They Can Fly

We found ourselves at our High Meadow this morning.  Recently Amy saw a Killdeer here.  It was the first time that she had ever seen this beautiful bird.  We have made two return trips but found it neither time.  Every visit here is special in its own way.  Invasive Japanese Honeysuckle has been removed from this level field.  On my seventy-third birthday I was provided with a machine that had a seat and a bucket for a weekend.  Acres of level ground saw this highly invasive plant removed.  To keep it gone I now mow huge fields.  It is time to stop the mowing this year since the Milkweed is in flower.   We recently came upon two Monarch butterflies joined together to transfer the seed packet that will yield eggs.  These leaves will be home to the next generation of caterpillars then butterflies.  So far the early mowings have kept the Honeysuckle absent from this ground.

We have seen this turkey and her four young many times.  Yesterday they were taking dust baths under October Sky Asters planted right next to the corner of the house.  They have been spending a great deal of time rather close to the house.  Our concern for their safety remains active since the poults seemed too small to fly.  Turkeys spent the nights in trees where they are safe from predators.  For a period following hatching, both the young and their mother sleep on the ground.  We need worry no more.  Mom and her young were in the taller weeds in the center of the field when we first saw them.  Their reaction to our presence was to head toward the trees.  Our movement sent the group back into the taller weeds.  Soon the young appeared in the shorter weeds where they took to the air.  They found safety in the Pine trees.  Mother also flew but remained in the field possibly intending to keep our focus on her.

At my recent doctor's visit, I was told that most of the men born in 1944 are now dead.  I am still here two years after that dividing line.  This land and its peaceful connection to nature has been ours for the past twenty-eight years.  Age now limits my ability to do all of the physical work necessary to preserve this land but I absolutely cannot see myself living in a senior care facility.  How could anyone leave this wonderful life so close to nature?
 

Home For Thanksgiving

If the first three pictures look familiar, it is because they were previously posted in July of this year.  At that time three mature hens brought their chicks close to the house where the meadow grass was short.  The young were within mother's sight and food was easy to find.  The pictured group were taking dust baths at the end of a path under construction.  They were very close to the house.

Here mom and the babies are moving away from the house while still finding food to eat.

One of the hens used our stone wall still under construction to give her chicks flying lessons.  They would walk up the wall to the highest point, flap their wings as instructed and launch themselves into the air.

This picture was taken this morning.  Recently the turkeys have been seldom seen here, but this morning a group numbering more than thirty returned for a visit.  It was a genuine mood booster to see these resident birds gathered together.  

 Now I realize that thirty is much too large a group for a Thanksgiving get together this year.  Clearly these turkeys did not read the governor's memo.  For them there is safety in grouping together and this place is their home.  

Meadow Sweet

Once again the level ground adjacent to the remains of the bedrock ridge holds a plant with beautiful flowers not seen anywhere else here.  They lured me in across terribly uneven ground hidden by chest high Goldenrod.  Each placement of a foot required testing for solid ground before any weight could be transferred.  Slow progress was made to the location of the flowering plant.  Pictures were my focus since the identification of the plant was unknown to me.

Once safely home identification was made.  Meadow Sweet is the name of this long naturalized native from Eurasia.  Just how a single plant found our land remains a mystery.  Now that the name of this plant is known, a return trip will of necessity be made to sample the aroma of the flowers.  There is no justification for failing to take a sniff on the first trip. The fragrance just might be grand.

We remain unsure of what about this ground near the house draws these turkeys here several times each day.  Three hens and their broods feed here during their leisurely stroll across this tended meadow.  As is the natural course for ground birds, their numbers have been in steady decline.  Thirteen chicks of various sizes remain on this visit.  These three hens hatched their eggs at different times as can be seen by the differing size if the offspring.

As also can be seen, our trees are filled with tent caterpillars in unusually high numbers this year.  Their large number is perhaps a result of the recent generous rainfalls.  Tree leaves are being consumed at a great rate but this is just one of many things that I can do nothing about.

