Life goes on

Woody had a rough week. He was fine last Wednesday morning, then a couple hours later he was shaking his head oddly, having problems with his back legs, and later still, not eating or barking! Not Woody at all!

A $413 vet visit on Thursday didn't really find much of anything—which is a GOOD thing for my 15YO guy with a tumor on his spleen. The x-rays did show some arthritis in his spine, which leads me to think that maybe Cyrus broadsiding him the day before might have injured him somehow?

Some drugs got him back to begging for my dinner on Thursday night, but he's still not himself. 

The day before that, I noticed that the tree swallow parents were no longer feeding their babies. When I went out to check on them, I saw mom's feathers on the ground below the birdhouse. Something must have gotten her early in the morning before I got up.

There are 3 in the photo, only the one on the left was strong enough to beg for food. I found a wildlife rehab lady who agreed to take them in. She said to give them some wet cat food mixed with water. I was able to get some into all 3 before I brought them to her. The strong one lasted a day longer than the other 2, but they could not be saved. They were too young.

The good news of this bad week is that a pair of house wrens have already claimed the house for a new nest. Life goes on.

Woody, Monkey, and angelica

Monkey had his head tucked up against Woody's big ear until rude mama went over to take this photo. Best buds!

I am back to doing water testing in the creek, first time since September. A big willow came down blocking my access point, so this old lady has found it too difficult to climb in and out of the water in bad weather.

Cloudy today, but I easily made my way down there, and found this monster angelica plant in with the dame's rockets that are still blooming. I had seen angelica on the back of the property before, but they somehow crossed the creek and made it over here. Another "pretty weed".

Canadian wildfires

Wildfires burning in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada are wreaking havoc with the air quality here in Upstate New York. A storm is sending the haze and smoke down in this direction, and much farther south and east.

The photo was from 2:15 yesterday afternoon in our backyard. Orange skies are never a good sign. Even the UPS driver stood there and stared for awhile, saying "that's not good."

According to Siri, the air quality yesterday when I took this photo was 168. I thought today the skies looked better, gray not orange, but today you can actually smell the smoke/fire.

The air quality today is 218, and it looks like that big dark purple blob is headed our way.

Staying indoors as much as possible.

Good day for making goat cheddar. Inside. Windows closed.

Wildflowers, wild critters

Dame's rockets are blooming everywhere on our property. It's okay with me that they are not native, and they will have a tough time being invasive with all the goldenrod they have as competition. I think most of the goldenrod species here are solidago, native and not considered invasive.

Of course the "pretty" wildflowers in these pictures are the non-native invasive ones, the dames and the buttercups. 

Mother Nature is our landscaper, and we let her do as she pleases. In spite of the fact that we have had several late frosts, I think she is providing us with a good apple crop this year. Last year we had none.

The wildflower show was from my walk to the creek to pick up the trail camera. It had captured a coyote on the gravel bar before, this time it caught 2 together. Out of 98 photos, only 2 had coyotes, most of the rest had 1 or 2 deer. This one might be a young bald eagle.

I have seen a large eagle-size bird from the house back in that same area, but it is really hard to identify it from a distance. This photo isn't all that clear either, so I guess it will remain a mystery. Osprey or second-year bald eagle are my 2 best guesses.

And finally, there is no mystery as to the species of the last wild critter. But it is a very big mystery as to who is the owner of those feet. At 4:41 pm on my birthday, just hanging out by our chicken coop where the other camera is set up. Hmmmm...