Sandhill Cranes land...

Sandhill Cranes
If you click on the pics, you will get a closer look at the red patches on their heads.
 



Yesterday NumberOneSon called on the 2-way radio and said there were a whole lot of cranes in our Horse Creek Pasture.  I radio'd back for their location and asked if anyone wanted to go with me to see the sight.  A young voice answered back, "We want go, Gram."  So I grabbed my camera, pulled on my mud boots and coat and flew out the door to get in the Ranger.  I met two of the kids who were excitedly waiting outside for me with binoculars around their necks.   Peach and Toodles climbed in the Ranger and we took off, sliding our way through the mud and muck out to the puddly pasture. 

And there they were! From a distance, they looked like a herd of sheep because there were so many of them, and they blended in so well with the landscape like sheep do.  We inched closer and I kept snapping pictures in hopes that one or two would turn out ok.  Then I turned off the motor and we just sat and watched and listened to them talk to one another.  It was quite a sight!  And quite the sounds!  I have never, ever seen this many Sandhill Cranes in one place.  I suppose there were at least one hundred.  I'm sure they are migrating through, and likely a few pairs will stay behind here on our prairie.  We always see cranes in the summer with their long-legged babies walking behind their parents through the pastures.  We often have a pair living fairly close to our home and they will come by our stock pond and perch in our tall cottonwoods in the evening.  It's kind of scary when I walk by the trees on a summer's night to shut the chickens and a couple huge cranes flies off over head with their rattle-y calls.

After our bird-watching adventure, I was telling the girls that I remembered reading a very good book called Cranes in My Corral about an Oregon rancher's relationship with four cranes who lived in his corrals.  I think I borrowed the book from our local library.  I thought it might be a good story for the kids to read. 

Once I dropped the girls off at their house, I drove home and walked in the door and smelled hot rice.  O golly!  I had forgotten all about the rice!  I had set some rice on the stove to boil and ran out the door with such excitement that I forgot all about it.  Thankfully, the rice was not scorched and supper was not lost.  Not to mention, we had ourselves a fine Sandhill Crane Adventure!

Today a large flock of robins were chattering and fluttering around in our three juniper trees in the front yard.  Another migration on this wet, wet snowy day.  The big snowstorm that we were anticipating went south and east of us.  We did get some rain and slushy snow out of it, but the poor folks to our east got slammed with a foot or more of snow along with 50 mph winds.  That's hard work ahead. 

Snowshoeing, the calm...

  

 

 

Heidi 

  

Charlie

click pic to enjoy a closer look

We had a beautiful, still, Sunday morning here and so I took my snowshoes for a solitary trek through The Woods which are the shelter belts around our homes.  Heavy fog and frost moved in these past couple of days and so the trees were covered with spiky, frost needles.  Even the barbed wire had lengthened spikes.  The two dogs went along with me and chased jackrabbits from their hiding places.  There was a special quiet calm and beauty that felt like a gift as I walked, even though from time to time my foot plunged deeper into the snow than I expected and set me off balance.  The snow is not uniform in its make-up now.  Some of it is hard as rock where the wind has blown over and made drifts.  It is easy to walk over.  And then other snow in the lower, more sheltered areas where it has melted somewhat, is softer and I sink in further.  I wish I had a hybrid snowshoe that would allow for either kind of snow.

As I was walking towards home, I just happened to look up to see this fine fellow -- a Long-eared Owl.   Another gift.  After I snapped the photo, I just stood for a long while and observed and appreciated  him.  He also stayed still without blinking and observed me.  After a few minutes, the dogs came looking for me and disrupted our observation time, and Long Ear flew off.  He looked much larger when he was flying than he did in this picture.  I think they "skinny" themselves to look like a limb on the tree -- the true camouflage.

After a warm, calm day, it sadly ended with winds whipping up around chore time.  We put all the sheep into their sheds and gave a little extra feed to the cows.  It sounds like we may not get near the snow that was predicted, but the winds are still on the way.  Some folks to our east are expecting upward of 12" of snow with high winds.  Blizzard conditions.

Perhaps, after all, our best thoughts come when we are alone. It is good to listen, not to voices but to the wind blowing, to the brook running cool over polished stones, to bees drowsy with the weight of pollen. If we attend to the music of the earth, we reach serenity. And then, in some unexplained way, we share it with others. ~Gladys Taber

Spring?

