That Grouse in the Headlights Look

Got to spend the day today participating in the Johnstown Christmas bird count. It was different in many ways, as I joined an area educator, George Steele, counting his territory, rather than leading the crew through our old area, Mayfield South.

The day started auspiciously despite dismal weather. The first bird was a Barred Owl George called up from a soggy woodland area. It was still dark, but he soon found it with a flashlight and we got great looks before it became annoyed and flew off. George is good enough at imitating owl calls that Merlin recognizes him as a Screech Owl...something we didn't find...unless he is pishing to call birds out of the shrubbery, whereupon Merlin is sure we have found a Barn Owl. 

None of them either, alas. 

This young Bald Eagle didn't seem enamored of the rain at all

The grouse mentioned above was picking gravel out of the road at almost dawn, a dull, dark and gloomy dawn. It sat happily in the light from the headlights, pecking and nibbling and glancing over its shoulder at us, until we simply had to move out of the way of potential traffic. Then it sauntered off the road and flew nonchalantly up the hill nearby.

By dint of a good deal of travel through snow, sleet and thin rain, and a lot of pishing and listening at bits of tempting habitat we ended up with 25 species, ranging from a plethora of Black-capped Chickadees to a drenched and disgusted young Bald Eagle.

All in all not bad for such a dark and rainy day. I tried eBird's new trip report feature, which aggregates all the checklists in a given time period into one report with total bird numbers and other useful information and so far I like it. I think I will use it again for Big Days and similar endeavors.

George

New Year's Birds

Iceland Gull

The boss and I had quite a day chasing 2020 birds today. We found 30 species, including some that we would rarely see this early in the year.

Great Black-backed Gulls

We did a little gull gazing and along with the usual suspects found an Iceland Gull. Not a bad bird to see so early. Also found what I thought at first was a Greater White-fronted Goose. I was all excited when I spotted it from the river bridge, but a hike west from the lot by Dunkin got me some better photos and it was a domestic type Graylag Goose. Although it was listed as rare I have seen several of them in the area over the years.

Immature Bald Eagle

Also found a Peregrine Falcon, a Kestrel, a hyper excited Belted Kingfisher that was really noisy, a couple of Bald Eagles, one of which was eating something oddly orange on the river bank.

Peregrine Falcon

A Great Blue Heron was another surprise. Guess they are enjoying all the open water around.

He was game to keep going this afternoon, but it was so foggy I figured it would be a waste of time and gas to chase out in the more distant bits of the county, so we just hit the local river spots and came home. Had a real good time though.

Belted Kingfisher

Happy New Year

 

From all of us to all of you. Hoping and praying for a happier year than the last two, although perhaps that is arrogant and delusional.

Meanwhile, first bird for 2022 was a Canada Goose, as was the last bird for 2021. Not surprising I suppose with the thousands plying the air up and down the valley, flying from the river to the cornfields and back every day. 

Today begins a new slate for bird listing. Will I see anything cool today? Or tomorrow?

Will I get to go gull glancing? Checking the big flocks down on the river for anything unusual mixed in with the big three...Great Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls and Ring-billed Gulls?

Only the Shadow knows.

Anyhow, have a great day, a great year, all the best from us to you.

An Odd Light

 In the east says that the sun is probably trying to rise. It won't officially break with the edge of the earth until 7:28, but it is bright enough to see without the yard light once your eyes adjust.

Later today I will probably get to see some photos from one of my favorite places on earth, (hint, manatees, cough, cough) and I have already seen pics and video of a beautiful flying potato, otherwise known as Bailey. 

That is better than sunrise in my book. 

Update...I have been informed that she was actually a flying snowmobile. I don't think they have those down there...

Anyhow, this morning I felt normal except for a residual cough that may never go away. I had honestly over the bulk of the month of December, completely forgotten what normal felt like. I came to a pretty close understanding of what old feels like though, and good Lord, I do not like it!

I am of average health for my age I guess, I get around, I getter done. For the last month though, just making a cup of coffee was an undertaking. So was drinking it. If you need a weight loss plan, this one really works, although I would not recommend it.

