Bird Stories

One of the blog posts that I didn't get to this summer was a round-up of all the bird stories on the property. I have all these pictures in a folder, of all these different lives, successful and some not that I observed, before, during or after the fact of their work.  Like rainbows and beautiful skies, I saw more bird activity than ever before on the farm. It makes sense as I was home so much, but more than that I wonder how many more nests did I not see? Even into August, it seemed like I would find a new one. I think I finally found the mockingbird nest that I suspected was around as I saw two separate pairs of mockingbirds squabbling with as many robin pairs. I never got a good picture of the nest, that I didn't see it until mowing but it is the largest nest I've seen on our property, at the very top of my favorite pine tree. 

Seeing this little nest remnant while walking Tutu by the willow tree... a favorite bathroom spot, I was galvanized into revisiting this post. 

Was this the red-winged blackbird's nest? He's always hanging around this tree, enough of a mini-wetland I suppose, with the sump pump water emptying out into the field. Another nest discovery as the days grow dark by 5:30. In another month, the sun will set around 4:15, then we've hit bottom and the days grow longer again. 

I included the comings and goings of birds in my journal but as I review these pictures, I'm wistful that I didn't have a separate nature journal this summer. Well, one can't do it all.  The usual suspects were Eastern Meadowlarks (no good pictures this year) robins, sparrows, red-winged blackbirds, mockingbirds, hummingbirds, and my beloved killdeer.  I think our trees are really just getting big enough for the mockingbirds to set up house but not enough for the bluejays to move in which is fine with me. As beautiful as they are, they are also disruptive. 

I want to end with the killdeer.  So let's start with some other nest discoveries. 

If this nest looks like it's not quite right, it's not. It's on it's side perpendicular to the branches. This is one of two robin nests I suspect were raided...probably by the same creature that I suspect raided a sparrow nest in the early spring. There were a few nests that had eggs...and then one day had none. 

But one robin's nest that had eggs, also failed. Before we went on our trip to Michigan, Andrew told me there was a robin's nest in the front storage section of the TAB where the marine battery is. It had to be moved and it had eggs in it. This of course broke my heart. I began plotting where I might place it...but he also said he suspected it wasn't worth relocating and he was right. 

I know that in some decorating books, people make wreaths or otherwise incorporate birds nests in their home. I'm not willing to go that far, but I did save the eggs for some of the nature jars I make as gifts. It was a different kind of sad to discover that they couldn't be saved. 

Another sad story was the sparrows, only two, in the teeny, tiny nest in the grape that grows around a post on our back deck area. 

The afternoon after I took the above picture, I checked the nest as I was going to water the garden and it was empty. Both chicks were gone and they weren't quite ready to fly. The obvious story was something had raided it or some other mishap had happened but I couldn't figure out for the life of me what. Later in the evening, something drew my attention to the base of the post and to the right about two feet. There in the pea gravel, like a little fossil, was the tiny skull and beak of what could only be one of the chicks, with a few ants still crawling around it. What could have befell this chick in 24 hours? If it was a raid, all the evidence would be gone...somehow both chicks disappeared and at least one was already nearly gone. I sighed, toyed with the idea of looking for the other one, but this would yield no more answers. 

I'm sorry if this is a bummer of a blog post. So many nests fail. I'm sure I had more successful nests on the property, but one can't track them all unless biology study is a full time pursuit. 

Another robin's nest in another grape.

Years ago, when we first put up bluebird boxes, we put one up in the grapes and tree swallows moved in. They dive bombed Andrew furiously whenever he would try to work in the grapes. The box got relocated as soon as the young family moved out. We didn't have any tree swallows this year, just the barn swallows show showed up as a buffet escort for all the bugs the riding mower kicked up.
 

 

This nest was interesting, Andrew found it at the outdoor center at Lowe's. I wanted to some research to figure out what these light blue eggs are...they are the size of the small chicken eggs my new hens are still laying or a little bigger. 

 I hope you get a kick out of this next picture of a dove's nest on my Dad's hunting cabin.

If you look closely, I think you will see that there is two, maybe three nests total from previous years. Dove's are notoriously lazy nest builders. 

So the killdeer. Here is a picture of her sitting on her nest, early in the incubation period. You can tell I've begun to get a handle on spring weeding.

But rather than disturb her, I let her sit alone and I let the purple nettle grow. Can you find her in this picture?

