FOY Hummingbirds and a turkey visitor

 Saw 2 males at the feeder swtting each other.  They were reported in Julian and Park Forest a week ago but today's bright late afternoon sun brought them out for us.

We've had a single turkey visit 2 mornings.  It looks like a female because we can't see a beard. She just pecks intently by the fire pit for about 30 minutes then moseys on her way.

Feathers

 At the edge of the septic area, Paul and Storm found a large pile of turkey feathers.  Either a turkey is very cold and flightless or we have one less big bird on our Barony.  We don't see the flock very often and we never see the coyote who probably had a good dinner.

Remington, the turkey hunter

Paul, Buddy, and Remington were at the far end of the walnut grove when a loud ruckus ensued.  Remington had a hand-sized poult in his mouth.  Paul said drop it; Remington did.  The hen was 12' away cackling her heart out.  There may have been other poults in the vicinity, but they were hunkered down. 
Meanwhile, at the top of the grove, Gambol sniffed out a male turtle.
No cow sightings today.  Matt Hall, of hoagie and fireworks fame, apparently lost this animal (maybe a steer, bull, or heifer, a couple of weeks ago.  Gambol barked late nights several times, and we found 2 cow patties in the backyard.  (I will admit to thinking that one dried patty was a coiled rattler, at first glance.) Two days ago I saw it on our early morning walk in the walnut grove so I posted it on "Lost and Found pets". A neighbor gave me the owner's phone so I can call anytime I see it, but he doesn't seem to eager to retrieve the bugger. Yesterday we saw the animal in the lower forest above the walnut grove.  It doesn't seem very friendly.

FOY: Turkey

Heard a gobbler today.

More Fall wildlife

The dogs flushed 5 or 6 turkeys today in the upper meadow. I'm sure they were surprised by the thunder of wings.
When took a walk in the rain to the fire pit, I noticed that Gambol was acting "birdy," running around with his nose on the ground, as if searching for something.  He ran by a spot a couple of times and finally just stayed in place, picked up a turtle, walked over to me and put it in my hands.  It was a male, a fairly good sized one.  He did not come out of his shell for his pictures.

Labor Day Wildlife

Hummingbirds are leaving.  We only see an occasional bird at the feeders, not the swarm we had in July.
Two hen turkeys with 3 poults graced our afternoon for a few minutes.  The dogs must have been worn out not to alert. We've seen signs of them in scattered leaves, and scratched dirt.  Paul saw one fly as the dogs approached, and we've seen the south end of north running birds in the grapes and hazelnuts.  This is the first time they've been up close in full view.
It took 4 boys (Paul included) to protect this damsel from a disturbed groundhog.  Gambol took him on, gave his "I've got one" yelp to spur Kilo into action.  Buddy even got into the fray, although he stepped back when the bugger bit him.  Eventually, after Gambol and Kilo pulling him like the yellow chicken toy, Paul took over.  This guy was probably the owner of the hole that Jonathan and I filled with rocks last Christmas in the snow. and maybe the destroyer of our garden kale and tomatoes. The dogs and I continued on our walk (although the dogs had to be convinced to go in my direction) while Paul finished the g'hog off and put him on a brush pile. As we returned to the shed for drinks and cooling baths, a turkey vulture flew overhead.  I predict no bones will be there in the morning.
I saw 5 monarchs dancing together in the walnut grove, and we have 8 cats munching on milkweed by the front door.  We're doing our part.
It's dry and ugly hot; leaves are falling yellow. We probably won't have a good color year.

No poults from our flagpole nest... and #13.1

 Almost well hidden...

...but not from black snakes.

This girl came from our mid morning walk in the flower lanes, close to where Gambol found her last night.

