Tornados and Rainbows

We've had some pretty severe weather in the area recently.  Early Thursday morning a storm moved thru and the power went out (4:31am notification).  Just by luck, my helper was headed out that morning and he told me no damage to the buildings and the driveway was clear. Our power came back on that afternoon (1:16pm) but many people were still out days later.

I made it out Friday at mid-day and this is what I found. The top of a large pine snapped off and took out 1/2 of a chestnut.

Surveying the damage.

I made a tour and found lots of downed branches.

Some trails completely blocked.

I did some clearing work on the trails near the barn but I didn't even make it to the further out trails.

Some trees just snapped off and left hanging.

Some uprooted.

My last surviving apple tree from a planting about 10 years ago snapped off.  It's trunk had been weakened by buck rubs before I put up the electric fence.

I found a panel from the pond stand out in the field.

I got a fire started in the pit by burning up accumulated cardboard.

I limbed the downed pine.

And smothered the fire with all the green wood and needles.

It turns out that it was an EF2 tornado just a couple miles from the farm.  The main damage was near where Laurel Ridge road dead ends into route 32.

A friend sent me this photo.  And I found some stuff online.  This is some drone footage of the path that was posted on Facebook. Drone of EF2 Damage in Elm Grove  And here's a news report.  News Confirmation

We were very lucky - sad for those in the path.

Meanwhile, I went about clean up and brush-hogging.  I heard something fall and was looking for it here - never found anything.

Finally, I got chased in by another rainstorm.

And as I watched it from the porch, this happened. You can just make out the 2nd ring.

When the rain stopped, I stepped out and got the full view.

The pond leak seems to be improved.  I gave it another shot of bentonite to see if I could completely stop it.

I finished up the remaining part of the marked timber stand improvement area (TSI).  The electric saw is handy for girdle and spray.  For felling, the gas saws work better.

The buckwheat is doing well in a couple of plots.

No evidence of the sunflowers in this plot.

Lots of evidence of deer browsing.

When I stopped at Tractor Supply on the way out, I was intrigued by this offering. A tactical propane torch.  I could use it for weeds.  I resisted.  Even though it was a flash sale.

The worms seem quite happy in my worm ranch.  The directions say that a little bit of mold is nothing to worry about.

I mentioned new survey markings on my one boundary in last week's post.  I've been trying to contact that neighbor without success.  There was a big white oak taken a year or two ago and this survey seems to indicate that it was mine.

I wonder how the wildlife does in these major weather events. Tree down in this plot.

The fawns seem unaffected.

Turkeys and deer in this photo.

Twins.

Check out the ticks in this unreachable spot on this buck.

I could see the turkeys from the porch.

Gotta love these shots.

Coyote.

Along the road on the drive out.

Things Are Growing

Food plots, grass, weeds, wildflowers, buck antlers, fawns, ticks, poults, algae and everything else all seem to be growing fast right now.

We had been visiting family recently and, when we returned, we found 1.5" in the rain gauge.  With the rain came a cover of green in the recently planted food plots.

Some of it may even be the things that I planted.  But there are also a lot of weeds.  I put sunflowers and buckwheat in the pumpkin patch this year.  So far, I can see buckwheat and weeds.

Above the pond, I put in buckwheat and cowpeas.

I think that I can see evidence of both of them in addition to the weeds.

I'm guessing that these are cowpeas.

This was a replanted clover plot - it's spotty but generally ok.

I'm not sure if I made any difference with the bentonite on the pond leak.  But we do seem to have more algae this year.

Butterfly milkweed is blooming.

The wild wineberries aren't producing fruit yet.

I found new survey stakes and tape along one border of the property.  I'm wondering what the neighbor has in mind here.

I suspect that this was part of the survey crew.

I'm providing some minerals for the buck antlers and doe milk.

It's that amazing time of year.

The ticks are also finding plenty of hosts to feast on.

And the fawns are frolicking.

Including some twins.

Interesting capture at the driveway - a hawk of some sort?

The deer and the turkeys are mixing it up a bit.

Is she nested out there?

Fox.

Scraggly coyote.

I'm surprised how much strutting is still going on.

A turkey dust up.

Exuberance or panic?