The Things you See

Peggy at the Animal Park

The Bird

The kids took me to Adirondack Animal Land yesterday as official photographer and designated grandma for Peggy. The boss and Becky followed as soon as she got off work.

It's a nice place, remarkably clean, animals seemed comfortable, healthy, and contented, and the layout was wonderful. Between the animal enclosures were all sorts of fun slides, wooden play structures and model animals, such as a big white bison that kids could climb on for fun or photos. It made for a kid-friendly experience that was truly enjoyable for someone following a speeding kid up and down the paved paths.

While we walked I listed a few local birds, as the park is situated in a beautiful woodland, bisected by a pleasant little stream.

Nice. And the weather was perfect.

I got so involved in feeding pellets to a pair of Nilgai that I didn't really notice the parrot enclosures.

However, on the way back up the paths to the safari ride I stopped at a big kiosk where a Scarlet Macaw and a Blue-and-Yellow Macaw were sitting on a climbing toy kind of thing watching people go by. I approached the structure and felt an odd compulsion to say "hi".

The birds perked right up and spoke back at me. Not in English, but maybe in parrotish.

The more I chatted with them the more interested they became and both beak-and-claw walked right over to visit with me. I was smitten.

Alas, the rest of the crew was getting away from me so I had to leave my new friends.

Not far away was another such enclosure containing another Blue-and-Yellow Macaw and a big green bird, which I think was a Green Macaw. The latter found me utterly uninteresting.

However, a cheerful "Hi" to the big blue guy elicited an immediate verbal response. We spoke in parrot parseltongue for a bit before the bird began to very slowly beak-and-claw across the wire to me.

It was a slow process and everyone was leaving me behind so I suggested, "Could you get down and walk across the log to come over?"

See, there was a nice long log perch running diagonally across the cage right to where I was standing.

He immediately climbed down to the log and carefully walked right over to me. I was gobsmacked. You know I love birds... I talk to the ones in the shrubbery all the time, with chirps and hisses and other birdy sounds trying to get them to come out where I can see them. However, that is just smoke and mirrors, not real communication.

I have never been around parrots, other than the African Grey that spooked us so at a 4-H meeting years ago. Are they really that intelligent? Did that bird understand what I was saying, or was the log just a logical way to get to someone who was providing some interest on a sleepy afternoon?

No idea, but it was the high point of the visit for me, other than Peggy-watching and getting photos of her and Liz feeding a giraffe that echo ones we took of Liz when she was a little 'un feeding one at the Catskill Game Farm.

I've got to dig that one out so you can see....

Some Gave All

Being the Oldest

Is never easy....just ask me, I've been there.

Anyhow, I would like to wish our oldest, the cow whisperer, she who is happiest in the barn, mother of our little Peggy, and general great person. a very happy birthday.

However, although I shopped everywhere I could think of, all the stores were fresh out of goats....

But Happy Birthday Liz! just the same...

Surf along the Mohawk

They opened some of the Mohawk River locks the other day and the boats surged up the river like spawning salmon.

We were birding Yankee Hill Lock when convoys began to pass us, some of them flying by as if late for luncheon with the king.

You should have heard some of the wakes whacking the bank.... It was interesting indeed as the river is full of logs and whole trees and all manner of trash.....

It was almost like being at the ocean again...except that I missed the sand. 

The Old Goldfish Trick

The changeling

One of the many delights of living with a granddaughter who goes to preschool is remembering the many Mother's Day marigolds that have come home over the years. Earnest young hands, proud young faces, tiny, fragile baby plants that had big pots to fill. What's not to love?

When Peggy brought hers home to her beloved mother, grandma was happy to take over its care.....it's what I do....grow green things.

However, the tiny, two-leafed seedling died almost instantly. I was horrified! I have a Christmas cactus my mother gave me when I still lived home...in say.....1968 maybe?

And a split-leafed philodendron that came to me when I was in college. Our house with its 3 gigantic (4'X8') east facing living room windows is like a greenhouse. Some plants die on me, but a marigold? Seriously?

So the boss and I hatched a plot...had the same idea at literally the same instant in fact. Run over to Sunnycrest, grab a box of bedding marigolds, and plant one in the now empty pot.