Wildlife

I sneaked around the evergreens on the forest fringe to see if I could find the tree where Buddy flushed the turkey hen. Sure enough, I found the tree and the eggs, but it appears that the hen has not been back to the next since being scared off by Buddy. of 3, 4, and 2 instead of 3 by 3 by 3. We can recheck the nest in a couple of days to see if they have been moved by the hen at all. We suspect that the hen will not come back, unfortunately.
In the forest near the house I spotted a small (3 foot?) Eastern Black Snake all coiled up in a tight ball.I took a couple of pictures, but did not want to get too close to scare the snake away.

Gambol flushed a fawn this morning, chased it for a while while it squealed, and finally left it 9 (after a short tone).

Buddy and his lifer

Buddy was doing his normal inspection of every tree in the meadow when a loud rumpus erupted from under a spruce.  A black shadow rose in the air sounding like a helicopter.  Buddy raced it down hill toward the shed as it rose higher. By the time it was 20 feet in the air, a sleek hen turkey emerged from the confusion.  She beat Buddy to the forest around the shed.  He stood at the driveway and barked, proudly announcing his victory and how he saved us for sure.  That nest is a lifer for him (and us), birder talk for the first time ever.
We  decided not to put the flag up until the nesting is finished so the flapping won't bother the hen.  Gambol and I walked a bunch of little (3"x5" or so) flags Paul has received in the (junk) mail down to the cul-de-sac and our house number.  We sprayed roses, honeysuckle, and olives along the driveway on the way back.
Paul sneaked over to the spruce to see a clutch of 9 mottled brown eggs the size of the largest hen egg. How are we going to keep the dogs from bothering that nest for 28 days?  How have the dogs not discovered it before this?  It has to have been there for at least 9 days, one day for each eggs laid.  With any luck we aren't on day 1 of incubation, but we'll take the trails to the meadow until we are sure.
No turtles yet for Gambol.  Last year he found his first on May 8.  He did get a baby bunny along the driveway, though.

FOY

Indigo Bunting on the patio
Black snake at the meadow pinch, 2'
Morels, 3, small, lower on the Bears' Lair Trail than last year.

and, Gambol flushed a turkey hen yesterday at the first water bar.  He appeared grateful that Paul called him off.  That hen might be in Ohio by now.

Turkey hen...

...out the dining room window while we ate dinner.  This is the first turkey we've seen in several years.

Weekend

Yesterday, a beautiful, cool clear spring day, Paul finished clearing the aspen stumps and composting the remaining spruces in the walnut grove. That's 10 loads of compost in 2 weeks.  We also cleared another load of rocks for the wall.
Thunderstorms last night kept Buddy pacing for a while.
Today dawned misty, low 40's, with visibility a mile or less so we bottled some Imperial Baltic Porter in the bathtub downstairs.  That made for easy cleanup. The beer will be ready to drink in 3 weeks. (The small sample tasted good already.)
About 4:00 PM, Gambol, who keeps a vigilant eye on the forest for interlopers, alerted us to 3 wild turkeys about 100 feet from the house, the first of the year.
Paul planted a persimmon tree in the orchard as an experiment.  Apparently one persimmon will produce some seedless fruit but 2 will produce more per tree with seeds.