Mother turkeys maintain keen vigilance of their surroundings resulting in pictures taken from a distance.  They knew that I was close by but have found us to be of no danger to her chicks.  I find it interesting that all are feeding in the taller grass yet to be cut.  We hope that the too cute reference linking birds to the title yet unmentioned has not gone unnoticed.

Our Wilderness

A little more than twenty-six years ago, we took the next step toward our life in retirement with the purchase of the last piece of what had been a colonial farm.  This land was unsuitable for productive farming as the last glacier to shape this ground left it heavily filled with stone.  We call this the High Meadow as it is the highest ground that we own.  Steep slopes drop down to three other flat meadows that lie at different elevations on the south side and a dead ice sink forms the hole to the east.

The bedrock ridge in the background is not ours but we sought and gained permission to hike there.  We did set foot on the highest ground in the photo when we were younger.  This area consists of several square miles of mostly forested ground that is crossed by only one road and it is not open in the winter.  Local legend places mountain lions and wolves here and there has been a recent sighting of a moose close by. 

When we purchased this land it had not been farmed for many years.  Several horses spent their summers here confined only by a perimeter fence.  Their free range kept plant growth in check.  We have witnessed the return of trees, bushes and Goldenrod that now limit our movement.  I mow trails and two of the meadows but this one had gotten out of control.  A reliable friend restored order here with his bush hog.  The Milkweed will regrow in time to support the last generation of Monarch caterpillars for this season so all is well here.

This field is north of the high meadow.  The high row of pine trees are in both pictures.  When we first came here this steep slope was largely treeless and quite frankly looked horrible from where we planned to build our house.  We did place a bench at the end of what would become our garden and each day's work ended with time spent sitting on that bench.  One day a coyote had crossed the High Meadow and started down the steep slope.  When it saw us a quick retreat took it back up the hill and out of sight.  Crawling toward us on its belly, its head appeared and it gave us a long look.  Its wilderness home had been invaded by people.

These young turkeys are enjoying a dust bath in the bare ground recently exposed in order to finish the stone path and planting bed directly in front of our home.  Two mature hens are raising their broods spending a great deal of time where I mow.  On occasion the dust baths dislodge garden plants but the turkeys presence here is a real plus for us.

This curved stone wall is just one of many projects that remain unfinished.  The sloped ends provide easy access for several different wild animals.  Our resident fox is sometimes seen surveying its home from the high point of the wall.  Recently we saw one of the mother turkeys encourage the young to follow her up the wall.  There she showed her babies how to flap their wings and they quickly understood the lesson.  When mother turkey flew to the ground each of the young followed her.  Imagine, we got to witness a mother teaching her young how to fly.

The turkeys are not the only ones to see our lawn and woods as a safe place to raise their young.  Presently two does and three fawns spend a great deal of time within sight of our house.  The posts and wire fencing keep the deer away from many of our crops but much vegetation figures in their meal plan.  Mom and the twins are all within sight as they stroll across our garden.  After the picture was snapped, forceful verbal encouragement to leave resulted in their long slow looks at us followed by an annoyed walk away.  They seem to understand that we pose no actual threat to them but their time in the garden is limited.  How could a wilderness lifestyle not include nature's creatures? 

Missed Thanksgiving

Our home is placed between the glacial kame terrace visible in the background and the rather gentle final drop to the river.  Meltwater from the disappearing glacier cut a narrow ravine at the end of this field that we call our lawn.  Various wildlife use this gentler sloped valley to move from the river flat toward higher fields.  That is the path that these turkeys are using on their march to Hillman's manure coated fields.  Our resident deer also use this well traveled path heading in the same direction as the turkeys.  Just how these animals survive winter with both the cold and snow covered food is amazing.  That makes me feel rather pathetic by comparison.  I have to go now.  My hot tea is ready.

Rainy Day Visitors

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  I'm not sure this picture qualifies for quite that many.  Still over the last two days, I have had a wonderful time watching the wild turkeys with their babies and the deer with theirs.