I managed not to break my eBird streak of filing a list every day, but one day it consisted of two Blue Jays that hit the feeder when I was able to be there for a second. I am having a real rough time with the 50 rated media challenge though. Between bad light and no birding....

Now we are waiting for the boss to break free of the sleeping and coughing all day and not wanting to eat. Never thought I would have to nag him to eat, but I guess that is a symptom of this junk. He seems a lot better though, and probably pretty much out of the woods.

Hope this finds you all well and enjoying your Christmas goodies. I got well for Christmas, and that is about as good as it gets.

PS, we also got a few minutes of amazing sunrise, which I was able to go out and enjoy. Bonus time.

Merry Christmas

 

To all of you wonderful folks. If you have missed us...we have been sick. Really, seriously, horribly sick.

For weeks and weeks. We are kinda, sorta, more or less, better now, but in an abundance of caution we are not seeing the kids until sometime next month, to keep the baby safe from this Godawful plague.

It will be a boring holiday, but at least we all seem to have lived through the virus.

Hope you all have a terrific day....much love from Northview Farm.

Also, I don't think we would have made it without my sister-in-law, Lisa Montgomery. From chicken noodle soup and Body Armor to saltine crackers, which were often the only thing anyone could eat, she bravely dropped off stuff on the porch when we were too sick to think, let alone move. I cannot ever thank her enough.

Going Viral

 

That's Peggy's Great-grandma, Peggy, in the front row.
Found the clipping in a drawer the other day.

Something clomped through our household over the past couple of weeks that surely was an unwelcome visitor. I don't think we were/are sick enough for the big one, but still it hasn't been much fun.

Peggy was first....amazing how elementary school will do that for you. Then her mom, then me, now the boss and Auntie Becky. Kinda like a cold, but different, doncha know. At once both less and yet more miserable, weirdly enough.

Anyhow, today I felt enough better to start making chicken soup before the sun came up (with this bug you feel a LOT worse as the day goes on) and then biscuits to go with it. Did three days worth of dishes...ugh...and made a fast bird list too. Haven't missed in 1805 days so far, so I take getting at least a feeder list done each day pretty seriously.

So I dosed everybody that is home...Liz is working and Peg at school...with grandma's famous cold remedy, and now I am resting for a while before getting on with the next thing...maybe walking the dog....again.

Or maybe I will just get another cup of orange juice and vegetate in my chair.

Yeah, that sounds good...vegetate. Hope you are all well and prayers from all of us for those of you who aren't. You are in our thoughts endlessly. Hugs

Get a Room

A huge Grey Squirrel has been running up and down the edge of the big (4X8) windows in the living room lately. It is massively irritating and we h̶a̶t̶e̶ don't admire the blasted varmint. As long as there don't seem to be any squirrels in the attic however, it has just been one of those things.

Today though, she brought a "friend".

Let's just say that that isn't a place I would ever have imagined for that activity. And it wasn't even the horizontal part of the windowsill! And it isn't even spring yet!

 I feel kinda creeped out now. 

And so it Begins

The boss went out on Seven-county Hill yesterday to find and procure our traditional home-grown White Pine Christmas tree.

The tradition began back in the day when we really couldn't afford a purchased tree and our artificial one had been donated to the library. Alan wanted a tree so he hied himself up in back and brought down that first White Pine. It was a seriously Charley Brown kind of tree, but we loved it.

Buried it in ornaments and enjoyed it muchly.

Other years he brought down other trees, one that reached half way across our huge living room. He bought a couple of nice ones too...he has fine taste in all things Christmas. Then he married and moved up west and we were on our own. Last year was the first time the boss had to play Paul Bunyan. The tree he brought was pretty nice, except for the whole four trunks thing. We liked it just fine though.

However, this year.....this year....he outdid himself. Tree farms don't sell White Pines as Christmas trees very much here in the East, but if they did you would swear this one was purchased. It is that perfect.

We decorated it last night with the also traditional ornaments, including ones made by aunts, grandmas, and my dear and much-missed mama. (The kids whine about how creepy the clothespin clowns are every single year, but I like them). We now have four of the cloth leaping horses I made years ago, as we inherited two of Mom's.

And one of our good friends who lives up around Rochester may be interested to know that there is a tiny rubber ducky in the nativity this year. 

