Couch Potato

Small farms grow all kinds of crops to stay above water.
With all this rain that's a lot of water.....

Could this gigantic thing be a couch potato?
Kinda looks like one after a long session of X-box and X-Men

But, no, thankfully it's just a puffball gone to spore. When I saw it while walking down from the field the other day I thought we had been invaded.

Imagine huge aliens that come down from space to occupy your couch, lose the remote down in the cushions, let the dogs up on the furniture, and eat all your snacks.

I'm glad this was just a regular fungus.

The Things you See

Our buddy the Bufflehead. He didn't see me leaning on a maple tree with the camera

Big Doin's

This is one of the river flats fields along the approach to
Schoharie Crossing. Mowed, conditioned, chopped and hauled away
over just a couple of hours

The Little Canna that Could

If you look closely you can see where the roots ripped the tree pot

For many years we have grown cannas even though you have to dig them every fall . They are tall and glamorous and hummingbirds love the bright flowers so....thank you Mappy for the first ones.

A closer look

Usually they go in the ground along the side of the kitchen. However, last summer I stuck four or five of them in a tree pot that I grew herbs in the year before The corms were six or eight inches long and maybe an inch in diameter....normal size for several-year-old cannas.

Because they were in the pot right next to the back door they got watered and fed with the house plants. To say that they responded would be an understatement.

I was able to lift this mass of corms into the basket,
but I had to get the strong farmer man I married to carry it inside
and it was all he wanted!

Normally this basket holds ALL the cannas rather than just one

Home

For a few hours last night all of my chicks were under one roof. It was wonderful. I sleep really well when everyone is here.

However, Becky and Jade were off to work before four this AM and the kids from Bath are just here for the service for my aunt and to pick up stuff for their new home....I'll miss the deer head on the wall right in front of my chair....have to dig out the clock that was displaced when he showed up.

Then they are off home for a busy weekend of getting settled into their house and painting and fixing. We miss them a lot, but thanks to the wonders of video calls I have seen the new house, the new woods, and all the new things they are doing.

Technology can be our friend.... Stay safe in this nasty storm they are predicting. Sure wish the river was a little lower just now.

They are getting ready to life the buoys out of the river

Close One

While out birding the other day we hit the marsh on Sara Lib Road. The road has had a lot of work done on it and is now covered with a thick layer of crushed stone. However, the surface still felt kind of questionable....we suggested to the boss that he stay well away from the edges where possible.

Standing right next to those three little maples. Keep a close eye on the middle one

Anyhow, I got out of the car to get some photos of the austere beauty of a late-autumn swamp. I stood next to a few Red Maples in various states of decrepitude while I took those photos.

Then I turned to walk to the car......just as I reached the right rear fender      CRACK    a tree broke.

I didn't take time to look, just ducked up against the car, prepared to crawl under if need be.

The middle tree about three seconds after I moved away 

However, thankfully the wind had pushed the tree the other way and it fell into the water.

Whew!

Vesper Sparrow

It wasn't terribly birdy on that road until we got almost to the end. There we found a Hermit Thrush, not the first of the year by any means, but the first I could photograph. 

Other notables for the day were Black Vultures, a Bufflehead, and lifers for me, some Vesper Sparrows. 

Hermit Thrush

Bufflehead

Friends

Scrolling through Facebook this morning when I realized how fortunate I am in the friend department. Some I have hugged and laughed with in person; others live thousands of miles away in places I'll probably never see.

They all have in common that they make me laugh, share tears, make up new words with which I fall in love, teach me things I would otherwise never know, and in any manner of other ways make my days better, happier, warmer, more human. A pretty big deal for a hermit like me.

So thank you....all of you..you know who you are. 

(Un) Available Immediately

For rent or lease.

One owner, one bedroom starter chalet at Lyker's Pond Woodland Estates.

Tastefully situated on the water with stunning views of amazing pondlife. Great neighborhood, few predators, many muskrats like-minded rodents and lovely birds nearby. Also adjacent to extensive wooded acres, large hay meadows, and a convenient roadway leading to nearby swamps and marshes.

No kitchen, but the master bath is right outside either of the submerged doorways and a fine larder of branches and small logs is situated safely under the pond or right outside the door.

