Chicks hit the road

Mama hen was still making a big mess stirring up all the hay and pine shavings into the food and water in the new big dog crate. And she broke up the last 2 eggs she was sitting on, probably a day or 2 before they were ready to hatch.

I was cleaning up this mess when she saw an opportunity and jumped ship. I couldn't catch her, so I had to put the big crate on the floor so she could get to her chicks.

She was good about staying with them on the floor of the big coop while dust bathing her dirty old self. (last pic) She was not so good about going in the crate at night with them, but when I put her in there, the littles ran in after her.

On the third day, brazen little mom that she is, she got tired of the dusty coop and took the chicks on the road with her...all the way back to the house! These little egg-size babies followed momma through grass that is taller than they are, at least 500 feet back to the goat barns, and then right up on the front porch here at the house.

At least she managed to get them home safely and even back in the crate last night. Let's pray it goes like that today as well. Keep an eye on them Mama!

Visitors, smiles and chicks

Visiting family from Florida inspired the WoodMan. He had mostly recovered from whatever that was 3 weeks ago that had me worried. He was back to eating and barking, and then the visitors came and he was back to smiling. That's the part I was missing most.

We were expecting some chicks between July 12 and 14, and  magically the first one appeared on the twelfth! This is the same hen who went broody last year, and she was a very good mama. This year she was not quite so patient, probably because I had her isolated in a crate that was too small. After the first 2 were born, she cleaned out the nest and destroyed at least 3  eggs that still had chicks in them. I was able to rescue the little one in the last pic yesterday. She was all covered in dust and hay, and stuck to bits of shell.

I washed her off and hid her in the closet upstairs, away from the cats and Cyrus, and went out and moved mama to a big dog crate. I snuck her back under mama last night when I closed them all up, and magically she is perfectly clean and seems to be healthy today.

There are 2 eggs I also put back under mom, but I don't think she is going to hatch them. This year I think she was happy with her 2 kids...not wanting any more of the 10 that were under her.

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...

Pop on top, the moon, and Will

Since I took down the BirdBuddy camera, I have to be more creative with finding birds to photograph. This bird house is in need of a complete rehab, truly held together with string (and hot glue, and wine corks for a roof) but the tree swallows still come back to nest there. 

That's Pop Swallow on top while Mom is inside keeping the eggs warm on this chilly day. It is 53° at noon this late in May. I am still holding off on planting my tomatoes...

For the night sky watchers out there: is this Venus next to that little sliver of moon on Tuesday night? I still haven't mastered the art of moon pictures, even with my souped up iPhone.

That's Will impersonating a mandolin. He will be 15 years old sometime over the summer. Other than his hyperactive thyroid, he is doing pretty well. He is still a very sweet boy.

Sunset time, chicks and Pidge

It's getting to be that time of year where the sunsets are prettier than usual, and they are usually pretty darn pretty.

Looking at this pretty sunset picture, I am seeing all kinds of things that still need attention. The painted peeling patio table and chairs need one more coat of paint, but I can only spray them when it isn't windy. It has been crazy windy lately, so windy it blew the ashes out from under the charcoal grill. And then there is that WoodMan who likes to poop on what we now call the poopdeck, the one I had just cleaned off earlier that day.

Hub did just mow the grass, and we had the baby tree people come out and straighten the baby trees, so that all looks good, but I do have to water the gardens again with that hose that I left there...

The teenage chicks are adjusting well to being free. It only took them about an hour yesterday to find their way out into the yard. I am curious to see how long it takes them to follow the rest of the chickens outside the open fence.

My pigeon friend is not adjusting well to the removal of the Birdbuddy. He only had 2 days of free food, and then it disappeared. So sad.

This post is for Sarah at CoopVet. She inspired me to be better about keeping up with the blog!

Big birds, little(r) birds

We got these 3 ISA Brown teenage chicks from Larissa when she decided they had too many for their little coop. We have plenty of room in our big coop, but I was a bit worried about our older hens and/or the young very fresh rooster beating up on them.

So the poor girls have been living in the big dog crate for about 10 days. I finally set them free today when only 2 of the other hens were nearby.

This will be a good test of how well the 5 Olive Eggers will do when I finally set them free from the plastic coop.

I decommissioned the BirdBuddy today. I ran out of sunflower seed, and there is plenty of other food provided by Mother Nature. I was tempted to leave it up longer when yet another species showed up yesterday—a pretty iridescent feral pigeon who came with a friend (in the background on the fence). But the pretty one wouldn't let the other one in, and he cleared out all of the remaining seed, even defending his position from the grackles.

Time to take a break. Grackles, squirrels and pigeons are the main feeders these days. The BB is not coming back until Fall. I have plenty of photos of other species to entertain you with until then.

Cyrus and some other critters

Cyrus is quite content to settle in the tall grass and soak up the sun while I am playing in the garden. Woody, not so much. Usually he prefers to stay inside and nap on his favorite bed.

I made Cyrus the lead photo instead of the cute snake, because I know some of you are not fond of snakes. But I really think this guy (or girl) is very pretty. He was hiding under a water bucket, and when I uncovered him, he just stayed there posing for his portrait.

And even I can find nothing cute or pretty about slugs, but I do very much love this photo of a grackle bringing food to the party. No Tupperware necessary, just carry those little slimers in your beak to share with everyone at the Bird Buddy party.

A bird obsession: Part 4 — Black-capped chickadee

I am still enjoying my expensive Bird Buddy. With some help from the IDs that it provides, and even more help from my David Sibley book, the camera has captured 20 different species. 

That's not counting #21, the squirrel. Cyrus finds great joy in chasing them. Woody doesn't care.

These little chickadees are mostly hit-and-run at the feeder. They usually don't stick around long enough to get their picture taken, but they have been coming around since we first put up the BB back in October.

According to the files, they have visited 204 times, and the camera did manage to catch a few very cute pics.

When I run out of sunflower seed (very soon) I will take down the feeder for a few months, but I will still have enough photos to fill up the downtime. I just need to get better about posting them here.