A Taste of Spring

Strange weather for early March.  Saturday was 75 degrees and Sunday is a washout.  I took advantage of the warm, dry weather on Saturday to get a few chores done. I got the pumpkin patch and part of the prairie plot bush-hogged. 

Prairie plots (warm season grasses) are best when periodically burned.  It keeps out the progression of bushes and trees.  As I've already shown, I'm a bit of a hazard with fire.  To do it properly, you need permits and an experienced fire crew.  I got some advise from a DNR rep that, in the absence of fire, it is best to mow 1/3 of the plot in the winter dormant season to help suppress that progression.  

Speaking of fire, this appears to be the only real damage from my loss of containment a couple weeks ago.  These trees have developed brown needles in the heat affected zone.  I don't know if they will regenerate.

I try to keep the pond dam cleared of growth.  It is amazing how fast it comes back.  This section is too risky to get with the tractor.  I'm going to have to get in here by hand one of these days.

I went for a walk to look for sheds.  No luck at all.

No shortage of buck evidence.

Everywhere that I looked, there were trees down.  The combination of the ice storm and the wind has taken a toll.

On the walk, I came across this tree.  Our grandkids were with us at the start of the pandemic and we memorialized that event here.

Last week, Joan and I noticed the overnight disappearance of seed from the bird feeders. She suggested that I put on a camera on the feeders to see who the culprit might be.

No surprise.  Between now and green-up, it's tough times for the deer.

These feeders were empty but they are still coming in to check.

A pair of bobcats!  I really don't know much about them but I thought that they were solitary except for the breeding season.  I guess it might be time.

The ever-present coyotes.

Three of them in this shot.

I think that is a turkey on the edge of the frame.  This was the only turkey shot this week.

Nice stop action of bird in flight.  Robin?

As always, lots of doe movement.

Some bucks have lost some antlers.

But others are still looking intact.

This shot is a little older.

A Visit From Friendly Forestry Guys

I have been a member of Southern Ohio Forestry Association SOFA for years.  I was encouraged to join by a State Forester (Lee Crocker) but I have never made it to a meeting.  I've just been a passive observer of the website and newsletter.  Recently Wayne reached out and we made a date for him to come see the farm.  He brought along John and they came bearing gifts. 

John brought venison chili, Wayne brought baked beans (and the above goodies), I made hotdogs and Joan contributed the chocolate chip cookies.  We didn't starve.

It was chilly and I hadn't finished clearing the trails from the recent ice and wind storms.  Wayne told John "you'd have to pay for a ride like this at Kings Island." No one was injured.

Anyway, it was a very nice visit and fun to chat about farm and woods stuff with other guys who have similar interests.

I finished working on wood splitting this weekend without further injuring myself.  I got the stitches out this week and I have few restrictions on my use of the finger.

We saw a pile of deer in the main field when we arrived the other evening.  They seemed to be working on these few greens left in the brassica field.

Of course there are turnips, beets and radishes out there too.

Various degrees of evidence of those being eaten.

The radishes didn't seen to get hit very hard before they started to rot.

I spied a rib cage from our bedroom window.

I'm guessing that this is what's left of Eric's buck.  For some reason, I decided to hang it in a tree.  Remarkably intact.

Violet and I went out for a walk.

We found the "Poop of the Week".  I'm not sure if these are coyote, fox or bobcat.  The top is fresh and the lower one is weathered with just the hair remaining after all of the rain. My field guide says "if greater than 3/4" in diameter, unlikely to be fox".  I didn't measure.

We lost our older dog, Chloe, this week.  She was diagnosed with a kidney tumor months ago and she hung in there for quite awhile.  Recently, she pretty much stopped eating and it was time.  When special preparations of beef, chicken and venison don't attract, you know it isn't good.  She was a happy girl until the end.

Interesting trailcam - some sort of hawk on the hunt.

Raccoon climbing a tree.

Fox.

Coyotes.

A gaggle of deer.

A few bucks still sporting antlers.

And the turkey activity seems on the upswing.