NO TAXES either!

Enjoy lovely Winterberry Holly, and extensive landscaping by Maples 'r' Us. Cattail roof antenna not included.

Price to move (although kinda heavy for that) in the low 70s (70 birch logs that is).

Call 1 (800) Holy Beaver or visit our website at www.castorcanadensis/realty.com.

Yard Birds

Immature White-crowned Sparrow

What a morning! It froze even harder last night, with ice all over the cars when I went out.

White-crowned Sparrow

There was a buck on the lawn, maybe thirty feet from where I walk the dogs. It was still dark, but the yard light showed him calmly rising from his bed, having a nice, leisurely stretch, and then standing there watching me and Mack until I stepped in his direction.

The elusive Field Sparrow...looked for one all year, saw two this week

Then he took off. Brassy lad though....

White-throated Sparrow

So many birds in the yard this morning I didn't know where to look first. Sparrows and American Robins are migrating through like crazy and there is a large flock of mostly immature Cedar Waxwings gobbling everything they can find.

Ditto

It made the morning walk a lot of fun, with 22 species being counted and at least two others being almost counted. I know I heard a Red-breasted Nuthatch, but I only saw in flight and in a hurry so I won't count it. And there were grackles, but I only got a fleeting

glimpse. 

Dark-eyed Junco

Enjoy the sunshine!

Ditto

Morning Bus with Grandma

"When is the bus going to come, Grandma?"

"Pretty soon, honey. We had to come down a little early because grandma is kind of slow, but it will get here."

Grandma, there's a crocodile in the ditch. It's a big one."

Don't worry honey, "i'll call Tine."

What's he gonna do?"

"Well, first he'll toast it and then when it's all crunchy he will eat it."

"Ooh, good....Grandma, there's bees...."

"Tine will get them too. He likes em. Nice and crispy.

Oh, look, here comes your bus!"

First Frost Last Night

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Just a small one, but a few things got singed. Cold morning for birding too, but there are still Yellow-rumped Warblers around.

Sometimes they look back at me
Song Sparrow

Odd little birds. It is no problem to see them as they fly straight to me as soon as I go into the field where they are feeding. A little harder to get photos though as warblers almost never sit still.

White-crowned Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Anyhow....brrrrrrr........

If the Woolly Bear Sees his Shadow

Can snow be far behind?

My kind of "snow"

Such a Drama Queen

The night sky that is. Technically it's actually morning, but it's still as dark as a closet with the light off...but because it is for a change clear you can see the stars.

Orion, which used to be my favorite constellation until I found out he only shows up in winter, is strutting his stuff right outside the back door. Big arrogant buffoon, you just can't miss him.

Ursa Major is doing a headstand near the eastern horizon, no mean feat for a bear that size.

The Twins, Cassiopeia, and most of the other known conglomerations of stars are bright as eagle's eyes as well.

Still, it's cold enough to make you want to hurry the doggos as they go about their morning business. Frost tomorrow night so I really have to drag the last watermelon inside and grab the rest of the house plants. Only a half a dozen or so left...I hope....

Meanwhile, I'm just waiting for the sun to come up. After birding in the rain way too many times recently (did you hear that storm last night???) I am looking forward to heading out without an umbrella handle stuffed in an uncomfortable spot, (I learned this from a World Girl Birder post and it works-hands free and all- but I feel like a sleazy lady of the evening with a brolly instead of a wad of cash) and without rain fogging up all the glass involved in  seeing birds.

Wish me luck. lol

Bad News in the Dairy Industry

These two old ladies....

Been researching for this week's Farm Side and the numbers are even uglier than I imagined.

Dairy farm losses:

Ohio

Wisconsin

Michigan

It's estimated that nearly a third of America's dairy farms have left the industry in the past decade.

According to this article 93% have left the business since I graduated from high school in 1970. 

Some suggest a supply management system may help. Others aren't too trusting of those who might be in charge of the managing.

All I know is that these are hard times for the majority of dairy farmers, with distressing impacts on rural communities everywhere. 

......are all that's left of our herd, which once numbered over 100
including heifers and calves.