First day of spring gobbler

We had the FOY gobbler in sight for 5 minutes as he (4" beard) pecked around the electric box for breakfast.  Very exciting because we haven't seen any turkeys all winter.
Spring semester is over.  I enjoyed my design class (Insys 597 -3 cr toward???) despite the moaning about how hard it was. The 2 books we read were great, not text-books, but easy reading yet provocative, thought inducing readings about design.  Emotional Design,(Norman*****) Designing with the Mind in Mind (Johnson*****).
Kindle reading report catch-up:
Listen Gutteridge **** Someone tears the town apart by posting bits of conversations to show the power of words and how words can hurt.  "Speak kindly, Love powerfully. Listen fully." 
The Shepherd Cross *** lots of action, good problem solving the whereabouts of a serial killer who rivals Hannibal Lecter with McGyver-like solutions; doing fine until the end when it becomes a test for entry into a secret society to protect society from themselves. Lots of lecturing about the evils our society has fallen into by worshiping money. Not wrong exactly, but makes the story too convoluted and unbelieveable.  Also, Maggie is supposed to be an FBI agent but she's helpless.
A World I Never Made LePore *** Terrorism in France;  Daughter's fake suicide leads dad on a scary chase around France with a beautiful off reservation French police woman evading Arab terrorists. 
Elisha's Bones Hoesel *** from Amazon review "..thought provoking as college professor leaves his quiet life behind to traverse the world to find the bones of Elisha. The trip is financed by a man who has a limitless amount of money, but not a limitless amount of time because he is dying. His willingness to finance this college professor's search means many Indiana Jones type adventures around the world..."
Family of Value Rosemond **** Psychologist who believes that psychology of the 20th century has done significant damage as a "helping profession" to society by telling parents they don't know how to raise their children.  Responsibility, respect, and resourcefulness are his 3 r's.
Protector Dewey**** from Amazon review "...Denver Homicide Detective Jane Perry is a hard-nosed, no-nonsense cop who is on the verge of a breakdown. She was physically abused by her father years ago, and the emotional turmoil from that abuse keeps rearing its ugly head. It has driven Jane to the bottle, and she has separated herself from everyone who tries to get close to her. When her latest case ends in the death of an innocent child, Jane doesn't know how much more she can take"...
Spoilt Ellis*Horrible murders as practice for a real one; poorly written, trite expressions, unbelievable police work.  Good thing this was free.
The Sculptor  **** Funaro  Murder preserves his victims into replicas of Michelangelo's statues.

March: in like a lion, out like a ...lion

Snow started last evening and came down rather heavily around sunset, but  the air temperature stayed at just below freezing overnight, so that the snow stuck on trees and grass, but melted on the driveway and on bare ground. The chickens' water bowls didn't ice over. We have a nice view this morning with the snow covered trees and the driveway completely clear of snow.  When Leslie took the dogs on their walk this morning, she heard turkeys gobbling--the first time this season. 

In the meadow the snow is close to 4 in deep, while in the forest it is only 1-2 in.  Lots of deer tracks around the locust trees.  Saw rabbit, squirrel, grouse, and deer tracks and approaching the fire pit we flushed a small herd (4-5) of deer--one of them snorted before they all took off.  I could hear turkeys gobbling down toward the Paradise Ranch fence.  They seemed to be talking to our chickens.  When we came back to the house the chickens were cackling and a Piliated Woodpecker flew from in front of the coop off into the forest. Temp must be just above freezing now as clumps of snow are starting to fall from the trees.

Nature

Gambol brought me a box turtle on our early morning walk and a dead chipmunk while we were gardening. Both 4-legged boys missed a 4' long black snake sunning in the grass. Three boys scared a jake in the driveway 50 feet from the house on their late morning walk. A bald eagle flew over the house and was buzzed by a crow. Hummingbirds did their U-shaped dance mating over the deck. I found a new flower: Hooker's orchid Platanthera hookeri in the bear's lair. It's on the Pa Endangered list.
A thunderstorm hit just after breakfast; Buddy starts quivering well before we can hear the thunder. He buried his head in my armpit then scrambled into my lap.
We have nature here at the Barony.

Memorial Day

May 31, 1889

Johnstown, PA: Flood disaster. Heavy rains caused overtopping of 90-foot high earthen dam Conemaugh River, 14 miles north in the mountains. The dam gave way and a torrent water roared down on the city at 50 mph. The force of the water moved a 48-ton locomotive 1 mile. Over 2,100 people died.

Heard a gobble on our early walk.  It's the last day of Spring Gobbler Season so I guess he thinks he's safe.  We haven't heard a turkey in 2 weeks.

Electricity went out for about 3 hrs this morning.  That's the 3rd time in a week.  Does Allegheny Power think we are in Korea in the '70s?  The generator in the new house sounds better and better.