Then of course, was the exciting day the 4 babies hatched and they ran around the back, side and front yard with their parents corralling them at every turn. 

It takes about 21 days for the babies to be able to fly after 21 days of incubating. For days and days in a row I heard or saw them. Then there was a day I didn't, then another. I was going into work more as we ramped up curbside service. I think I noticed their absence around day 10...far too soon for a disappearance. 

Then one day, I noticed a full sized killdeer and an almost full sized killdeer running around the front yard. Where were the other three babies and parent? For several days more I saw this duo. Dad says something like a fox could have easily crept up on one of the parents and once a parent was taken, could pick off the babies as one bird would not be enough to lead them all to safety. 

I think it's a good guess, but once again, it's a bird story we can only guess at. 

I took a series of pictures of them on the septic tank caps just a couple days before they disappeared...but I'm thinking it's because the baby was large enough to fly. That's what I chose to believe anyway. The baby is on the bottom cap in the foreground. I think the mother liked this spot because it has a clear 360 view of the yard...nothing can sneak up on them here. I have a short video capturing some behavior. It's through the screen door so not super high quality.

I will never know what happened to the birds who made it and those who didn't. What raided this nest, or why this other nest failed. I won't ever know what happened to the three other baby killdeer or the other parent, and in the end it doesn't matter. Their lives ran their course, just like a tree that falls in the forest. It still happens even if no human eyes bear witness. 

I do know that in February, on a day when I drive home and the western sky is lit up by a gradient of pink sunset that so often happens in February, I'll hear a cry as I drive on Route 29 and I'll see these little brown plover like birds racing across the frozen fields. And more so then seeing a robin, my heart fills with joy at the sight of them...but also concern and bafflement...it's February! Surely it is too cold for them. What are they doing up here so early? And yet, here they are. 

What's a post about birds without cats? Here is a picture of Moxie from healthier days. She's on some new food and looking a little better. We will hope for the best. 

Life is all around us, if we only look for it. The sun has set while I've drafted this but the pets still need fed and the houseplants watered. I'll take a hot bath tonight with salt, baking soda, and lavender bubble bath. I'll start another book from the personal library and be remind myself that this season too, shall pass.

 

 

 

Fall Gardening Round-Up

 As I write, we have windows up around the house. It's November 10 and it was 80 degrees today.  When I'm not playing a podcast or audio book, I can still hear harvesting equipment in the distance and smell the crops being taken off the fields or moved from truck to silo. I'm still harvesting Calendula, and the chickens old and new are still laying eggs. I worked on designing our holiday card this year, Andrew and I are discussing what we are doing for Thanksgiving. On a day like this though, everything and nothing, the past and plans for the future seem to intersect at once. 

I think blog posts are definitely going to go monthly for a while. I'm following some other creative threads that will eventually make their way to this blog, and another blog project I'm working on. All in good time. I see myself writing more this winter but for now I continue to straddle the demands of a transitioning season. 

I'll try to put these pictures in some semblance of order. These span late August/Early September to the first week of November. 

I did a lot of gardening some Friday afternoon that seems so far away now, more harvesting Calendula and adding thyme. 

Andrew wanted some additional thyme in a pot so I replanted it in the garden. It had become so root bound, that roots had went beyond the drainage hole and about 5 inches through a gap in the paver stones. 

Other goings on in the herb garden include an impressive bed of sage. 

 I have so much sage I will try to do a creative project this winter, we'll see how it goes. 

I also dried chives. 

We had just run out of chives in this bottle, and putting my own chives in it gave me a particular satisfaction. 

Also, the beautiful Malabar spinach that my green thumb friend gives me every year. 

I planted it the same time I did the tomatoes, the lavender, the marigolds and calendula, Memorial Day weekend. And the Malabar spinach hangs out at around 6 inches in length for three full months. Then around Labor Day, it grows like Henry David Thoreau would say, "like corn in the night."

Here is a nice shot of Tutu guarding the carrots and watermelons. The watermelons will appear later in the blog. Also, take note of all those carrot tops.

I also harvested the Rosemary for the year once the nightly freeze watches started stacking up.

Let's go to the back porch now and check on the Dahlias.

This is the second variety I bought (in July for 50 cents) Andrew likes this variety better, but I like the solid pink.

So pretty after a light warm rain.

That also carries a rainbow with it. 

The same night I replanted the potted thyme and cut the sage, I also made a cut flower bouquet for my Mom's birthday.

