2020 Lifers and GoodBirds

 

11 life birds last year. First was a set of Tundra Swans resting near the boat launch at Schoharie Crossing. Exciting for sure. 

Then we found a Cackling Goose, also at Schoharie Crossing, a short time later.

Next was a Wilson's Snipe, at the Crossing as well. We didn't find that one but were directed to it by some other birders who were nice enough to let me know it was there. Later we found a spot where there were a good number of them winnowing overhead and calling from a water meadow most of the summer. 

Later we found some Least Sandpipers at the Crossing, which well deserves its designation as a birding hotspot.

And Semipalmated Plovers the same day.

Next was a Grasshopper Sparrow, no photo, alas. It was raining and the camera just couldn't pick him out.

And then a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher at a little swamp we visit. 

A Swainson's Thrush showed up at Lyker's Pond on the 18th of September.

Our visit to Maine with Scott and Jen and the girls brought awesome sea birds...first a Common Eider

And then a Black Guillemot. 

Back to the Crossing for a White-rumped Sandpiper, the last life bird of the year, although not the last GoodBird.

A very GoodBird, a Snowy Owl on a nearby lawn

And So

 If you are on Facebook you already know, but some of you aren't so...we lost both Dad and Mom over the last few days, four days apart in fact.

There is not much I can say that wouldn't sound trite or smack of hyperbole, so I will just say that we loved them intensely and our lives were closely intertwined on many levels. I don't imagine that we will heal any time soon, but we must go on and will. 

However, way too many times a day I think about doing things for Mom or sharing things on Facebook for her before remembering that I can't. Started to send her a video of Peg.....

Every morning when I wake up...well, last night was the first time I really slept....but every morning I remember anew what has happened and am freshly shattered.

Friends and family, including both IRL people and those scattered across the world, have been an immeasurable comfort. Thank you.

Now comes the bureaucratic part of the equation, looking for documents, providing them to the correct people, sorting through mementos and sharing tears. They had good lives and we had them for longer than many folks do, so I am trying to be grateful while still profoundly sad.

Much love from Northview Farm.

Soup

 

I made Italian sausage soup yesterday.... a family favorite, easy and comforting. All day, as I added ingredients, I was beset by nagging wrongness. For the past several years, whenever any of us made a big dish meal, the kind of thing that graced the table back when we were dairy farming, we planned on enough for Mom and Dad.

Everyone has always cooked in our family, both sides. Grandma Montgomery was famous for her spaghetti sauce, enough to feed all of her six offspring and their extensive families. Fresh cut French Fries ditto. So many wonderful meals were eaten in her small Gloversville kitchen, kids milling around underfoot, waiting impatiently for the first fries out of the fryer, or kibitzing in the adult conversations

Grandma Lachmayer combined the best of home-style German and Irish cooking, along with many specialties of her own. My heart is  happy that her round oak dining room table, where generations of comforting meals were served far longer than I have been alive, sits in the center of our dining room now.

Ralph's mom spent many of her younger years in a top-notch restaurant and was creative, resourceful, and just plain good at what she did. She knew how to fill a harvest crew up to face the field, and fed us by that formula.

But yesterday I made the soup...and ached. No dish set aside to take up to Johnstown to be frozen for future use or enjoyed right away. No thoughts of making biscuits or cookies, or applesauce to send along.

There were blessings...Matt and Kegan came down and cut up enough wood that the boss won't have to touch a saw for a few weeks....they also got some hay and brought him plywood to fix the barn door. He was tickled that it only took him a few seconds to tend the stove this morning.

Mom sounded pretty good yesterday morning, although as the day progressed she got so tired.

 And she hates the food. Will only eat her yogurt that Matt took her and peanut butter sandwiches. Maybe it's the Covid, but today I am going to call the home and ask if we are allowed to bring her up a home-cooked meal. I don't know what is allowed under the disease restrictions. 

I do know that none of us were able to see Dad from the 15th of December when he was hospitalized until the end....and now we spend an incomprehensible number of hours every day on the phone with everyone from contact tracers to funeral directors, trying to put out fires, set up processes, and track down his missing possessions. 

I hope this new year treats us all better than the one we just staggered away from. Much love from Northview Farm to each and every one of you. 