During yesterday morning's light rain, the turkeys arrived first.  Four hens in a line walked slowly across Ed's newly mowed grass. I have often seen turkeys walk in single file, but not this time.  Behind them were the five babies also in a line.  They traveled from east to west eating whatever popped up in their path.  When they reached the area behind the shade garden, they stopped.  The adults flapped their wings and shook like wet dogs and the babies followed suit.  Next they lined up again, but with the babies in front this time.  I thought for sure they would disappear into the tall grass, but they stayed in the short grass.  One hen stayed with the babies and the others wandered off on their own.  The five babies followed what I assume is their mom in a fascinating game of follow the leader.  When she ate, they ate.  When she hopped up on Ed's stone wall they all managed to climb up there to join her.  She flapped her wings and they flapped theirs.  She sat up there preened her feathers and they preened too.  I got a great look at the babies through my binoculars.  Not everyone would say that wild turkeys have a pretty face, but these babies are still cute!  When mom took a big hop down to the ground, the babies flew to join her.  I enjoyed all this turkey activity so much, but  just when I though I should be doing something more productive, a mother deer and her two fawns entered the mowed area from beneath the trees.  For a time the deer and turkeys seemed to ignore each other, however one of those twin fawns is rambunctious.  He ran at top speed skidding on the wet grass, narrowly missing his mom and the other fawn and jumped, landing right behind one of the turkey hens goosing her with his nose and front feet and making her hop  out of the way.  This caused all of the turkeys to gather back in a group and the Mother deer seemed to take a dim view of the fawn's behavior herding her family in the other direction away from the turkeys.  This was all wonderful fun and I thought the show was over.

After a night of rain, this  morning everything in the garden was wet.  Ed headed out to the inside of the garden square to try a little weeding.  When I looked outside I was surprised to see the turkeys right back here again. The fact that Ed was out there weeding seemed to make no difference to the turkeys.  Before I could join him a loud clap of thunder sent Ed inside.  It was followed by a period of heavy rain.  We could not see the garden for a time, let alone the turkeys.  As soon as the rain let up a little the turkeys were back behaving much the same as yesterday. This time they were really wet and when the sun came out all of the turkeys made their way to the top of Ed's  stone wall.  They flapped and preened.  A couple of the babies sat right down there on top of the wall. They were there for some time.  One of the hens was facing the woods and it was at that moment that Mother deer and her two fawns emerged from beneath the trees.  Remembering yesterday's fun the  rambunctious fawn streaked toward the turkeys.  As he got close to the birds he realized that they were towering over his head.  A turkey hen is a very large bird and is a lot more intimidating when it is facing you.  The fawn skidded to a stop just short of the stone wall.  He abruptly turned flashing his white tail and headed back to the safety of  Mom and the rest of the deer family.   The turkeys took their own sweet time getting down from the wall. The hens did not fly!

All during this morning's light drizzle, the turkeys and the deer wandered around in separate groups enjoying the short grass.  If any of them went into the garden I never caught them.  By this afternoon the drizzle remained, but the visitors were gone.  It had been quite a show!  I wonder id they will be back for an encore?

Hidden In Our Untamed Garden

With all the rain the garden is lush.  Just about anything could hide there.  The two wild turkey hens and their babies caught my eye first thing this morning.  They actually spent their whole day here just walking away until they could get out of sight behind a stone wall or and area of tall plant growth.

The spiderwort loves this weather and is covered with flowers.  It has been hiding under the Summer sweet for years, but this summer it has grown to the top of the stone wall. I love the purple fuzzy ball in the center of these interesting flowers!

In the past our history with Shasta daisies has been rather dismal.  This year the white flowers with yellow centers, or should I say yellow disc flowers with white ray flowers, are doing great.  They look great from a distance and would pass the speeding car test with ease.  Close ups of composite flowers are always fascinating!