Bluebirds of Happiness have descended upon us!  Just a few landed on Monday as the wind blew a cold snap in.   I spotted one bluebird along the road as I went to feed livestock and then J.Lo called in the afternoon and said they had a small flock in their back yard, and to, "Come see!"  She snapped the pic.  J.Lo and her children are participating in Project Feeder Watch this winter as part of their home school science program.  Sometimes the feeder watch people want a photo to positively identify birds that their reporters see.  This happy landing will be a nice addition to their journals and reports.

Isn't this Mountain Bluebird striking against the brown background?  Of course, they are just passing through, I'm sure.  We haven't seen them since.  Now there is snow on the ground and cold again.  If we can just hold out until Tuesday, it sounds like it's going to warm up then.   We can do it; we're rugged prairie savages!

Other birds we've seen showing up are:  Towhee, Tree Sparrows, Canada Geese, and Juncos.  

Are you seeing any birds migrating?

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The bluebird enjoys the preeminence of being the first bit of color that cheers our northern landscape. The other birds that arrive about the same time--the sparrow, the robin, the phoebe-bird--are clad in neutral tints, gray, brown, or russet; but the bluebird brings one of the primary hues and the divinest of them all.  ~John Burroughs

Snowy views from snowshoes...

  

The snow started falling late last night and has continued all morning.  So far we have 7-8 inches of snow on the ground, and it's still falling so we'll see how the totals are.  I decided the chicken coop needed a layer of barley hay on the floor for a little more insulation against the cold.  We're expecting the temps to fall below zero for the next couple nights and I don't want the egg production to start falling off from cold feet.  I'm so proud of my girls as they continue to produce 21-23 eggs every single day despite the cold.  I've been gathering eggs early -- by noon or 1:00 each day so the eggs don't freeze in the nests.  CarpenterSon fixed a loose door, weather stripped, and got the coop a little more snug. I'm sure it does help.  The heat lamp keeps the water bucket from freezing over and adds a wee bit of heat.

I decided that the snow was deep enough, particularly in the trees, to break out the snow shoes this morning.  I had been trying to walk in the tree patches but kept punching through the snow drifts, and that makes for hard walking trudging.  I strapped on my snowshoes and headed back out for a hike.  What fun I had.  Although the temperature was around 5 degrees, I didn't feel cold at all.  I had my wool pants on, wool socks on my feet, a wool buff around my neck, the handmade wool cap on my head from OnlyDaughter, and wool gloves on my hands.  I was just short of being a complete sheep!  With the work of snowshoeing along with being bundled up so well, I kept my body quite warm and toasty.  I really didn't think I'd be able to tolerate being outside so long, but with nearly no wind today, it didn't feel so bad.  I made a few tumbles over snowdrifts that I didn't see very well.  One of my problems is that I like to gawk around while I walk and so when a drift banks off steep, I fall down it.  No injuries, just a lot of snow stuck to my pants and coat.  It was kind of like remembering how to drive in the first snow of the season.

The first picture is one of the tree patches were I walk.  Very Winterwonderland-ish, isn't it?  Next is a picture of a bunny cave in the snow, and after that is a pic of one-of-many jackrabbits that were scampering around the trees.  You can see the tracks everywhere and even wide bunny trails where lots of feet tamp down a rabbit super-highway.  The white tail deer make their homes in the shelter belts too, especially when it gets cold.  Sue, my dog, enjoyed the romp through the snow, but she was eager to get her paws warmed up when we finally went home.  The wood fire was so nice to warm up against.  Are you getting snow and cold?  It sounds like everyone is going to get a little taste of this Arctic blast.

Farewell fair June...

 Pronghorn (antelope) buck

Lots of new babies on the prairie.

How can it possibly be the last day of June already?  It's been a dozen days since I posted here last, and I can hardly believe how the time has flown by.  We've been busy with cows and calves and bulls.  The men finished AI-ing 200 head of cows and we've worked every single bovine animal on the place these past couple weeks.  All the calvies and yearling heifers got shots of pink-eye vaccine and all the critters got poured with insecticide.  The bulls were turned out with the cows and now every bovine is out on summer range.  It's a good feeling to have all our livestock processed, checked, doctored, vaccinated, and turned out.  Today I spent the morning checking our cow bunches to see that the bulls were still in their proper pastures with them and to take note of any problems.  Thankfully, there were no issues today.

