Lonesome Kittyhawks

We went down to the river the other day...we go almost every day. It's worth it when you see at least six, and really probably ten, Bald Eagles all in one place at one time.

Anyhow, as soon as we parked the boss said, "Look at all those cats."

I did and saw two yellow ones, my favorite color of cat btw. There are often cats there, usually yellow or black ones. Someone must have such cats nearby.

But he said, "Look, there are black ones, and yellow ones, and some other kinds too."

What! All I could see were one marmalade and one light golden one. But then the rest emerged from where they were hidden from me by the doorpost of the car. Cats everywhere on the opposite shore of the Schoharie. Eight of them!! At least. One was even Siamese colored.

When I got out of the car to look for birds down at the confluence I could hear them crying and howling. Many of them were right out on the ice. I have to assume that they belong to the black and yellow cat people whomever they are, but they sure didn't think much of the river.

I felt kind of sad for them and hope they had a home to go back to and quickly found their way to it. And that the eagles don't notice them first, in all their bright and lovely colors down there on the cold, silver surface of the river.

Of Priorities and Grocery Bags

When we were struggling dairy farmers, whose world was colored by need versus want, and loving cows and land, our priorities were different.

Boots for people were important but sometimes paying feed bills and having groceries was importanter. Thus when someone's otherwise still  functional rubber barn boot sprang an unplanned leak we took action for traction rather than running to the store for new ones. After all....all that rubber in landfills and all....Sometimes boots that were darned near brand new got leaky. Frustrating indeed.

However, a plastic grocery bag placed over warm socks....or a bread wrapper....bread wrappers work too, although they are kinda weak these days....rendered the boots functional long after the leak began. Sometimes all winter. Bags used in such a manner quickly wore out but we always had new ones to replace them.

Recycling. Farmers do it every day whether it is feeding the cows good stuff, then spreading the result out on the land to grow more good stuff for them, or composting household leavings...it is taken for granted on a farm. I am not saying all farmers put bags in their boots to save them, but I know there are a lot of people hoarding them right now because they use them again and again. 

We have two sacks full in the pantry, saved against various needs. When they run out I guess we will have to buy stuff for those purposes, which I suppose may be the end goal these days...spend, spend, spend. Or maybe bread wrappers will do those jobs until they outlaw those as well.

Meanwhile, I don't think our scattershot governor, spraying new laws willy-nilly and rewriting NY in ink that he calls "Bold", ever had to worry about which bill to pay first or how to get the kitty litter to the curb. Or wet feet either. I am sure if his boots spring a leak someone sees to new ones for him. 

Oh, well, we will adapt. That is something else that farmers do quite well.

Speaking of which, whatever happened to corn based plastics? I once had a wonderful pen made of corn and at the farm shows they gave out....you guess it....bags that were made out of corn plastic rather than petroleum based plastic. Said to be biodegradable and everything.

Research Redux

Evening sky just as it was at Schoharie Crossing the other day

Does it seem as if I am repeating myself a lot lately.....?

First, best news, I was rejected as a juror before I made it five feet into the collecting corral....er....room. To say that that made my day....nay, my entire week....is not saying too much.

We celebrated with a little birding, although new species seem to be pretty thin these days. Lots of Canada Geese though. Lots and lots.

The Farm Side is finally done and sent, so here are a few research links I thought you might enjoy.

Wanna buy a duck

The Duck Guy

Prez at AFBF convention

Wanna buy a duck to support Fonda-Fultonville School FFS? Yeah, go ahead. you know you want a duckie! Personally I want to know how to buy one of the retired ducks. Rubber duckies have always been favorites of mine, and after this event even more so.

Now to play catch-up with the other stuff I need to do.

Another evening, this time the "Noses" also unedited

Dread Redux

Not-an-owl An extra dark Rough-legged Hawk masquerading as somebody exciting

So today's the day. Off to the chilly courthouse to be herded around and told what to do. Ugh. Up early to get an eBird list done before the day begins too. I haven't missed submitting at least one list for 743 days and I don't want to let this stop me. The first Northern Cardinal will show up on the little round tray feeder just before dawn and the winter sparrows won't be far behind him....

What a morning though... I thought I might have heard a Great Horned Owl while still abed so I didn't turn the yard light on while walking doggos. The stars... Oh, the many glittering cold-hearted beautiful stars.... Imagine how they look up in the Adirondacks far from all the light pollution of the towns and villages.

Red-tailed Hawk, fluffed against the cold

Venus for the second morning in a row is brighter than the lights of the village across the river, like a big hole in the darkness letting the light shine through. The air is as still and silent as the inside of the fridge before you open the door.....only colder....

No owl though. Still, I am 90 some odd percent sure that the two hoots I heard were a GHOW so I will be watching and listening. Tis the season for love and joy among the big predatory birds. We have the above sort on the farm and have as long as I've been here. Doesn't mean we often see them though. Maybe another morning.

Look! A Moose! Or at least a moose shadow

Dread

Traffic jam in Upstate NY

So.....I've been called for jury duty here in our home county for next week. I do not "people" well at all and can't begin to tell you my level of dread.

Suffice to say I am in a state of fretting well out of proportion to the real threat here.

But....who among our local friends and neighbors knows what the rules are for taking reading material along? The last time I was called upon e Readers were not invented yet.

However, we had to sit in the nearly empty courtroom for hours waiting for things to happen. I took a "dead tree" (thank you to my favorite author, J. A. Jance, for that term) book along and attempted to read that. Now I read on my NOOKs for the most part.

 I have two. But can I bring one? Will I be allowed to use it? Or must I peruse the stacks upstairs of tomes both recent and ancient (including a good many by the author above) for something to tuck in my purse to engage the frantic gerbils on the tiny wheel in my mind while I sit there filled to overflowing with the panic of proximity?

Thousands want to know. Or at least I do.

Thanks!

False Witness

There were at least sixty of these in the yard today. They were devouring fruit and delivering misleading information.

The Things you See

Sunset the other day

With jury duty looming next week and tax time hard upon us, I have been and will be pretty busy. When you don't even file for months on end it can get pretty awful in the little room I hate the most.

Lyker's Pond is not very inviting

Wonky Raccoon the other night
Rabid or just ......

The Amish are grazing their herds in the picked over cornfields

In fact I call it the awfice. 

The old cow barnyard is now pretty much a wood yard

So, here are a few photos of the things we have seen, just to pass the time.

A little Amish family walking to a skating party. There were two cute
little girls in that wagon

A hot one!

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.