Hidden beneath the raucous display of Gloriosa daisies are Ed's pinkster, cardinal flower, one of my favorite sedums, blue flax, a red hibiscus, closed gentian, Emperor of China chrysanthemums and more.  I think the garden looks wildly fantastic!

The late freeze/ frost greatly reduced the number of pink double poppies in the garden this year. In the past I have pulled out buckets full. The first batch of plants were eliminated by the cold and there are not too many in the garden this year.  Even so poppies that are not full doubles or ones that have thrown back to singles are supposed to be pulled as soon as possible.  This plant has been pulled, but bees have already spread it's pollen.  Add it to the list.  We do what we can, after all Mother Nature is in charge here.  We only referee.  Click on a picture to enlarge them.  Click on the pale grey text to go to a link!

Sometimes Rain Spoils The Kiddie's Fun

I enjoyed my morning coffee this morning watching this mother turkey and her three babies.  It's easy to see these birds since Mom thinks she lives here. In fact she spends nearly all her time within our sight out one window or another.  She is very wary however and notices even small movements inside the house.  She issues a couple of clucks at the slightest provocation and the three babies scatter pronto.

Sometimes they run, sometimes they fly, sometimes they fall all over each other.  Generally it is a bad idea to name wild animals but never the less these three have been tagged with Larry, Moe and Curly in no particular order since I can't tell them apart.  The names just fit since since the youngsters frequently run into each other!

I love an overcast day for working in the garden and Ed and I decided to go down and work on the flowerbed by the road.  To people who speed by at 50 plus miles an hour, I'm sure this bed looks perfect. The masses of color are great.  However the gardener knows that weeds are always moving in by land, creeping rhizomes, by wind, especially dandelions, and by aerial bombardment.  Birds eat berries and drop already well fertilized seed.  It was a delightful morning rescuing all that beauty from the intruders.  That nasty grass that you see in the foreground of this picture is no longer there.

Garden beds and pasture grass are not good neighbors.  Coarse grass quickly reclaims garden soil as its own.  The deep mulch moat that surrounds the bed is intended to make the invaders easy to remove.  That is proving to be the case.  The grass rhizomes can be removed intact before they reach the planted area.  Weeds from seed also can be pulled complete with all roots still attached.  Hand weeding is required but the job is easily completed working the deep loose mulch.

I was happily working on the west side of the bed and Ed worked on the other side.   I was having a wonderful time.  We had just enough rain overnight so that the weeding was going great.

Ed was working on the other side of the bed.  I was oblivious, but he saw the rain coming.  At first I didn't think much about the few raindrops, but by the time I realized what was coming, it was too late.  Ed and I are accustomed to wearing white to work in the garden and today was no different.  By the time we had gathered our tools together, we were both soaked to the skin with our clothes clinging and relatively transparent.  Both of us are long past the age where participation in a wet T shirt contest is a great idea.  Fortunately there was no sign of the neighbors and a lull in passing traffic!  We headed up the hill to the house and a change into dry clothes.  We are getting more rain now so the kiddie's fun is likely over for today.  It was great while it lasted!

Garden Guests Galore

A first look out the window at the garden revealed the local flock of wild turkeys, usually 4 adult females and eleven babies, were making themselves at home in the stone square.  They sit on the bench, perch on the wall, dig in any fresh dirt they can find and leave unmistakable calling cards behind.  The nicer ones are feathers as for the others, you just have to watch your step.  While they really are intriguing  to watch, all this activity is getting to be a bit much.  At least they leave when we approach them.

I took a few moments to watch a couple of hummingbirds challenging each other at the  rose of Sharon flowers just outside of the bedroom window.  I can't hear their chatter from inside, but the way they flare their tails wide showing its white edge  then zoom after each other is amazing.  They do this even though there are lots of flowers to share.  I guess it's a territorial thing.

These orange and white insects are unknown to me.  Good or bad they certainly are attractive!

A bumble bee is always a welcome visitor for Ed's lovely asters.

Our apple trees are covered with fruit.  I tasted one, but unripe it was beyond sour.  The apples are not yet ripe but many are showing lots of red.  I imagine this American dagger moth is not great for the apples, but he certainly is an attractive visitor.