The main issue on the ranch and for many surrounding ranches is water.  We all have some.  Some of us have more than others.  But the water we do have is far from fresh and so it can take on a life of its own and make livestock sick.  Some of our neighbors have been losing cows and calves to polio which comes from water that is high in nitrates, sulfates and TDS (total dissolved solids)  among other stuff.  So far, our stock is faring well, but we did take some water samples of our main reservoirs to the feed store to get them tested.  Our vet recommended we test our water before we have a problem.  Good advice.  We are very lucky (blessed) that we have lots of water tanks that have water piped to them.  Again, the water is pumped from a very large, deep reservoir which we rely on heavily, but I think the fact that it's moving water may help.  That and the fact that it is cold and deep.  I could be very wrong about that, but it's a hunch.

If you look closely at the legs of some of the bulls and cows in the photos, you'll see that they have mud-crusted legs.  They've been wading out into the water for a drink.  It's not the greatest situation since they can get bogged down and not be able to get out of that mucky mud. These cows and bulls DO have water tanks to drink from besides the stock dams, but sometimes they enjoy wading out into the water on these hot, hot days.

I've been dragging the hoses around the yard a lot lately, trying to keep the veggie and flower gardens watered down.  Since water is scarce, we are limiting our watering on the yards so our lawns are really bad.  Each family has a "little patch of green" as my mother-in-law used to say, but the majority of our lawns are brown and dried up.  It's kinda sad, but it's life on the prairie.  Our average annual rainfall here is just 11 inches, so we expect to dry out by mid summer most years.  Fires have been popping up all around our area.  Our two sons here wear pagers for our local fire department.  Whenever clouds come over and lightning starts popping, we all watch the skies for smoke.  But it's not just lightning that's starting fires.  Just yesterday a semi truck was going through our area with a flat tire, driving on just the rim, and he evidently was kicking up sparks as he drove.  The back of his truck caught fire and someone got him stopped.  NumberOneSon went to the fire.  They got the the semi truck unhooked from the trailer just before the fire hit the propane cooling unit and a big-cloud-explosion happened.  Thankfully, just the trailer was lost and the fire didn't spread.  With the combination of heat, dry grass, and the winds, it's rather scary when a spark hits the ground in any form.

July is a month of celebrating in our family.  Several birthdays as well as Independence Day which is a Big Deal in the little cowtown we call our hometown.  The grandkids are looking forward to the Parade and the Carnival and all the rodeo hoopla.  We'll be having a family gathering on the 4th of July at OnlyDaughter's home with everybody bringing something yummy to share.  I'm bringing a new-to-me recipe that we tasted at a wedding last weekend.  It's Frito Corn Salad.  Get the recipe here!  It's not a waist-slimming salad, but it is delicious! 

I hope you've enjoyed June.  I have.  Now on to July!  It's summertime now!  How's your tan?

Everyday nature...

 

Whitetail buck

Great Horned Owl

This time out I took the big camera with me and was able to capture a few more photos of the owl as well as a nice one of a whitetail buck.  Even though I see these animals and birds often while I'm walking, it still gives my heart a thrill to see them up-close or even far in the distance.  The sounds of the trees creaking in the wind, the scuffle of the jackrabbits out of their burrows, the brisk chill of a fall day, the silent flight of the owl, draw me close to the Creator of it all.

One of my granddaughters is very excited about all things nature.  When we are together she wants to look through the bird field guides with me and show me her nature drawings.  

She tells me, "Gram, there are so many, many things to learn about, aren't there?" 

Be still my heart,

someone who loves nature like I do!

(and she's my neighbor)

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What is the good of your stars and trees,

 your sunrise and the wind, 

if they do not enter into our daily lives? 

 ~E.M. Forster

Nature walk...

 

Tree Sparrow (or Winter Sparrow)

 

 

Golden Eagle

 

Jackrabbit (white-tailed)

I took another walk through The Woods today, but along the way I found a few creatures that caught my eye.  The first was the Golden Eagle.  My DIL called me after breakfast to say that there was a huge Golden Eagle in the Cottonwood tree below our houses.  Sure enough, he was perched right up towards the top of the tree and didn't budge at all when I walked right underneath him. It's that time of year once again when we see the eagles come back for the winter to hunt jack rabbits, cottontails, and mice.  We have a plentiful supply of all three so I hope they eat their fill!

