High Water

 It just keeps raining! Which has put every green leaf on overdrive. Lots of grass to cut, weeds to pull and one of my newer projects.....harvesting hay off the horse pasture!

It grew so fast and so high, the horses didn't even have a chance to keep it down. Nor would I want them to. Too much sweetness for Ms Cerra with her tender feet. She has to have a grazing muzzle on to keep her consumption down and to keep her weight in check. 

My JD tractor has a 60" belly mower that can cut a big swath which I run a couple of lengths of the pasture. I then mow back the other way to put the clippings into a row that is easy to pick up. Just like a pioneer (kinda) out there scying grass by hand! Great for the waistline. 

UPDATE ON THE BIRD NEST... It was not bluebirds, it was the Purple Finch which has tried nesting now two times under our porch roof. Each nest had five eggs and they were all drilled into by some predator. Most likely predator bees. 

The Poppa Cardinal has been presenting the three fledglings to the bird feeder. They are now taking on color and are pretty active in their movements.  He is showing them where the food is, how to get it and how to crack seeds open. They are having none of it! Daddy! Daddy! Feed me! Me first! Peep peep peep and lots of activity with that enterprise. Mommy is off constructing her new nest and probably enjoying having a quiet place to settle into for a bit of rest before the next batch arrives. 

Thank you, God! I love nature!

Can't Believe It!

 I no sooner said adios to the cardinals when I saw a bird flying out of my aged fern that was hanging near the cardinals nest.

It's been flying away before when I left the house and I always thought it was just the lady cardinal, but Noooooo! It's a lady BLUEBIRD. Now mind you. We have 30 bluebird houses that Don constructed and installed in areas near and far. They are cleaned out every spring by yours truly. So why on earth is this bluebird lady taking over an old straggly Boston fern? No idea, but she is welcome and it will give me lots of entertainment keeping track of this new brood. Five tiny blue eggs. Lots more spying to do! I've done more posting in the past few days that the past few months.

Lots of wildlife activity going on these days. Down by the creek we have been watching deer set up in beds along the edge. Today the spyglasses were put on them and they are young bucks! The velvety antlers are about the same length of their ears. These two have been resting along side the creek in canary grass that is almost taller than their heads. They plop down and take turns popping out every once in a while seemingly just to see what is going on around them.

The Fledge!

The fledglings, minus one who had already flown the nest. They are grey with little white marks under their eyes. Good camouflage. 

It only took 24 hours and the youngsters were at the edge of the nest, flexing their wings, doing deep knee bends, flutter, flutter. I watched the first one fly off the nest and was received by papa across the driveway. The other two took lots of time deciding. Ma was chirping wildly at them since morning and I finally decided I needed to do other things. Awhile later and the nest was deserted and quiet was restored.

The adults will be keeping the kids secluded in their hidden places while the little feathers come in. They really can fly yet (no tail feathers have come in) but can have bursts of instinctive flight. Since I've been researching cardinals I know they won't be setting another set of eggs in this nest. They start all over. In fact, mommy is probably out there getting ready to construct a new nest while pa takes care of the young'uns. It was a lovely day for the testing of the wings!

The Nest, the Bunny and the Cat

 Of all places... on top of the porch lantern. It started as a couple of spindly weed branches and I thought it was something the winds blew in. It continued to grow and precious dry leaves were added. Still no idea who was constructing this squatters lodge. As the days passed the construction crew finally showed up. Cardinals! I have never seen a cardinal nest anywhere let alone where we were going to be able to observe up close and personal. As the days passed I got curious and got the step ladder and a mirror out to see if there were any eggs. Three! Paler blue than a robin with little brown specs. Ma and Pa took turns incubating the nest and over the coming days I noticed they weren't on the nest as much. They were too busy finding meals for the babies! One by one, little noggins were eventually poking up in anticipation of their next meal. It's been a week now and they are definitely getting bigger. I can see them preening their feathers and bobbing around. 

There was huge ruckus on that side of the yard today. It finally dawned on me that Reba had escaped earlier. The cardinals were on loud chirp high alert, and purple finches came to the aid as well. I stepped outside to find Reba lounging on the patio. Near her, wedged by the edge of the house was a palm sized baby rabbit! Totally alive and keeping Reba company while sending everyone else into a tizzy. I picked up the poor thing and of course, like all rabbits will do, it screamed bloody murder. I turned to take it to the woods after getting the cat inside. Here was Mommy Rabbit a few feet away! I walked toward her and of course she ran to the woods, stopped and waited for me to catch up. She darted into the under brush and I left the baby bun close to cover. I'm sure she will be back and I'll check in later as well. 

There is more to come with this story and I hope it has a happy ending as well. The fledge!

Pole Cat

Reba DEMANDS to go out most days. She follows me and Win out to the barn for her morning escape. On this day she decide to climb the old tv dish pole....which is pretty tall! There she was perched atop and gave me her best vulture interpretation. Very impressive m'lady!

Fall Visit With Friends

High school chums, Lori Lundquist and Suz Thomson, made the trek from Frederic and Balsam Lake this fall. If I'm lucky I get to host this duo once a year. A visit into the workshop is always on the itinerary as well as a walkabout the property and lunch in town. This was their introduction to Reba kitty. 

Oldies taking selfies! We were into music when we were in high school. Suz and I sang and played guitar. I wrote long forgotten songs. Lori still plays guitar and sings with her Sunday school gang. Suz and her husband, Bryce on guitar, are now the duo of "BT and Suz" and they perform a local gigs from Bayfield to Balsam Lake. Semi pros, indeed! A fun day of reminiscing and hearing their plans for future travels.

 

Chick Chick

The name is the most creativity I could muster when I found her . It was late afternoon when I went out to feed the horses and this youngster wouldn't budge. She let me pick her up without a fuss. Dang!! She has a broken leg! That is not a good sign since most little ones would just perish from the shock. I figured she was just holding on and I set her in a box in my workshop and concluded I would have a dead pullet by morning. I set food and water and she practically lunged at it. Good sign.

When she was still alive in the morning I knew I now had to do something about her leg. She was amazingly compliant when I got her on her side and gently pulled the leg as straight at I could get it, put on a splint made from cardboard and taped it up with vet wrap. She camped out in her little box for a couple weeks and we did chicky PT a couple times a day. She had no balance and made no attempt at walking so I just held her up under her breastbone and we stretched legs and moved up and down. We went outside a couple times a day to keep her spirits up, but made sure we stayed away from the flock. She was "different" and had evoked a violent response from "The Old Biddy" hen. They would no doubt want to attack since she was now an outcast. We turned the corner when one morning I went to work and she was perched on the top edge of the box! She was learning how to cope with her handicap and was coming along with her walking. Then I lost her in the shop! She wasn't really hiding from me but had just FLOWN to the top bank of cabinets and perched there for the night. 

Through all of this we have become quite close! She always lets me pick her up and we check out the flowers and all the best places for a bite to eat. She's becoming more accepted by the rest of the flock and I expect one of these evenings she will go in the coop to perch for the night. My little Chick Chick is not going to need me for much longer!