Dog Story

 

I like this one...think I'll just stay here

First an update on Mom and Dad. Mom is still in the nursing home, struggling a bit more than we would like. Dad is in hospital still and has improved some as far as we know. Prayers would be much appreciated, as we are very worried about them both. Thanks.

Now, about the dog. While waiting for it to be late enough to begin the daily round of phone calls trying to get information about people we are not allowed to visit, from busy staff in frantic facilities, we went birding this morning.

We were at the park at Yankee Hill. Ran into the nice, tall older fellow who walks there every day. He is amazing....walks so far! Found out he is the one who made the helpful snowshoe trail I was walking on the other day...all the way to Fort Hunter!!! (I only went a few yards so I could see the ducks across the river.)

Anyhow, I was getting ready to return to the car and fire up the old cell phone for all my calls when a couple strolled out of the woods accompanied by a jolly little bulldog.

The dog made a beeline for me as fast as his legs would carry him, sniffed my leg and seemed to say, "I like this one. Guess I'll visit for a while."

He leaned happily against my knees and stayed right there, ignoring frantic calls for his return.

I was assured that he was nice and wouldn't bite. I have to say that I rarely believe such assurances. I have been bitten by nice dogs. However, it was easy to read this guy and he was a delight. He and I shared a good laugh before his owner came and took him away, apologizing all the while. He seemed disappointed to have to part company after such a short interlude.

He gave me a little blep before he left, then jogged away jauntily, having enjoyed our little communion at the edge of the racing water. He was a bright spot in my day too. And I needed one.

A little blep goodbye

Merry Christmas from Northview

 I truly hope that each and every one of you is able to salvage some joy in this season of renewal of faith and hope.

For us, things are pretty dark. Dad is in the hospital with pneumonia and COVID. So much for being safer under care than at home, where he was falling with alarming regularity. One of my dear aunties is also hospitalized, same situation.

Mom is still at the nursing home in Palatine, where he was until yesterday.

It is raining. There is flooding. At least most of the snow vanished overnight.

As most mornings, I am the first one up, although I see by the objects under the tree that Santa came through right on schedule. The weird elf has left for a few seasons at the North Pole, while the one who stays here all year and is played with until he/she is reanimated with a cinnamon bath is still sitting on the American Girl style horse. The two of them have been cavorting all over the house on that poor animal for days now. I am sure it is happy to return to its toyland slumber. I won't miss the thunder of its little hooves at all. I will miss the fun of its mistress finding where they parked it after their escapades, and sharing possible stories about what went on overnight.

The pink guitar is on the futon, encased in a great big box, and nicely wrapped by my s-i-l Lisa. (Thank you, thank you, thank you, for taking care of that!) We smuggled it in under guise of being grandpa's pressie and its been sitting there in plain sight for several days. There is a story to go with his real one, but that will have to wait until later to be told. Trust me, it's a good un.

Although sadness is an envelope I have yet to step outside, there is much to be grateful for. My brother is home from the West Coast and he and his wife are doing as much as they can to get the bases covered with my folks' affairs...and they are many and challenging.

The girls and Peggy live with us, so we are surrounded by family all the time. Right now that is a major league blessing for me.

Alan calls every day, sometimes more than once, so I am a part of his and Amber's lives, even from half way across the state. They are healthy again after their own go round with the plague.

Thanks to Facebook we can enjoy our other two grandbabies, and their sweet and loving parents. Maybe someday life will return to normal and the boss can go to the races with them on Saturday nights and come home tired and full of new stories to tell when we drive around the neighborhood birding.

Also thanks to that biased and flawed platform from the Netherworld, I get to talk to many of you every day and that is a bright spot indeed.

So, Merry Christmas from the farm, and best wishes for a hopeful New Year. Love to all.

Christmas Bird Count

 

Peregrine Falcon, found yesterday
on the exact same pole where we found one last year.

For the first time since pretty much the beginning of the count circle there will be no representative of Clan Montgomery working on the Johnstown NY CBC. I made the decision not long after last year's count that I just couldn't do it any more.

Mom and Dad had been in almost at the start of the circle, or at least within the first couple of years. They did it together for many years, then Mom wanted out so I went with Dad. When his vision began to fail both brothers and a large selection of the grandkids stepped in too.