As I was walking into the shelter belt, I spied the cute little American Tree Sparrow or winter sparrow.  There was a pair of them, but this one perched nicely for me to take her picture.  Many of the summer songbirds are gone now, but the tree sparrow comes for a winter visit.  Our American Goldfinches sometimes stay for the winter depending on how cold it is.  They have changed their clothes from bright yellow tuxes to their tweeds of gray and white.

Do you see the white fur starting to color in the jackrabbit's coat?  The jacks are hanging close to the shelter belts now and that usually means that the weather is going to change -- likely cold and probably snow.  I haven't seen the Sharptail Grouse in the trees yet, but when they arrive, that is a sure sign of winter weather coming.  They like to nibble on the Russian Olives.  

I saw an owl fly by twice today, but again, I didn't get a good look at him.  I will though.  You can be sure.  I got to thinking that it might be a young Great Horned Owl too.  Stay tuned.

Wild birds -- in felt

 

 Black-capped Chickadee, Lazuli Bunting (blue), Downy Woodpecker

 

American Robin

Guess what?  I found DownEastThunderFarm!  And you know what Susan does there?  She makes patterns for wild birds -- made of felt.  Lots of them.  And you know what else?  She lets you print her patterns for FREE.  The only stipulation is that you don't sell them for profit.  I am so excited because each of my eight beautiful grandchildren are going to have a wild bird ornament clinging to their Christmas tree this December.  So far, I have these three made and another black-capped chickadee ready for its wire feet.  I've got an American Robin, Meadowlark, Burrowing Owl, Wren, and Red-winged Blackbird printed, and there are so many more to choose from.  Susan's patterns are clear and easy to understand.  I think the birds look very life-like, and as a bird-watcher, this thrills me.

If you're not into birds, there are also a few patterns for wild animals.  I'm especially smitten with the Whitetail Fawn, and the Christmas Moose is really sweet too.  I hope you might find your favorite bird at DownEast Thunder Farm.  Even if you don't intend to stitch up any birds, take a look around the farm anyway.  I think you'll appreciate the beautiful birds Susan has created.
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Bread and milk for breakfast,
  And woolen frocks to wear,
And a crumb for robin readbreast
  On the cold days of the year.

~Christina Rosetti

Home, home on the range....

where the deer and the antelope play...

 

Lots of antelope fawns are roaming the prairie.

Most are twins.

For the first couple weeks of their lives, 

they are hidden until they can run with Mama.   

They are beautiful creatures and fun to watch.

If you click the photos up to full size, 

you'll see some interesting details about them.

Rough-legged Hawks...

Rough-legged Hawk

Photo by Eugene Beckes

Creative Commons, some rights reserved.

 

Rough-legged Hawk

 Photo by Walter Siegmund

Wikimedia, Creative Commons, some rights reserved.

I watched these beautiful creatures hunting mice in the hayfield this morning while I raked hay. It was one of those days that I wished I had my camera and didn't.  At least I had my eyes and the photos in my mind.  I enjoyed every moment watching them as I drove up and down the field.

Come, walk with me...

 

First things first! Let's walk into the laundry room and throw a load in.  There's always wash to do,  and look who's blooming just for us.  It's the Holiday Cactus, who started blooming on Halloween and will continue blooming through all the holidays up to Easter.  The only ones who see her beauty are those who do the household laundry.  (Me.)

 

Next we'll jump in the pick-up and go to The River to feed the cows.  Normally it's a little early in the season to start feeding cake to the cows, but with the very cold temperatures, they need a little extra feed for their transition into the winter cold.    We've had daily highs in the single digits and nighttime lows below zero. That kind of cold burns up a lot of energy when you live outdoors.

 

After our chores we take a lunch break, and then I like to take a walk outside.  Since it is so cold, I pull on my woollies and heavy boots and trudge through the shelter belts.  When there is wind with this cold -- and there is -- it's really hard to be outside for long, but walking through the trees makes it a little more bearable.  They break the wind plus I get a change of scenery from the open prairie.

We do have to walk across some prairie to get to the next shelter belt.  There are three tree patches  that I walk through most of the time.  I'm so glad that Hubby and his dad planted these shelter belts long ago.  They not only provide wind and snow protection for livestock, but they create wildlife habitat too.

 

A jackrabbit runs by on the road and stops just for a moment so I can snap a picture.  His fur is turning white, but isn't fully white like it will be soon.  He's well camouflaged, isn't he?

The grass and the curlycup gumweed has a nice dusting of snow.

 

 Up in the trees you can see a Sharptail Grouse.  They blend in so well right now that often I don't see them until they move or until they fly up....