The hummingbird moth adores Ed's Salmon star lilies.  Perhaps there are no pollen stains here because of all that wind turbulence from his continually moving wings.

A single white phlox flower holds this tiny little bee-type insect.  The number of bugs in the garden this year is astounding.

I saved the very best for last.  Finally I managed to find a monarch caterpillar.  This one is munching on a milkweed that came up in the garden.  I guess we won't be weeding any more milkweed out until later after the monarchs are gone.  The plain fact is you can't do anything in the garden with out disturbing something!

Summer Lettuce, A Garden Delight

Keeping beautiful lettuce growing in the garden requires considerable effort on Ed's part.  New plants must be started in the basement now because lettuce will not germinate in hot weather.   Here you see a tray of beautiful new plants ready to transplant into the garden.  Once the tray is empty, new seeds will be planted in the pots and the cycle will begin again.

Our favorite bed for lettuce  is surrounded by a metal bunny barrier.  After all the trouble Ed goes to to plant lettuce, we want to eat it.  Since the hot sun is so intense the new transplants are planted under shade cover.  The shade cover also protects the plants from the deer and other critters who seem to wander through here daily.

Don't these lettuce plants look happy and healthy tucked safely in their well protected bed?

What could be more special than BLT's made with the first tomatoes of the season and beautiful lettuce just picked from the garden ?  No one eats better than that!

First thing this morning I slipped outside to pick a few strawberries for breakfast and to pick some lettuce while it was still cool and crisp.   I walked toward the garden with my gathering basket, planning to cut through the stone square on the way to the lettuce bed.  As I approached, I saw unexpected movement in the stone square.  I watched with surprise and delight as two wild turkey hens and fourteen baby turkeys made a hasty retreat out the far opening in the stone wall.  Once they cleared the garden the two hens ran and the babies all flew past the shade garden and into the grown up area at the edge of the clearing.  Once there they were invisible.  Wet turkey footprints on the patio were all that remained from their visit and soon they were gone too.  Wild turkeys do eat some plants and berries, but they really love bugs.  Sixteen turkeys must have given the  garden square a good cleaning.  I'm delighted that I made the trip to pick my lettuce for today's salad.  It was an exciting if unexpected start to my day.

Out Of The Morning Mist

It was 6:00 AM this morning when we took our first look at the garden through the morning mist.  Two mother turkeys and and unknown number of babies were right there in the garden walking down the garden path like it was their home.  Ed and I  watched for a few minutes.  Observing the wildlife is one of the best parts of gardening here.  Finally  I took a chance and went for the camera.  I knew I couldn't open the window, but I thought I would do the best I could shooting through the glass.  Surely they couldn't hear anything or smell anything, but just that much movement inside the house spooked the turkeys.  They didn't fly, but ran, scattering in every direction.

Once they get out of the short grass they are as good as gone even if they are still there.  Disappearing  in the tall grass is one of their very best defenses.  Today, they simply disappeared into the mist. 

Confident that the turkeys were still in the garden, Ed went out with the camera to see if he could capture our early morning guests.  There, walking atop the shade garden wall,  was one of the hens  with at least three babies following right behind her in single file.

Ed's presence did move the turkeys in the direction of the tall grass. This time there was some flying. All that commotion drew two young bucks out from the cover behind the locust tree.  One of these deer has been behaving in an unusual manner all year.  Normally a deer will head for the hills when a person draws near.  Rather than turn tail and run, this one squares off, advances and forcefully stamps his front feet into the ground.  Following that display he lifts both front feet and makes punching moves in the direction of the person.  So far loud noise and a falsely confident approach by the person has sent the deer away a short distance.  There is no clear winner.  Now the young buck has an impressive display of newly formed velvet covered antlers.  These seasonal tools are used to fight.  We are not looking forward to the change in his boldness that will surely follow the increase in male hormones.  This potential problem requires a creative solution.  The second deer in the photo had an even larger set of new antlers.  What we need is a poacher for hire.

