Objects in the Mirror

Just past dusk, but not quite dark last night. Sitting at the computer looking at eclipse photos and reading the news...and let's be honest here...playing Klondike.... I like to play Klondike.

Suddenly, from down by the heifer barn, blood curdling screams of KILL! DEATH! DIE!!!! KILL!!!!! echo mightily. Like the soundtrack of a horror movie. Like your worst nightmare. Like the end of all things. A horrible, terrible, just plain awful screaming....

And then.....

This morning. Early...ish...but nowhere near as early as I normally go outside. Finnbar the Puppy-Duppy transforms into Finnbad the Terrible as we walk to his yard. Rumbling growls are transmitted to my fingers through the leash before I even hear them. Mistrust, anger, and then the urge to attack and protect...all are translated through the thin band of leather. Communication to the pack.

Suddenly the big barks begin. Bark, bark, bark. Bark, bark, bark.

A shape looms by the driveway. A great big thing, cloaked in the swirling fog.

Has the Zombie Apocalypse been brought on by the solar eclipse? Are we safe here on our little family farm?

Answer in the comments.

Don't Look Up

I am going to have a go at birding the eclipse later today. Supposedly birds react to the changing light and do interesting stuff. I dunno. Guess I'll make a list around the time of the celestial intersection and see what I see.

I am not going to look at the sun though. No special glasses-no lookie up. Been through eclipses before anyhow, being nearly as old as the sun itself and all. Eh, it gets dark. Then it gets light again. At least it won't be raining this time.

Don't be worrying about your pets and livestock. They aren't going to look up either. The only animals I been around that routinely do so are Border Collies, and then only at low-flying planes and tempting birds. Chickens will watch the sky for hawks but they sure don't stare at the center of the solar system. Critters just don't look at the sun.... prolly aren't even aware of it except as a stimulus to sing or stretch out on the grass and soak up rays... 

However, if you are worried, get them some glasses....or get yourself some glasses....of wine that is. Then you won't be worried. Or something..... 

Anyhow, enjoy the day. I'm listening to music that is reminding me of connections and people and places, past and present, and I am much enjoying it. A song about riding out on a horse on a fine spring morning, from a rancher friend I've never met, but whose family we know quite well just the same. Still one of my great favorites, Robert.

An Emerson Drive song taking me back to the Fonda Fair many moons ago, when I walked into the arena uninterested, just keeping the kids company because Becky bought me a ticket, and walked out a fan. One of the few bands I've heard that are truly better in concert than in the studio, and I've heard a lot of bands. The girls and I chased concerts from Vermont to Western PA that year and had a fine time. Road trip, anyone? Connections there too, as we got to know one of the player's family online and even met him once, although I am sure he doesn't remember the way we do. Good times.

And this song. Heard it once years ago and bought tickets for the whole family to hear the band at Troy City Music Hall. Still love it. Wouldn't you know....I never noticed until this morning doing dishes hooked up to my phone....but it's about birds. Figures.

I don't play any more but music still traces an outline of my whole life, from songs we played in the band that I still love even though so many years have passed, to songs from every decade since. Lots of songs. Lots of great musicians.

And if I sing along real quietly they won't throw me out of the kitchen.

Runaway

I think I should start counting sheep!

You would think that more than three years after selling the milking herd I would stop dreaming about chasing cows. However, if you don't need to chase your own, you can always dream of chasing the neighbors'...even though they too have succumbed to the terrible dairy economy and followed other pursuits.

At least when I awoke this morning Bama, Moon, and Moonshine were still in our pasture....Or at least I think they are.....alone, with no massive herd of Jerseys, Ayrshires, and Holsteins among them....

There are deer though...there are always deer. 

BBC

An obliging Song Sparrow, which gave us some great looks
near the Mohawk Valley Gateway Overlook Bridge

Birding before coffee that is. What was I nuts? Yeah, probably, but at least this morning the birds were active again after a good week of near silence and seeming absence. Managed 17 species in just under an hour, which isn't great but better than it has been. No passing warblers yet....

Port Jackson boat launch where we met. There were plenty of good birds to be seen and heard right from the parking lot.

Yesterday I had a tremendous time going on a bird walk sponsored by the City of Amsterdam Recreation.

As you no doubt know, my long-suffering, non-birding husband, the boss, who is really, really good to me, willingly takes me around to look for birds, but other than that I am pretty much on my own. Thus birding with others, learning, watching, and getting to explore a surprisingly rich urban-edge habitat was really a lot of fun.

Another view from the parking lot

Met nice folks, learned many interesting things from our guide, George Steel, and saw some nice birds. There is an intriguing flock of Turkey Vultures that roosts in the city. We saw a wheel of them like something out of a Hitchcock movie, whirling up and dispersing over the city streets. There is a night heron of one kind or the other being seen in that area, so we will no doubt venture down there again. Plus we need to shop at the little market there, Mary Jane's. We didn't get anything this time but we want to.

There will be a couple more such walks in the next couple of months. I am hoping to get to go if the boss is willing and the hay isn't too pressing....get it? pressing?.....If you are interested, even if you are a total beginner, I highly recommend attending. Lots of fun.

Ring-billed Gull

Farming

Despite being sick with a foul cold, the boss made some nice hay yesterday. Alas, darkness and sickness coincided to leave one small load on a wagon...that and he lost some time due to a broken PtTO shaft as well. So it got rained on. Anybody need any hay to feed up right away?

C is for broken bale. Or at least it's shaped like a C. Can't store this one

We are all sick to one degree or another, some on the mend, some on the downhill slide. Summer colds are lousy if you want my opinion. Today is a rainy one anyhow, so everyone can rest and regroup....unless of course he decides he needs to go store it...I hope not.

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.