 

...Like this one below  How did I get this shot?  Luck.

 After our walk we'll warm up inside with a cup of tea or coffee and a cookie.  And soon enough there are chores to do.  I gather the eggs early in the afternoon so they don't freeze and crack.  The chickens are waiting for the leftovers from my slop bucket.  They love to eat our throw-aways.  The only warmth they have in the coop is a heat lamp that keeps the water bucket from freezing over.  I try to keep enough bedding on the floor so their feet don't get too cold.  They seem happy enough so far, but I might need to spread some extra bedding down if it stays cold.  The handsome Speckled Sussex rooster doesn't have a name, but he should.  Do you have some suggestions?

 

The sun sets early and the nights seem very long to me now.  It is fine with me.  It's as it should be.  Winters bring a slowness to everything.  You can't hurry when its cold.  It takes longer to dress and undress.  It takes longer to walk.  Cattle move slower and pick-up trucks take a while to warm up before we can go to work.  These November nights I'm ready for bed at about 8:30, but I stick it out until 10.  I'm working on more embroidery in the evenings -- both patching little jeans and stitching tea towels.  I'm going to start darning Hubby's thick, winter socks.  Mending is satisfying work.  I enjoy it. I ought to pick a new book to read too.  What are you doing to occupy the long, dark evenings of winter?  Any book recommendations or ideas for Christmas gift making?  Tell me in your comments.  

I have come to regard November as the older, harder man's October. I appreciate the early darkness and cooler temperatures. It puts my mind in a different place than October. It is a month for a quieter, slightly more subdued celebration of summer's death as winter tightens its grip.  
~Henry Rollins

Prairie finds and secret joys...

 

Looking up from Chuck's Pasture 

 Lark Bunting eggs in a ground nest under alfalfa

 

White Penstemon

 

Campion

 

Stemless Hymenoxys

It has been such fun to see all the varieties of flowers coming up on the prairie, some common, old friends and others who only come when the conditions are just right.  I have several other prairie wildflowers that I want to share with you, but they are on my other computer and at the moment, it's on the fritz.  Soon, I will show them to you.

Today I enjoyed a very uplifting and refreshing word from my daily reading of My Utmost for His Highest, June 3.  Here are the excerpts that especially spoke to my heart.

"What is the sign of a friend?  That he tells you his secret sorrows?  No, that he tells you his secret joys.  The last mark of intimacy is to confide secret joys.  The things that make God dear to us are not so much His great big blessings as the tiny things, because they show His amazing intimacy with us; He knows every detail of our individual lives."

"The secret (friendship RV) of the Lord is for those who fear Him."  ~ Psalm 25:10

How many times have you found a secret joy that you know was sent from God especially for you?  Just like the tiny blue bird eggs in the very top of this post, God put me in the path to discover them.  I happened to be walking the pasture coming home from depositing some mail into the mailbox.  As I walked along, a sweet mother bird flew up.  I knew her immediately, the lark bunting, and I knew just then I had discovered her nest.  Sure enough, from the exact point where she flew up, there were three tiny, perfect eggs, about the diameter of the inside of my wedding ring.  There is no way I could find them by hunting and searching, they are so hidden and inconspicuous from the casual walker-by, but knowing the seasons and habits of the birds, and knowing that my God loves to give me His secret joys and gifts, I was able to discover it along the way.

Where I live in rural America, our neighbors are very far apart, miles apart, so we rarely see one another except at community gatherings like funerals, weddings, and at the voting booth.  Our rural voter turn-out is very close to 100%.  Folks here don't miss the chance to vote, and it's a good excuse to visit with your neighbors, even if they live 50 miles or more away!  The gentle handshake of an old lady rancher (in her 90s) whom I rarely see except in the grocery store now and again, was a secret joy to me as I met her at the community hall where we vote.  What a special visit we had, both of us so glad to see one another and to hold hands.  The joy of a soon-to-be grandmother who is expecting her first granddaughter was just ecstatic to share all her sewing and crafting ideas for the baby with me and asked if I'd share a few of my patterns.  Of course!  The secret joys of knowing these folks for so many years and realizing that they are "my people" and that we belong to one another is a gift.  We may live far away from one another, but we are close in spirit and heart.  We speak the same language of the land, livestock, and wildlife and we respect each other, knowing how to live in this rugged country we love.

I hope God has shown you His secret joys today.