Hill Therapy

I can't remember the last time I was able to get out on the land so early in the year. 

There were plenty of open winters back in the '70s. A good friend and I went trail riding on our horses almost every weekend. I was even able to take a New Year's Day ride several years and pick Johnny Jump Ups too.

However most winters since then have been much colder and more confining. 

Our hills are so steep that if ice and snow aren't an issue then mud is. However this morning's 12 degrees gave the mud a bit of backbone, and although there was ice it was easy to step over it or pick my way across on stones and grass. In the down vest department I was overheated, while on the facial front it was more like frozen.

Not many birds around, although a Common Raven came croaking and creaking right over the barnyard. Then he spotted me and took his leaving, swiftly north on cantilevered wings and gone. There were Eastern Bluebirds calling, "Queedle, Queedle" from both sides of the farm and down in front as well.

Halfway up the hill the camera battery went dead. Dagnabbit. I meant to put one in my pocket before going out, but the dog needed to be walked urgently and I forgot. If there is no photo it didn't happen right?

But, aha! The cell phone where bird lists are created has a camera. It isn't exactly the sweet little Canon, but desperate times and all....

Thus I can share a little of the sheer relief of getting out and going up....out on the land....up on the hills....

I only made it to the 30-acre Lot, but it was good. Very good.

And btw, Jade is home. He has a long recovery and more surgery ahead of him, but he is back with his family at least.

That's When the Fight Started

My Precioussssssssss....

We were photographing Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls this afternoon when a fracas broke out.

Begone Fowl Orcs

Emotions were high and tempers higher.

It burns us it burns us...

Fisticuffs....er....beakicuffs ensued.

GBBG: That's just disgusting
HEGU: Nothing is disgusting you fool, we're gulls!

They were fighting over a doughnut, which is understandable. 

What was concerning was that the pastry was liberally coated with the valuable bovine byproduct, which had been spread equally liberally over the cornfield where the creatures were lounging and dining. Only gulls would fight over that.

Don't look at me...I was just down here in the river preening my feathers

African Swine Fever

If you have been keeping up with the ag news since last August you know that China has experienced a serious and ongoing epidemic of this dreaded disease. Scary stuff I gotta tell you.

Here are some articles I am reading for next Friday's Farm Side.

Because...Science

A really Big Deal

Warning floating hogs and other acts of shocking irresponsibility. 

Europe Reacts

Useful Timeline


So far this disease has never reached the USA. If it ever does expect a real disaster, as it can be spread by ticks, bodily fluids, and uncooked tissue. We have a lot of feral hogs....just sayin'.... 

Hi

I'm Finn

The Things you See

We saw two bird dogs pointing in one day. One was an English Setter
No idea what he was locked onto
This one was pointing a pile of something icky, which in true good boi fashion
he proceeded to eat

An ermine in shining white fur, wriggling into the gap between the limestone mow ramp and the stone wall of the heifer barn. He stood out like a beacon against the cold, grey, stone.

He had better stay between those walls, as he is surely not welcome among the beasts and fowl inside.

Very dark Red-tailed Hawk

A young porcupine, no bigger than a football, nibbling salt on the edge of the road. Our tires missed him by inches, but he never moved.

Huge, white, barnyard geese playing in a little riffle running along the ditch on the same rural road. Guess it's the only open water around. There was a white domestic mallard with them, looking for all the world like a goose wannabe. 

Forget it little duck, you can't raise your beak high enough to look that arrogant, and your bite isn't even as bad as their bark.

A fast-flying bright, white, bird, dashing across the sky. There was a black bird hot on its tail feathers. We pursued eagerly, thoughts of a Snowy Owl being mobbed by crows dancing in our heads. When we got near enough for an actual good look though it was a white Rock Pigeon flying with a dark one. Embarrassing or what?

I don't think we will ever find that Short-eared Owl, but we found bluebirds, ravens, and lots of hawks, and of course those two amorous pigeons as well. Not a bad day at all.

Not much news about Jade...he is still hospitalized and still looking at a long, hard recovery. Continuing good thoughts and prayers would be much appreciated. Thanks

Happy New Year

Hey, 2018, don't let the door......

Like many, we all had plans last night.....a movie night with frozen Chinese for the Friers clan. Same but with home cooked stuff for the Schultz crew. We even had the movies picked out.....after much debate. Popcorn for all at some point. Liz has a knack for really good popcorn.

However, 2018 was not done with us. It was not a great year, although it surely had its high points, what with our baby marrying his princess, great birding, and assorted other good times. Still it seemed like we lost someone was cared about almost every week. Too many losses....We were ready for a new year.

But as I said, 2018 wasn't going down without a fight. Jade didn't feel well in the morning and by evening was having serious emergency surgery. I will let them share the details if and when they wish to, but recovery will be long and arduous. As in year long. Nobody is going to forget this New Year's for a very long time.

I want wish you all a very Happy New Year just the same. Everyone has times like this and Liz is a strong woman. She will pull her family through if anyone can. We are all here to help where possible.

First bird for 2019....you knew I was still going to be counting didn't you?....a Canada Goose calling from the river hours before dawn. 

Better days are coming it says here in fine print.

See Ya

Next year. 

Of Kittyhawks, Catbirds, and Near Misses

We see this particularl Rough-legged Hawk nearly every day
I feel sorry for it, as it is constantly mobbed by as many as 150 crows at a time.

Everyone has been seeing the Short-eared Owl up near Fort Plain the past couple of weeks. Or if not everyone, several folks. But not us. We have been wandering around up there since last year, with only one sighting and although I was sure, I was not that sure, so we didn't count it. Today we were parked where it was seen yesterday when a perfect bird flew by, right shape, right size....wrong color darn it...it was a female Northern Harrier. I looked at it really, really hard trying to make it into the bird we were looking for, but it was a NOHA just the same.

A couple of the 40 or so Common Redpolls we found today.
Their calls are very musical

So we missed again today, although we did get first of the year Common Redpolls, as well as seeing a lot of nice raptors so it wasn't a complete loss.

Eastern Bluebird

What we do see all over, especially around farms, both Amish and English, are kittyhawks. These are also sometimes known as catbirds. They look exactly like exciting raptors huddled over prey, in the winter gloomy harvested fields. They are about the size of a Red-tailed Hawk, or maybe even a Rough-legged Hawk. 

Amish church day today

We spin around, stop, roll down the windows, point the Canon, and dang! another cat. And another cat. And another. We are getting used to getting fooled. We even saw an orange kittyhawk today, although that one was obviously notabird (the woods are full of notabirds, ranging from snow-covered squirrel nests to hunks of old tent caterpillar junkage). We stop for a lot of them too. Thank goodness for good binoculars or we would probably be counting things that aren't exactly the right things.

Holy Beaver! There were four of them in a tiny bit of open water near our owl quest area

Anyhow, as they say, a bad day birding is better than a good day looking out the window, wishing you were birding. Finding the redpolls make this far from a bad day. I truly did not expect any year birds this late...unless of course we found the owl. 

Hope you all are having fun too.

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