White-throated Sparrow
Checking out the home feeders

It was always quite an affair. Mom would make hearty meal for the counters and we would gather at noon to eat and compare notes and again at the end to send in our totals. We would walk an abandoned railroad, our aunt and uncle's farm, and the field behind the house. We would drive for miles looking for feeders or roadside gatherings. It was exhausting but a lot of fun too. Mayfield South found quite a few nice birds over the years.

However, the brothers' lives moved them out of reach, kids grew up, moved away, lost interest, and traffic became an appalling snarl of constant peril. I became invested in birding our home county and the last two count years were miserable, mostly because of the traffic. 

So, it was almost with relief that I let someone else take over this year and I wish her well. I sent her a list of our favorite spots, and hope she finds amazing rarities there.

Horned Lark
I get excited every time I see them

Meanwhile, it turns out that it was fortuitous that this was the year to step away. The family is reeling from the loss of two aunts and an uncle (just yesterday) over the past three months. Another aunt is hospitalized right now...It has been a terrible time for everyone in our close-knit clan.

With mom and dad both in a nursing home for rehab and mad at me about it, mostly I guess because I am an available target, I am happiest just haunting our favorite river spots and winter back roads near home. And trying to find some heart for Christmas for the 6-year old who shares our lives....and incidentally loves eagles and woodpeckers. The little pink guitar was safely delivered to my brother and his wife.....can't wait for that aspect of Christmas morning

Hope you are all well and that you have some hope this Christmas season...much love from Northview Farm.

Circus Rescue

Female Northern Harrier

 Circus Hudsonius that is. A Northern Harrier. 

We found some time to do a little birding today, having mostly caught up on errands and shopping. We traveled some of our best winter roads, up Lynk St. down Brand Rd. and then home via Hall and Borden Roads.

It was as we were climbing the spectacular hillscapes on Hall that I saw something on a clump of dead grass at the side of the road. I thought it was debris shoved up by the plows and didn't react until we were past. 

However, there were bright green eyes staring back at me.

Hall Rd.
You can see why northern raptors love this area

Long story short we drove back, turned around and sidled up slowly for a better look, snapping many photos as we went.

What we were seeing was a female Northern Harrier, but we thought she was sitting on prey, too cropful to fly.

However, as we drew closer we realized that she was injured...at least a broken wing, probably more. 

We had to leave her as we had to get home so Ralph could do some chores before full dark, but I called DEC right away to report her situation. Within minutes an officer was on the phone for more detailed directions to her location, and within half an hour she was on her way to a rehabber who specializes in raptors.

 Isn't she just the most beautiful thing? I hope she can be saved.

Update

 

Mom is still in ICU but has shown some comforting improvement, as of yesterday. However, the enforced isolation is making her very anxious. We are going to try to get her tablet, glasses, and possibly cell phone if I can find the charger, down to her today, so at least she can read.

I am still here with Dad. Haven't been home since Saturday when this all began. The boss took me out for a short trip to Lowe's and Mayfield Lake, but Dad fell again while we were gone, so we raced back home. I haven't dared leave, even to go walking in the field behind the house, since. 

He is having such a hard time getting around the house and at first was not willing to let me lend an arm. As his condition slips downhill in that respect he has let me be a leaning post a little bit, but it means following him every step he takes. He does like to wander around.

I want to thank everyone who has helped, offered to help, or provided prayers, good thoughts and words of encouragement. My sister-in-law, Lisa, the boss and the girls, have done every single thing that has been asked of them and more. Other family members have offered to bring food, run errands, etc. What we really need is someone who is versed in setting up appropriate care for people who have been singularly independent right up until last weekend and can't be independent any more. Maybe more independent than they should have been, but I guess that is a common issue.

Meanwhile, I am tired and discouraged and miss my home and people. I hope you will continue to keep mom and dad in your prayers. I truly believe that the many prayers offered up for mom have made a magnificent difference in the course of her illness. so please and thankyou for continuing.

Love to all

Side Effects

 

This ugly virus can be blamed for much more than the mayhem it causes directly. We have the joined the ranks of who knows how many thousands or millions who have loved ones in medical and long term facilities and can't visit to offer comfort or be involved in care.

You know it's horrible when you read about it. You feel compassion and deep sadness for those facing it. However, nothing can prepare you for what it is like to have no contact but telephone calls to overworked nurses and doctors who barely speak English. To be utterly helpless, prisoners of covid laws.