Clearly, flower arranging is not "just putting flowers together."  However, since I focus on herbs so much, it was fun to have enough flowers to gather. 

Here is a shot of the back trellis. The moonflowers have been frost nipped, the morning glories are on there way out, but the Dahlias are going strong and inspiring me for next year. 

This Friday I will dig up the Dahlias that have browned and died back. My green thumb friend has offered to overwinter them for me which is lucky for me, since being back in the library full time has definitely made me prioritize the work outside. 

The most recent gardening project was planting the little tree that first appeared on the blog here.

This little hemlock started to brown as time passed. As the baby lavenders died, I paid less attention to this little guy. I planted the tree on Halloween and the dirt was still very moist from the rain. Sadly, even though I pass this tree twice a day, it's always with Tutu on a leash, and not with a watering can. I hope it takes root, and that rain helps him out. I just cannot get to him now. Good luck little tree!

And look how many roots it grew in 6 months!

And once the tree was planted, I looked up to see the neighbor bull had been supervising my work. 

And speaking of the bull, here he is growing his winter coat. They start at the head and it goes from there. They say that the thicker the coat, the colder the winter. But since I don't get close enough to the cows to collect samples of winter coat, and compare them from year to year while cross referencing average temperatures...(shrugs.)

Hey look! It's my favorite cow in the background. What? You don't have a favorite cow?

Let's check on the lavender on the way to the chicken pen.

The baby dilly dilly plants planted Memorial Day weekend are mostly volley-ball sized, a good size headed into winter. 

And the established plants pruned in August are greening up nicely. 

So, let's take the chickens a treat shall we?

Look at all these watermelons. The biggest three are heavy, and they thump when I smartly tap them. Most have a yellow spot. It's mid-October, surely these Black Diamond/Cannonball watermelons are ripe and sweet with their signature deep red color and black seeds.

Well, the seeds are right, but the melon is about 4 shades of red too light.

A taste test confirms my sadness, the watermelons are not ripe...for me to eat. So, to the chickens! I mean they will eat anything right?

The chickens have gotten watermelon rinds all summer, and by morning all that's left is a creamy white shell. The green vegetation in the background is what is left of a wheelbarrow worth of carrot tops. 

And after the first couple bites, the hens demure. They ate them anyway but I'm glad I got this picture of their displeasure!

I say hens...but maybe I should say chickens...

There is something a little bit different about this lady in the middle.

Peeking at me coquettishly from beneath a much larger comb.

Often, showing me the "better side" but I know I'm only getting three new white eggs a day, not four. 

Could we have a rooster in our mix? If so, Elvis as I've named it, is so far the lowest chicken in the pecking order. Seriously skittish, and always chased away from treats and other actions by everyone else in the pen...is this a mild mannered Clark Kent rooster just waiting for sexual maturity to show his Superman side...or is it just a mild mannered rooster hoping to fit in? These are the questions of my time on the farm. A friend of mine responded to this picture "I'm no bird expert, but it sure looks like a dude to me." They are probably right. 

But this is not the only mystery. The same day I took these pictures, I noticed something strange on on the side of the coop...look closely.

Yeah, I know. I've asked you to look at a picture of chicken poop. But look at where the chicken poop is! I mean the stain on the ladder runway and the one right above it, I get it, a chicken perched on there and poopped. But look at the one in the upper left hand corner. It's twelve inches away from the splat closest to the wooden board...and even farther from the board itself that the chicken was perched on. Also, I'm no animal dung splat expert but come on, it looks like a paint ball delivered perpendicular to the ground. How did this happen? Call Mulder and Scully! 

Anyway, maybe it's just best that I keep them in food, water, clean grass hay and semi-ripe watermelons and not ask too many questions.

Let's wrap up with a nice sky shot.

The trees we planted 14 years ago have grown so tall. I actually blogged about them when I first started this blog. One of the pine trees is easily over 15 feet. And beautiful blue skies remind me of another book I finished reading from the personal library. 

This was a very well written book about falconry where the writer focused on one man's story, but zoomed in and out to talk about history, culture, the west, and even the tensions surrounding gas drilling in Wyoming in the early 2000s. It is a wonderful blend of voices; journalism, essayist, and biographer. Also fascinating is that Ms. Dickinson is the spouse of Tim Gallagher, major player at Cornell and author of a book about the search for the ivory billed woodpecker, which was thought to be extinct. 

I have other books I've read, for other posts. 

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