My Ducks

Are at this point not in a row....so please enjoy these Mallards and Buffleheads from yesterday's visit to Lake George.

Plus an eagle with stars in his eyes...or stars for his eyes as the case may be

It's a Lot of Fun

To have someone who is four in the family.

Generations have loved Billy and Blaze books

And So it is Christmas

Winter days......marked out by crow-go-out and crow-go-home, passing ranks of thousands, twenty or forty at a time, west in morning, east in evening, sometimes loud and sometimes silent.

Low today, dipping down in the yard, the sound of wings rustling clear against the cold dark dawn. A few throaty chirps you wouldn't associate with crows if you weren't looking right at them.

Venus flirting coyly with scudding clouds on the morning wind. Brighter than the waning moon, if smaller, and sparkling like that long ago star that spoke to so many.

It's quiet now, but soon we will be enjoying Christmas morning through the eyes of someone who is four and hasn't seen so very many mornings like this blessed one.

Merry Christmas to all!

Wish us Luck

This is an unedited shot from the river the other day
There IS a river under there.
And geese....and a train over on the other bank. However, the fog was awful

If you would be so kind. We are off to do the Christmas Bird Count this morning. Last year was pretty dismal and the past three weeks have been poor all around, so we can only hope to see good numbers, interesting species or both. Even our best spots have been pretty sparse with birds....several trips with only crows, starlings, and pigeons on "The Loop", where we more normally see raptors and waterfowl up to and including a Snowy Owl, a daily Rough-legged Hawk, and all sorts of other goodies.

The kids are on their way down right now for what has now been a family tradition for well over thirty years. Mom and Dad used to do it, then us kids, and now grandkids and whomever in the family is willing to spend hours getting in and out of a car peering into the bushes and hollering, "look a crow"!

I have the clipboard ready, although I am going to at least try eBirding our trip. I am so used to listing on the phone nowadays. We may run both a paper tally and the eBird one, and submit whichever seems more accurate. Sure is cold out......

Baby it's Weird Outside

Out there in the dark it's raining slowly but steadily. The drops are as cold as a vampire's blood. At the same time an oddly warm wind is blowing....warm enough to feel downright good as the shiverish rain stings arms and toes around the edges of the umbrella .

Walking the dogs was an odd experience.....in more ways than one too. Sorry about the gruesome details....but Mack...in typical small dog fashion (particularly JRT).... has whizzed in his crate since puppyhood. Downright maddening....he is lucky that I like him as well as I do.

I've always kept his crate deeply papered for that reason.

The other day I cleaned the crate and didn't want to wake up the boss by going into the living room, as he was napping and that's where all the newspapers are.....so I just put in one thin sheet.

The little cur has not had a "deliberate" since......

Cuz they certainly weren't accidents....

He sure is happy to go outside in the morning though and spends a l-o-n-g time with at least one, if not both, hind legs suspended over the subject of his morning attentions.

Who knew?

The Things You See

"I'm in a hurry to get things done
I rush and rush until life's no fun..."

'Yote tracks. Big ones!

Taking harvest weather any way they can get it

Tom

Twas the Week Before Christmas

The Things you Learn

Bonus points if you know what this is

While researching the Farm Side....

Stealing bees

More stealing bees.

Even more.

ELD mandate exemption for livestock and insect haulers...

Who would have thunk that beehive theft would amount to millions of dollars in organized crime?

Where in the World?

In Other Woods

It is different birding the kids' woods at their new house. We have some nice woods at home, mostly in ravines and places earlier settlers couldn't work the land or graze the cows, but they are somewhat inaccessible for just those reasons. And steep for the most part too. I have walked all of them, but not in the past couple of years. Best places are looking down from the T-field into the old sugar bush or looking down the back of 7-County Hill from the hickory ridge. Wonderful views in the first, and a busy wildlife pathway below at the second. 

These new woods are steep as well, going straight up behind the house....and I do mean straight up......they say if you can't walk up a hill without using your hands you shouldn't ask a horse to take you there. My old horse was pretty intrepid, but I wouldn't have asked...