My poor mom, whom many of you know well from Facebook, is in ICU in Amsterdam and struggling against the treatment she needs to live. She does NOT have covid. The nurse says they explain to her why she needs the mask, but the low oxygen the the mask should correct makes her confused, and she won't let them keep it on her. I am beyond certain that if one her children or their families could be there holding her hand and reassuring her she would relent. 

Instead the best they can offer is an iPad chat when she feels better. Or should I say if?

 I would like to yell at someone or pound on something, but there is no one directly involved here that is responsible for what is happening. Distant lawmakers, distant criminals in distant countries, people with no dogs in our personal fight, have decreed that this is how life will continue or end and there isn't one damned thing we can do about it. That does not help with the stress of the situation.

Meanwhile I am staying with Dad, which is a struggle I don't discuss right now. Let's just say I need my home and the outdoors and my own bed and my peeps. I just sneaked out to walk up the field behind the house for a few minutes in the first hour of the sun and that helped a bit. Out seems to be my natural environment.

 At the same time it unleashed a cascade of memories of when this was home...mostly of winters, as the fields were in crops in summer. We slid down the big hill on boards strapped to our feet with bits of leather that were loosely known as skis in those days. Raced like mad down the same hill with more kids piled on toboggans and sleds than could be easily imagined. Tumbled off at the bottom losing boots, finding our socks full of snow, and sporting new bruises that didn't slow us down a bit.

Getting "lost" in the tall corn that grew almost up to the house in summer. As county kids we always knew our way out but it was fun to pretend.

I could go on and on about football, dummy training rifles and war games that were okay then, and yes I had one, and yes, I played too.

But I won't right now. It just was a shock to have all those bygone days come racing into my poor tired brain. I wasn't going to write about this personal battle we are facing, but I find that I need to put my thoughts into words, and many of us in the far flung internet community rely on one another in times like these. I would be most grateful for any prayers or good thoughts you could offer. And it makes me feel much better to "talk" to you.

Love to all.

Every Morning I move the Elf

 

It's one of the best parts of my day. A bright spot in the gloom soup that is life these days. Our elf is a non-judgmental little soul, and not only spends no time seeking out naughtiness, but also brings small gifts...some days just a chocolate. Some days little activity things. These are challenging times for small folks too.

Every day I check the York Beach Maine rare bird alert. We spent the best weekend of the year in that neighborhood with family. Seeing the place were I got to have real clam chowder and walk around admiring the shops and ships and lobster boats and all on the little rare bird map takes me back there to a better time and place....and I am only mildly envious of the folks who see the little Rock Wren in Ogunquit....okay, that's a lie. What a cool bird!

Later in the day I check the ABA rare bird alert too...always keeping watch for the single American Flamingo seen quite often in Florida. If there are flamingos there is hope.

I do a bird list every day, partly because it what I like best, and partly because I enjoy watching the streak of consecutive days reported inching upward...1434 as of this morning before daylight. Pretty soon I can fill the feeders and do one for today. Yesterday we had a single Evening Grosbeak on the feeder by the window over the sink. It was missing most of its upper mandible but still managed to scarf its fill of seeds. I stayed away from the window after grabbing a few photos to let it eat its fill.

High spots happen and then the day is spent just creeping along through the dark of the year, hoping for better things, but not optimistic. Hope you are getting by as well. Have a good one. 

Goodbye November

 

Happy Thanksgiving

 

To all our friends and family.

Here at Northview we are well fed, delighted and comfortable with our companions, and thrilled that the Blue Bomber rides again.

Hope you all are having a safe, wonderful day. 

If you see this guy today

 

Wish him a very happy birthday today.

Do you Hear what I hear?

 

Research is fun.

And even though I no longer work for the paper, I still love finding out things that I didn't know before. I just found some cool stuff, thanks to a group I joined on MeWe.

So please give these a listen.

Amazing

Even Better

Utterly Astonishing (an kinda sick and wrong)

Best yet.

Hope you enjoyed these as much as I did.

And I would like to actually own either one of the first two, as I just love listening to ours even though they don't take things to quite that level. In fact I threatened just last night, but was loudly shouted down.

Have a great day.

Happy Birthday, Dad

 

Hang in there...better days are coming, it says here in fine print......

Love you!