*Disclaimer: it wasn't me what done it!

Anyhow, living with someone who is seven offers a grand excuse for playing Christmas, traveling elf and all. It will be our first one without the folks, but there is enough love here at Northview to see us through the challenging parts. I wish you all a wonderful season. 

Nuttin' creepy about this little cutie
AmIright?

Sunday Stills....Fresh

 

This Blue Jay's feathers seemed very fresh and bright

For more Sunday Stills....

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Vet Tales

 

I started working for a local veterinarian when I was 15. No working papers or anything, just started cleaning kennels and feeding dogs on weekends filling in for my then boyfriend, whose job it actually was. It was one of several jobs I had that girls weren't supposed to be able to do back in those days.

He didn’t last, but I did, spending 8 years working my way up to assisting in the operating room and running the office.

Along the way I went on calls with an assistant vet my boss hired who later went on to be the boss doc at the Buffalo Zoo, and pretty famous. He was also a great guy, kind, caring, loved to teach. I was lucky to know him and learn from him.

However, in those days he was just Doctor Prowten to me, and when he wasn’t inviting me for ride alongs I often babysat for his children.

One of my first farm visits was unforgettable. I was not a farm kid….raised in my folks’ antique and book stores... and though I loved animals, I was remarkably ignorant.

 I didn’t particularly like cows either. However….

There was a cow that wasn’t getting on with calving and the farmer knew he needed help so he called the office early one morning. Wish I could remember who it was, but that was long before I became deeply involved in the local farming community.

Anyhow, when doc did a preliminary exam it was not good news.

Schistosomus reflexus.

I learned the term that day and have never, ever forgotten it, despite the fact that I was only a teenager then and a lot of years have since gone by. Suffice to say that it is a nasty birth anomaly, the calf was very, very, very dead, had to be removed in bits and pieces and I was drafted to help. That is probably all the detail you need. This was a particularly egregious case, the calf was well on its way to decomposition, and the smell alone should have turned me off cows forever.

Obviously it didn't. Doc made everything interesting. 

Meanwhile a pair of adorably speckled newborn calves romped nearby. While we dissected the dead calf and got the mama doctored up and doing better the farmer regaled us with the tale of the twins. 

He and the doc and all the adults at the farm had matched them up, spot-for-spot, thinking that maybe they were identical twins. They had a high time discussing the possibilities.

Then one of the smaller kids pointed out the should-have-been-obvious. Twin one was a bull and twin two was his sister.

We laughed and laughed.

I never forgot that day. It was only the second calving I had ever experienced, the first being when a sweet neighbor farmer let me watch one of their cows giving birth. It sure stuck with me!

I went on to work a long time for the older veterinarian, marry a farmer, and birth many, many calves over the years. Ralph and I got pretty good at it, and later all the kids also developed some pretty mean skills.

I saw two more cases of Schistosomus Reflexus, which is pretty amazing as it is rare. Neither was anywhere near as bad as the first 

Someday I will tell you about the two-headed calf that got me out of chopping some pretty tall hay one day. 

And the time we were dissecting fetal pigs in college and Doc Prowten had me help him do a necropsy on a gigantic pig that had died on a nearby farm and was brought to the hospital in the back of a pickup truck. Sort of an extra lab or something. Trust me, you don't want details, but there was a huge abscess involved and Doc was a bit of a joker.....

Anyhow, I did real well in that class, and never lost interest in animal medicine, even though most of my life was spent as a customer. And I ended up really loving cows...just had to get to know them a little better.

Opening Day

 

Quiet as a church out there, only echoing moonlight on icy roofs to disturb the peace. I have to wake the dog up to walk him it's so early.

The men will be here soon ready to pursue the gospel according to White Tail out on the frigid hillside. 

It's opening Day, the holiday before Thanksgiving, and it will be dawning soon. The sun will drive away Orion, who is now lurking to the southwest, and dispelling Ursa Major, currently standing on his tail on the ridgepole of the house. 

Wish I was young and tough and could walk out there too. Instead I will sit here, swilling the weak stuff that passes for coffee for folks my age, and remember other years, and other deers.