Not the steepest part

However, off to the side of the house there is a series of easy climbs to long, flat alleys carpeted with brown leaves, mostly oak, but some hickory, birch, beech and maple as well. Here and there a few mighty white pines are sprinkled among the hardwoods.

The trees are tall and lean, perhaps fighting each other for the light, down behind the ridge. At home the trees are thicker and sprawl a bit, more spread out I guess with room for horizontal branches. Being used to birding our shorter, fatter, trees, I was constantly peering around for chickadees that I could hear but not see.....I couldn't see them because they were seventy or eighty feet straight up!

I had a great time though wandering around those woods finding all kinds of nice birds. However, I could not get up the last few yards of the ridge no matter where I looked for a place to climb.....or let's change that. I probably could have scrambled up although it would not have been easy. It was getting back down I was worried about. It's hell to get old.

The Sun Wasn't Up

But the son was.....

So....

Got up at five to cook....making chicken pot pie for both families. Remind me next year not to put so much sweet corn in each bag for the freezer. There is an awful lot of corn in this batch....bag was one big lump so had to put it all in. Some years I spread it out on a cookie sheet so it will shake out of the bag in smaller amounts. Just too much of a hurry this year though.  We won't mind here at Northview. We like home frozen corn...and thanks Gordon and Marie for letting us pick in your corn patch.

However, I'm not sure how the folks are going to like their share. Sure hope they like corn. And homegrown green beans. And those amazing carrots from the Amish store. About as big as my arm and as tender as a puppy's heart. Made applesauce for all of us yesterday afternoon as well, and sending some of the wonderful potatoes we bought from Toby up to the folks too. They aren't the prettiest taters we ever had but they sure are the tastiest.

Soon as the pot pie is done and cooled enough to transport we are off to grocery shop for both families. Then tonight I am being transported up to Bath to spend the weekend with that contingent of the family. I expect I'll sleep tonight even in a strange bed.

Meanwhile, we are enjoying the irruption of Pine Siskins these days. 14 this morning. We have seen Evening Grosbeaks twice so far, several on our feeder and one on our sand and gravel guy's feeder a week or so ago. I am holding out for Common Redpolls now.

Love is

Painting something in colors you hate for someone you love. Pink and purple are two of my very least favorite colors. 

However, they are all that and a bucket of rice for Peggy.

So...we went to Wally World and bought five and a half tubes more shocking pink paint than was needed and one of purple to paint this coat hook for her. It is something we bought so long ago that we can't remember where we got it but it is perfect for what is needed.

Peg is a very good girl about hanging up her coat, but she can't reach the pegs in the pantry. On Christmas Eve or thereabouts this will be installed down at her height so that will no longer be a problem. Can't wait.

Cooper's Hawk

Not exactly a welcome visitor to the feeders, but we seem to have them every winter. This is an immature bird and by the size I would guess perhaps a female...but that is indeed just a guess.

Nice of her to pose for a few photos on top of the shelf feeder Mappy built me.

Chill and Still

Baby, it's cold outside.............sorry, I couldn't resist.

It is though. 12 degrees and clear as a choir out there. Venus looks like a shining diamond, although the tiny moon shard set a long time ago. It had wandered well west by late dog-walking last night and was long gone by dawn-ish daybreak.

The air is barely moving. Up from the river floats quack quack quack.......Some hen duck is protesting her fate, or the weather, or just calling to her flockmates in the dark. I know it's a hen because they are the noisy ones in the puddle duck world. The boys are pretty quiet.

Whether it's a Mallard or an American Black Duck is a bit beyond me.

If it seems I have had little to say lately...well, despite the calendar claiming that it's still fall, it's winter. Usually the winter doldrums fall upon me in November so I am grateful that the gloom is late this year.....probably because I get outdoors every day for at least a little while.

However, the short days bring their inevitable result sooner or later...no doubt in a few weeks the winter weary among us will become more loquacious, but for now....this is as good as it gets.