

One of August's most reliable singers....

Loot

Alan and Amber were here for a couple days this week, helping with the hay between rain showers.

Yesterday was hung about with soggy clouds, so we piled into Amber's dad's big truck and went garage sale-ing.

It's not like we needed anything, but it's fun to see what we can find. Of course books were purchased because....books.....yeah.....

I found a couple of nice, sturdy, kid-sized, metal and plastic folding chairs for Peggy. When our kids were small we had a half a dozen or so injection molded el cheapo plastic chairs, some at home, and some at each set of grandparents' homes, so they had something to sit on.

Guess they don't make those anymore.

Thus for fifty cents each I was delighted by these.

Next found were "Made in Japan"-stamped Bonzo the Dog, salt and pepper shakers and this bobble head doggy. The ceramics were not by any means rare, but worth a bit more than the buck I paid for them. Bonzo was a cartoon pup from the 20s btw.

The kids found a good little bookcase at a nice neighbor's sale and then took home some hay for the critters at the fair up at their end of the state. We already miss them, but it sure was a nice visit. We sure had fun!

Sad little bobble head dog is carved from some kind of very light wood
 His mechanism is just a bit of wire.
Another buck invested in a silly dust catcher but I like him.

Farm Folks in their Natural Summer Habitat

An Oldie

A Farm Side from last year, which seems to not be behind the usual paywall.....

It is just about time for this year's event. You can read the Farm Side each Friday on the Recorder website or pick up the hard copy at any number of locations in the area.

The last thing you want to discover when visiting one of the premier agricultural events of the year is that you ran your camera batteries dead. This happened because you were taking flash photos of a Border Collie puppy wearing a pirate hat earlier and had forgotten to bring spares. The pup was real cute in the hat, but forgetting spare batteries is a cardinal sin for a photographer.

To make matters worse, the batteries actually went dead during a flying trip to Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge where we missed getting clear photos of a really weird duck we saw, which didn’t match anything in the field guide. Alan digiscoped it…that is shot photos with a cell phone camera through a spotting scope…but so far no ID has been made from those.

Anyhow, when we visited Sundae on the Farm at Glen Meadows Farm, hosted by the hard-working Egelston family, other than a few pictures snapped with my phone, I have only memories to savor rather than a raft of pictures as would be more normal for me.

Sunday ended up being a beautiful day, although the weather had sure been a teaser. Rain is not a friend to outdoor events, but intermittent precipitation fell through the night before and then threatened well into the morning. In fact, as we hustled west to look at water fowl and sandpipers, we passed through bands of driving rain that would have given even the ducks some second thoughts about outdoor partying.

However, all was dry when it was time for guests to arrive at the farm. And guests there were. Well over 2,000 free ice cream sundaes were served to a multitude of cheerful visitors. A hilltop photo taken of the parking lot and the road leading to the farm showed a wonderful crowd all through the day.

It was a real treat to see the dainty little Jersey ladies led out for the celebrity milking contest. So much personality in such sharp, tidy, golden-brown packages. No matter how long we are removed from the actual work of dairy farming, we never seem to lose our delight in beautiful cattle.

Among the best moments for me was meeting a nice young man from Texas, who had read the Farm Side, and came up to talk to me. I mean, Texas, just wow. Plus visiting with busy farm women, whom I only see about once a year, (if I’m I lucky and they stay in one place long enough for me to catch up with them.) Hugs were shared all around, as well as that great feeling of connection that true friends share when they meet after long absence.

Well off the beaten path, surrounded by grassy pastures and lush cornfields, Glen Meadows is a special place on any day of the year. All spiffed up for the party, with friends and family in matching shirts, flowers everywhere, and vendors selling still more flowers, cheeses, maple products, and all sorts of locally grown and produced farm products, it was downright magical. The addition of an opportunity to observe agriculture in action and learn about a local family dairy farm was priceless.

Kudos to all concerned in putting together the delightful event and to the Egelston family for doing such an awesome job as hosts this year.

National Farm Safety and Health week takes place from Sept. 18 to the 24 this year. Since Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the first proclamation in 1944, the event has been commemorated every year, promoting safety in all aspects of farm production. The mid-September timing is perfect. While some farms are still pursuing late cutting hay, many are chopping corn for silage. Whether the crop is packed in bunks, fermented in tile silos, piled on the ground, or bagged in plastic, the job is dangerous. Add shorter days with less daylight for work, fatigue from long, hard hours, and the influence of the changeable fall weather and you have a recipe for danger.

Farm accidents are no small matter. In 2010 there were almost 600 work-related deaths in United States agriculture. Injury statistics are even more telling.

According to OSHA there are 9.2 injuries to people involved in farm work every hour.

That amounted to over 80,000 such injuries in 2004.

Machinery, trucks, and tractors together accounted for 65 percent of such injuries, with animals doing 11 percent of the harm. However, perhaps not surprisingly, on dairy farms surveyed in Wisconsin, cattle caused 28 percent of reported job injuries, mostly from kicks and cows stepping on people.

Indeed just reading OSHA’s module 2 report on farm injury trends was sobering. Farming and ranching consistently rank in the top ten most deadly jobs in the US, along with logging, law enforcement, fishing and several others.

In light of these numbers several Schoharie County fire departments joined to host a farm medic class, teaching first responders how to deal with on-farm accidents. There is also a national program, developed by Cornell University, to teach rural responders how to cope with such events.

