The Carolina parakeet has been rediscovered in Honduras…. Ah, damn. Update– see Patrick’s comment below. As he said, “I’m crushed”. Actually I originally expected a hoax but told myself that it was May, not April first coming, and that Cornell would not be part of it. Something of an irony that my first post after …
Month: April 2009
Hackee sack anyone?
I’ve been working hard all week, either on the computer or on the ranch, so this morning I played hooky and went for a three-hour photo excursion to some of my favorite places in our county. This sandhill crane was busy throwing a chunk of cow manure in the air, hitting it with his head …
Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus
Our latest Spring storm (17 inches of snow on Saturday) brought a visit from the first yellow-headed blackbird I’ve seen at our house. This fellow was the only member of his species in a large mixed flock of red-winged blackbirds and great-tailed grackles. It was interesting to note how aggressive he was: he resolutely refused …
Squirrel study, part 2
Janell concluded her Mama Squirrel nature study with a test of her hypothesis that Mama Squirrel would stuff an entire roll of toilet paper into her burrow. As background, Janell noted she had witnessed ground squirrels scavenging TP from the public bathrooms at the beach in the springtime. “I assume that they are lining their …
Squirrel study, part I
My friend Janell has done it again. This week, her nature study involves Mama Squirrel. Enjoy! “Spring is here, spiders are making beautiful vaselike egg cases and squirrels are lining their burrows with … toilet paper. “At the beach, I have noticed the ground squirrels filching TP from the public bathrooms and bringing it into …
A Regional Politics
A recent post by Crunchy Con Rod Dreher brings word from England that its conservative Tory party has aligned itself with the “great British institutions” of mom-n-pop shops against the global retail giants. In the larger picture, it’s a defense of regional autonomy and long traditions, two solid conservative values but ones that square off …
Bola spider
My friend Janell Cannon, a wonderful children’s book author and illustrator, sent me an email detailing her recent encounter of a bola spider in the apple tree on her property near Carlsbad, California. It was fantastic, so I asked, and received her permission to share. Janell loves to study animals, and was the friend who …
Livestock in the living room
Every year during lambing, I end up with orphan lambs (although husband Jim claims I am just as likely to steal a lamb as to wait for one to get lost). I love having bum lambs – they are lots of work, but it’s all good. If they are ewe lambs, I keep them and …
What’s wrong with this picture?
We don’t normally start lambing until May, but last fall, our four rams broke through two fences and went underneath the highway bridge so they could pay a visit to the ewe flock south of the highway. They were only in overnight, but so far I’ve had about a dozen ewes giving birth in the …
Light pronghorn
It’s been a long, busy day, since we are calving (as planned) and lambing (oops – not planned for another month). Anyway, things are going well, but we’ve got lots of new babies on the ground. Jim and I drove to Boulder, Wyoming, for lunch and a beer, and on the way back to the …