We put that in motion that very day while she was at school. I picked the old fashioned maroon and golden kind because they tickled my nostalgia bone for the ones we brought home to our mamas back in the days when dinosaurs were just starting to morph into birds and we were learning to see Spot run.

It was worth every mile and every single penny. When she saw it she went wild, "it grew, it grew, it grew!" and danced all around the living room.

Since the boss thought it appropriate to fill up a whole flat with other goodies for me to plant it was a winner all around.

Then we found out why the first marigold expired so precipitously. Seems Peggy dropped it on the way home with it and the poor thing was entirely uprooted and then stuffed back into to the pot with a wish and a hope.

I felt much better, what with my somewhat greenish thumb untarnished. Now to find places for all these. 

Lagniappe

Love Birds

There were seven Cedar Waxwings in the old Winesap apple tree this morning. They seemed to be enjoying the blossoms, which need a good thinning anyhow.

This pair was snipping off petals and passing them back and forth.

How cool is that?

Spring hath Sprung

 Liz found twin fawns this morning, right next to Sunny's yard, in the exact area where the two old cows, Bama and Moon, hang out at night, right up close to the buildings.

Why you might wonder, would a wild animal choose to bear and hide their young so close to places where people are, in an enclosure with animals many times their size...

I expect it is for safety. There are lots of coyotes around here and they will pretty much eat anything. I am sure tiny, newborn fawns are high on the menu.

However, cows and horses tend to hate anything unfamiliar and canine. The old bossies are not going to let coyotes hang around their sleeping spot. The deer benefit from their strength of opinion.

It's the same with domestic stock. We all know that folks put donkeys, guardian dogs, and llamas in with sheep to save them from carnivores. However, you might not expect that sheep would find their own protectors.

Once upon a time we had a few sheep bonded to the farm...they would not stray. Thus they lived unfettered, stealing cow feed, grazing where they wanted to, completely free to roam. 

Nights are perilous for such delicate creatures as sheep, which will die anytime the mood strikes them..... 

Ours had one part of survival nailed down though. Whenever we went out in the morning, Magnum,  the old black horse, would be standing with sheep surrounding him, tucked under his tummy, squashed up against his legs, and generally as close to him as they could get. Livestock guardian saddle horse so to speak. They had to go under the fence to get to him and were never in with the horses except at night when the yotes were around. Pretty good plan I guess, as we never lost one to predators. 


....As you can see below our current sheep have an even better strategy for avoiding brush wolves....

The Things you See

Goat in the road

Lotsa Goats in the Road

Pigment challenged Canada Goose

Good mama

Bugs

Where we bird

Clicked just as this beaver noticed me

Fiddleheads

Trash

Just what you need landing on your roof or in your field

We all know that the search engine the name of which begins with G is biased at best and full of falsehoods and bad information as well, but good grief!

I'm working on a Farm Side column about the danger of litter and trash to cows. If you have stock you know that ingested bits of metal can kill cows, often in slow and horrible ways.

We saw a fire balloon last night, floating off over our pasture to land who knows where, with who knows what consequences, and that kicked off an idea.....those objects, while pretty darned interesting are also quite dangerous.

Anyhow, I used that G search engine to read up a bit more on how the metal that litter contains does its nefarious work....

And found exactly two pertinent articles. The rest were all vegan, animals rights horror stories that had absolutely nothing to do with what I was looking for. I know I should use Duckduckgo, but sometimes I am just too lazy.  

Fire in the sky, what a great idea!

Butt, Butt....

Never did get a front view of this Wood Thrush, but this is
the first photo I have ever gotten of one at all
so I guess I am happy

Yellow Warbler, pouting
Could AB be the one of ABCD goldfish fame?

At least he did turn around before he flew

All this Rain

Might bring a rainbow. We have had at least 8 different Baltimore Orioles at the feeders, eating suet and oranges, as well as Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, N. Cardinals, Pine Siskins and tons of others eating seeds. I think wild food is still pretty scarce. 

Dunlin

Yellow Warbler

Birding on the road hasn't been bad either, although I'm sick of being wet all the time.

All snuggled up with mama