Although in many states farm accidents have been trending downward over recent years, 2016 saw some horrific tragedies on farms across the nation. Farm workers died from manure pit fumes, a mixer accident, tractor rollovers, and an electrical malfunction.

Hopefully this fall harvest will bring better news for farm families and rural communities.

Even the president has weighed in on the topic. This year’s official proclamation said in part, “The best farmers in the world have enriched our Nation and driven our agriculture sector forward; it is our shared duty to ensure their health and safety, because we all have a stake in the well-being of those who provide us with food and energy. By maintaining safe work environments and taking steps to practice caution on our farms, we can minimize risks and increase productivity in one of the greatest and most essential industries in America.”

Keep calm and stay safe my friends, and have a great harvest season.

What is this Stuff?

Anybody know?

Thanks in advance.....

Almanac

Not one of our hay fields, but it might as well be

Yesterday I was watching the resident Red-tailed Hawk pair with their youngster. The adults slowly spiraled higher and higher into the sky with the young one following them, keening wildly, feed me, feed me, feeeeeeeed meeeeee......

Suddenly a large..... and I do mean large...... raptor flew into view over the neighbor's tree. I could not believe my eyes. It was an Osprey, flying just at treetop level and peering slowly back and forth at the ground. I know it's been wet but WOW! What kind of fish was it looking for in our yards and fields I wonder....

It was low enough and close enough for me to look right into its bright yellow eyes. Simply stunning.

Not an Osprey....just a gull

Meanwhile, up in the hay field where the boss was tedding some sadly doomed hay the Red-tails were hunting...and catching...baby rabbits. Hooray for them!

That is not the only hunting going on.

All week long I've been watching a Grey Catbird eating ground bees at a nest out by the Mugo Pine. We are much plagued by these aggressive little horrors and we watch carefully for their nest locations. Liz once ended up making an emergency trip to the hospital when a mare she was riding put her nose in a nest we hadn't seen......

This particular nest seemed busy one day and nearly deserted a few days later..... 

The catbird showed me why, spending ages perched right on the bare ground where the tunnel is, snapping up bees one after another. He comes back several times a day to eat more and more of them. I hope he finds the nests along the driveway....

Speaking of hay, I just don't know how we are going to put up enough baled hay for our own stock let alone to sell. The daily weather forecast is about as accurate as a fortune teller on the back lot at a third rate circus. The boss had some beautiful stuff mowed, tedded, and ready to rake and bale for today, then we got an ungodly downpour yesterday. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if that Osprey found a carp or two right on the lawn....

It is getting worrisome.

Research is Fun

Well, sometimes it is. Other times it is a misery and I have to read way too many articles about things I really don't want to know.

However, while working on next week's Farm Side, I stumbled upon this lovely, illustrated list of NY wildflowers.

I stink at plants. I can remember the undertail patterns of warblers I have never seen and most likely never will, and the pedigrees and registered names of cows that died decades ago, but that fern along the foundation...not so much. I found the list only because I had to hunt up the name of the big lily in the center of the flower garden for a couple paragraphs about lily leaf beetles. Yeah, it's pretty bad. I read this lovely blog whenever there is a new post, but I just don't remember all that I would like to about plants and flowers.

With the plant list bookmarked it looks as if I will have a quick, handy, reference to help me remember the stuff that grows all over the place around here. Or at least I hope so. 

A Palm Warbler, right here on the farm.
Quite an appetite for such a little bird

Here is a little teaser from the Farm Side for next week, which is pretty wide-ranging and broad based. 

"I learned something amazing about my other favorite pastime this week as well. Mom and dad gave me a one-hundred-year-old bird book, The Warblers of North America. In one chapter a contributing author described one of the many woods warblers, in this case a Palm Warbler he was watching, eating forty to sixty insects per minute for four hours. He extrapolated that it ate over 9,500 bugs over that time.

Imagine what a flock of such warblers, some of which nest around here, with others that migrate through in spring and fall, do to control pests in our woodlots and backyards."

eBird Tracker Feature

Yesterday the eBird app on my phone, which I have come to use most of the time when counting birds, updated.

Now it tracks the distance you travel, rather than leaving you to estimate how far you walked or drove. I have only used it twice so far, last night when I hiked up in the fields to count since the boss was over at the speedway at the races, and this morning hiking around doing, down the driveway for warblers, to the barn, and chores and such.

I discovered that I was fairly accurate in estimating the long walks...I always counted the hike to the 30-acre lot and back as a mile and a half. Turns out it is 1.77 miles. Close enough.

However, my normal morning perambulations I estimated at .3 mile to .5 mile depending on what I did. Imagine my amazement when a normal morning's walking with birdies and doggies turned out to encompass a whopping 2.85 miles.

Who knew? I think I am going to like this feature.

Tumble Wheel

I saw a Chimney Swift go down the old chimney the other night when I was out with the dogs.

No big deal right? Chimney? Bird that lives there? To be expected.

However for the first time in decades we have not heard swift activity in that chimney at all this summer. Normally as we sit in the kitchen we can hear nestlings begging, and gentle evening twittering as roosting begins when the sun goes down.

This year....nothing....literally not a peep. It's been a great year for swifts and I have counted twenty or so at a time at Stewart's in Fonda, just none in our chimney.

Then a trim, no nonsense, bird spiraled out of the sky the other night, pinwheeled like a bright lawn ornament, and tumbled between the bricks. Hey presto, now you see him, now you don't.

I'm a cheap date. It made my day.

A Mourning Dove does dusk

Focus