Buddy free-ranged for about 2 hours this morning. When he romps in the meadow on the orange leash, the long grass sometimes twists around the clash and releases him. He took full advantage this time. Paul had just mowed some fine walking lanes in the grass, but Buddy seems to prefer the tall stuff. By the time I realized he was loose he was at R/D's property line. We chased and called but he ignored us. Paul finally caught up to him at Murch's corner brambles near the walnut grove. Of course it's 80 degrees and sunny, too warm for running in a meadow in my book.

4' Eastern black snake in the coop behind the food can.

Gambol peed on the stairs to tell us he wanted to go chase chipmunks. When I opened the door he was out like a flash, not stopping until he treed a chippy.

Thunderstorms at dinner sent Buddy into his pacing mode.  Luckily they only lasted a short while and weren't really boomers.

What a day!

First turkeys of the year

Buddy started barking aggressively while looking out the window over the deck. He was barking at 3 turkeys who were walking calmly down the path toward the sand mound. They didn’t seem to be scared off by the noise.
Yellow is the color of the season; coltsfoot and forsythia have joined the daffodils and crocuses, goldfinches are turning, too.

Black Spanish Turkey

She dressed out at 8 lbs so she looked like a big chicken in the pan except for black dots on her skin. We cooked her at 425 degrees for about an hour with the stuffing on the side.  Sweet potato or white depending. Very good taste, and a lot less work than a big breasted babe (or is BBB a Broad breasted Bronze?)  We'll have leftovers but just enough.
I wonder if I can buy fewer than 20 poults at the Belleville auction, and can I get the heritage breeds there? Or, who do I know that would like to share an order?  

Black Friday catch-up

More snow on the way, but it's not expected to be the traditional after thanksgiving storm, and we are at work but The Crew isn't so it's a good day to catch-up. They put in 4 good but soggy days last week (Sunday through Wednesday) and made lots of visible progress.
We had a Thanksgiving dinner of salmon and turkey at the Corner Restaurant. This has become our tradition. It's nice to roll home stuffed and not have clean-up to do. We (all 3) were in bed reading at 7:30! I totally forgot about the PSU Poulty Club turkey sale this year because I'd bought a Spanish Black through the CSA. We'll do that on Saturday after I find out how to cook heritage turkeys.

The floor OSB went on last Wednesday. Now we can see where the master shower and stair silo will be.
On Wednesday Tressler & Fedor back filled the foundation, putting rock down along the footings before moving dirt from the large pile near the Aspen
grove to fill in the spaces between the excavation hole and the basement walls. They also spread some rock on the driveway to repair some of the wear and tear from the big trucks that have been up here the past few weeks.
John and Jonas did some more carpentry work, with John raising the garage door opening about 4 inches and Jonas building a permanent platform for the work crew to use on the forklift when installing our SIPs. They were finishing up their work as a heavier shower passed overhead, replacing the fog and drizzle. The work site is pretty wet now, so it is a good thing The Crew was winding down.
In mid-afternoon the rental company picked up the old forklift and drove it away. The new forklift has a leveling capability so that the SIPs can be placed easily even from uneven ground.

From the Girls

From the Girls:

THE BOYS WENT TO FREEZER CAMP! WOOT! WOOT! No more early morning wake up calls; no more poking; and maybe the cucumbers will come back so we can have some; those nasty boys ate the leaves, flowers and all; and best of all, we'll have roosting space in the coop now.

We sent 6 this morning but we might have missed one. I had a cone made by the local metal fabricator and hung if off the RTV with a bucket of local sawdust to catch the drippings; it's probably a better size for turkeys than chickens. We built a fire to heat the water; that's less exact than the gas fired cooker that Dan has but it worked. We plucked by hand; without the Whizbang Chicken Plucker that chore is much less fun. We gutted on the back end of the RTV; not much different from the portable sink and hose that Dan has. All in all, November with a WBCP is better for freezer camp.
We now have:
4 Big Girls (barred rock hens from last year who lay almost every day),
3 pullets Golden Comets (brown egg layers which should start in September),
5 blue egg-gene Easter Eggers (all pullets I hope).