There is only a brief time when it is possible to work outside now because of the heat.  Ed is trying to clean up the mess that followed peas planted here in time for our early hot dry weather.  The peas amounted to nearly nothing while the weeds are enjoying a banner year.  Two new hills of squash will be planted here when the weeding is finished.  This morning our turkeys left bowl shaped depressions where they frolicked in the newly turned soil.  The wire cage will be set in place to guard the newly planted squash seeds.

This afternoon from 3:30 on a fawn rested in the shade just above the garden.  Mom was nowhere to be seen.  Apparently she sees this as a perfectly safe place to leave  junior.  Later at about 6:00 when the fawn bolted for the tall grass, I knew Ed had arrived home.  Later this evening a doe walked through. Perhaps it is the fawn's Mom.  One thing for sure when we are not out there, the garden is far from empty!

The Garden Is Heating Up

I went downstairs with the camera hoping to see some green.  I was not disappointed. The lettuce is up.  Ed carefully planted lettuce seeds.  Making four holes with a toothpick, he dropped one seed in each hole.  Well, sometimes more than one seed goes in a hole.  Those darn  lettuce seeds are small!  It warms my heart and my pocket book  to see the beginnings of lettuce plants.  Visions of salads from the garden no longer seem like pipe dreams.

Here where two seeds went in the hole we have real lettuce leaves starting.  Seed leaves are exciting, but real lettuce leaves make me warm all over.  Perhaps Ed can transplant the second plant to a better spot where a seed didn't germinate.

Outside the garden is heating up too. Please ignore the snow.  I have been told ENOUGH with the snow pictures.  We are talking turkey now!  When I first looked out the window the turkeys were in the garden.  I snapped a few pictures through the glass, but they seemed to notice the movement and started for the trees.

I opened the window to get a better shot as the turkeys headed for the trees.  One of the males  tried to get a little something  started out in the open.  He made a rather weak attempt to spread his tail for the girls. He is that rather odd shape just to the right of center in the picture.  Ignoring him the ladies continued to head for the tree line.

As the girls continued up the hill he made a second larger and more impressive display.  I guess I could understand the ladies being a tad frigid given all the s _ _ _ and all.  Once the turkeys got out of the open and into the trees, their interest warmed a bit.   At this distance I couldn't see any beards, but  it turned out more than one male was in this group of turkeys.  The brush couldn't hide the exciting display that that started next.  Two males faced off.  Each one spread his tail and puffed up  as big as possible.  With turkeys, the  largest tail display, the reddest neck, the bluest face and the most enthusiastic shakes and shivers determine the big winner when it comes to the ladies.  The girls sat on the hill and watched the show.  In a just few minutes the show was over.  It's hard to stay all pumped up like that for long and the mating season is just getting started.  The entire group moved on and out of sight.  I hope they come back.  I have a bit of the voyeur in me and I love to share the heat!

Frozen Turkeys

It was frosty this morning.   The landscape was coated with shimmering white.  I was surprised and delighted to watch a large flock of turkeys walk from the tall grass into the mowed area around the garden.  Because the turkeys were between me and the bright morning sun, getting a picture was a bit tricky.   I was able to get a picture of part of the flock.  There are more than twenty turkeys in the picture and there were still more to the right of the shade garden.  I don't think I remember ever seeing this large a flock here.   As it happened we were headed out this morning.  Ed made the first trip out to the car.  Since he was headed away from them, the turkeys barely noticed him, but when he made noise opening the car door, the turkeys all flew at once  across the garden.  It's not often that I get to see turkeys fly like that.  They really prefer to walk.  It's a big effort for them to take to the air, but it is an awesome sight!

Amy called to tell us how great the Geminids were tonight.  Ed and I went out on the porch and stood together to watch.  We saw quite a few while we were out there, but it was cold and the clouds closed in more and more.  When we came inside only the stars directly overhead were still visible.   I'm glad we didn't miss it!