Flocks of Geese

Week of 12/19/2012 Best days to bake.

A passing flock of Canada geese is hard to miss, because they are constantly talking to each other. Living in a small valley, I rarely ever hear them coming, but when they fly right over the house at night, their calls can wake me out of a sound sleep. The day after Sunday's three and a half inch snow fall, I heard and saw two large flocks of swans pass over the valley heading east. Monday and Tuesday night I heard several flocks of geese flying over the valley. They, too, were headed for the Carolinas. Most of these large, vocal birds have been resting on the Mississippi River. Falling temperatures force them to continue their migration.

Doe It didn't stay cold for long. In fact, day time temperatures were in the forties the rest of the week. I had hoped to find rabbit tracks in the new snow Monday morning, but I guess there just aren't any rabbits around. The cottontail population tends to come and go here. Rabbits like to move around, especially in the hill country, and I wouldn't mind if a rabbit or two would move into this valley. There isn't much for animal tracks in the yard. I see a few squirrel tracks, deer mice and vole tracks, and occasionally the tracks of an opossum that has ventured in and out of the old shed and around the compost pile. I think he's planning on staying around for a while if he finds a warm place to sleep in the shed.

Deer leave most of the tracks in the snow. Each night they come into the yard and look for dried flower tops and leftover bird seed. By Thursday, the yard is covered with deer tracks and a few coyote tracks.

Rooster Pheasant Wednesday afternoon I was surprised to see a beautiful male pheasant scratching around where the snow had melted. How handsome he was, his coat of many colors clashing with the white snow. It's not unusual to see a pheasant in the Kickapoo Valley, but it was only the second time in fourteen years that one has ventured into my small valley. This pheasant didn't stay around long, but I'm thinking he may come back looking for food if we get some more snow.

Lots of Cardinals The snow always seems to bring cardinals together at the bird feeders. I counted eighteen of them bunched up at the platform feeder Tuesday evening. They simply can't resist those black oil sunflower seeds. They are the first birds at the feeder at dawn, and the last ones to leave at dusk. A flock of about thirty slate-colored juncos showed up in the yard today. They are mostly ground feeders and they like to kick around in the short grass where I shoveled the snow under the feeder.

Mourning Doves Wednesday morning, seven lovely mourning doves came for a free handout of bird seed. They, too, prefer to find their food on the ground, but today they're all huddled together on the long platform feeder. All the birds get out of the way of the mourning doves. Even bluejays and woodpeckers give up their places to the peaceful doves. Doves may be peaceful, but it doesn't mean they lack spirit.

There have never been so many road-killed deer in the Kickapoo Valley, many more  since mid-summer, and even more since late fall. I find it sad that we do so poorly at interacting with these beautiful animals. I pull the car over where it is safe to get out and drag a dead deer a few more yards away from the dangerous highway, because it may save the lives of many small and large mammals that scavenge the carcass and end up getting hit, as well. Vultures are not the only opportunistic feathered scavengers. Hawks and eagles are lured to the sight of red meat and will take advantage of a free meal. These large birds of prey are slow to take wing quickly enough to avoid a passing car.

Young Male Bald Eagle The road-killed doe that I pulled over for this morning had two young bald eagles standing on top. They were only a few feet from the edge of the road and flew across the road as I slowed down, a bad situation for the not very street-wise young eagles. The young male eagle perched in a tall cottonwood tree only fifty yards away while I dragged the deer twenty-five yards off the road. I hope my action avoided an eagle-car collision. It would be nice if the county road crews would take a few minutes to move road-killed animals farther afield.

Slate-colored Junco On Saturday it rained most of the day and into the night. The snow is gone. Sunday is overcast and forty-seven degrees, and the warm spell will supposedly continue into next week. It's the 16th of December, and the ground hasn't frozen yet. Already I'm wondering about the spring's maple syrup run, if there is one.

Naturally Yours,
Dan

All art ©2013 Organic Valley