Best wishes for a safe and fruitful season for all you folks celebrating the winter hunt this morning. Be sensible and all.

And as is traditional, this;

Today

 

Would have been Dad's 90th birthday. I wish he had made it. I miss him and Mom so much.... 

I keep a word processing document called Letterstomymother, in which I record all the things I need to talk to her about. We used to chat every evening for years and years and years, sometimes for five minutes, "Hi, how are ya? We're doing fine." Sometimes for two hours, clearing up all of our problems by airing them out good

Sometimes sharing stories.

Sometimes bragging. There was a lot of bragging. Mom cared if I found a good bird. She wanted to know about that big buck the boy got, or a promotion at work for one of the girls. She would have loved to hear about Bailey hitting five months old and being so darned cute and snuggleable. "How's that baby doing?" she would have asked.

Last night Peggy brought home a stellar report card. She is reading at nearly twice her project goal level. I really, really wanted to call Mom and tell  her, but that couldn't happen.

So I dropped her a note instead. It isn't the real deal but it's better than nothing.

Anyhow, Letterstomymother covers Dad as well. His profound deafness made it really hard to talk to him on the phone, but she always conveyed everything that was said in our little chats, and he always wanted to know. So I am sure if she somehow reads what I am writing to her, she is telling him what's going on, as soon as we get off the air.

Love you Dad. Love you Mom. Hope Heaven is all that is promised.

Bittersweet November

 

After a summer where it started raining at the end of June and never stopped, we have been gifted with some amazing weather for November. Sunny skies, lovely sunrises and sets, and warm...ish...temperatures.

However, the effects of the summer in terms of the haymow will be felt all winter and probably well into next spring.

It sure is pretty these days though, for the next-to-last month of the year. Going to enjoy every minute while it lasts...which may be only through today. 

At this special time, I want to wish all our nation's veterans blessings, comfort, and peace. You have certainly earned all that and more. Hope your day is all you need and want it to be. 

And thanks.

Sunday Stills....Glass

I love colored glass! I pick up bits I find on the ground on the farm, sea glass, pretty bottles and bits, and put them in sunny windows. My kitchen windowsill is full of glass, stones, and toy birds and animals.

For more Sunday Stills.....

Biannual Institutionalized National Jet Lag

 

Begins this weekend or so I'm told.

All I can say is ugh.

And it froze hard last night. Latest hard frost I can remember. Time to cut down the cannas and dig them. A terrifying job, as they grew several feet over my head this year and bloomed right up until yesterday. The corms are going to be the size of these!

So why

 

The blog drought? Nothing but Sunday Stills posts as far as the eye can see...

Well, first I guess is that the short days and darkness really mess with me. I just plod along one foot in front of the other and hope for the best. Not much joy this time of year.

Then there was pointing up part of the house foundation. The big limestone blocks and random field stones of one part were devoid of anything resembling mortar so we mixed up some stuff and had at it. Felt good about that but the next part is under one of the porches. Not looking forward to that, but it only took a couple of hours to get almost half of the total done so that's a good thing.

We did get over to Cooperstown NY to look for American Coots
Found them (thanks Bill)
As well as this statue, named Indian Hunter
by John Quincy Adams Ward.

Not much birding/not many birds. With all the rain the river is barely staying in its banks let alone receding to reveal lovely mud flats and shallow feeding areas that ducks and water birds love. Just roiling waves and swirling currents and logs and branches galore. Scandalous gas prices don't help either. We have to ration our travel pretty sharply. 

Lotsa Black Scoters

We saw good ones last week though, at the same reservoir where I took several of the Sunday Stills photos this week. When we arrived there was a flock of ducks in the middle of the first large impoundment at Cobleskill Reservoir.

I knew right away they were something cool, but neither my camera nor my binoculars were up to the job of being sure what they were. I could see that they were scoters, but which ones? Turned out they were Black Scoters and not the rarer sort I thought and hoped they were but still the first ones I had seen in NY. Forgot I had seen one in NC, so not lifers but still cool.

So anyhow, between the season and not much of interest going on, I have not been able to write much. Sorry. Better days are coming, it says here in fine print...or at least that is what my dad used to tell me.