Around The Farm In March

We had several brief thaws, during which the cows and horses got to lounge around in comfort. You can see that Gracie's two ringworm spots have not cleared up. They're only white, though, because the spray I'm using on them is white:

The bird feeders continue to draw a crowd, including this Hairy Woodpecker:

And many Chickadees:


Inside the barn, the white fantail pigeons are safe and protected from the weather:


And some have been nesting, though only two eggs have so far been laid (and then abandoned):

But our early March thaws were soon replaced by cold snaps. I saw these icicles leaning in so far that they were pressing against the house windows. I broke them off with a snow shovel, but the whole ice jam slid off while I was doing it. It was massive, so I was lucky it didn't hit me:

The bantam hens have begun laying a few eggs, though not yet many:

The Barred Rock bantams are getting kind of old now for egg laying, but I imagine they'll still lay when it warms up:

Every morning we have new snow, I can see fox tracks coming from the field across the road, up my driveway, around the barn and inside. The fox explores the barn, even going inside the old milk room:

The herd's appetite has increased and I usually have to bring out a new hay bale every other day now:

They are wrapped in plastic mesh, and it must be removed before giving the bale to the animals. If it's not locked in ice, that's a simple job. If, however, it's all iced up, it becomes a difficult and frustrating, even infuriating, task:


We've had Snow Buntings in the wintry corn and hay fields all winter, but they are skittish and nearly impossible to photograph. This was the only shot I got. They look like  a flock of white parakeets when they flit around the fields. They won't hold still and they won't allow me to get close:

F-F-F-F-F-F-F-Frozen F-F-F-F-F-Farm

As I wrote yesterday, our winter has been rugged thus far, both frigid and snowy. The animals seem to handle it well, or at least better than I do:

I snapped this picture through my window one brutally cold day, showing the view outside and across the county road. I didn't want to go out there:

Doing the morning chores, I saw these fox tracks leading from the barn. I've also seen fox tracks inside the barn. I'm not happy about that but haven't been able to stop it. I've tried live traps but they are not fooled by them:

The fantail pigeons are well and protected from the worst of winter:

The same is true for the bantam hens, though their room is smaller and is building up a lot of poop:

One of these two brown Easter Egger bantams is laying a pinkish egg every few days, just right for my needs:


But one day our temperatures dropped to nearly -20 and we received 2 to 3 feet of snow:

I'd intended to stop feeding the birds, but they were obviously so hungry that I relented. The small birds cluster in the nearby Lilac bush and wait for a moment when the bully birds, Cowbirds and Bluejays, are not at the feeders. In this picture are a Chickadee (top right), a Chipping Sparrow (bottom right) and an unknown bird (left), most likely a House Sparrow. I finally got a pair of Cardinals, but they are afraid of the Bluejays so I don't see them often:


The apple grove during the blizzard:

About 30" of snow atop the trash bins:

My car, with snow piled to within about 8" of the door handles. Our last few winters have been relatively mild and I came to expect that. This winter has been a trial, and I often wonder why I'm not sipping a mint julep in Florida somewhere like so many retired people:

Around The Farm

We've had confusing weather this year, with spring weather in February and winter weather in April. But the cattle were happy when the snow melted:

 Canada Geese and Snow Geese are returning to our area on their way north. Some of the skeins are mixed species, but mostly they have been Snow Geese:

 And speaking of Snow Geese, they have been stopping in corn fields near me, ideal for taking pictures:

 There are two color phases of Snow Geese, white and blue. The light gray birds are the immature blue phase:

 They are spectacular birds but more shy than Canada Geese. I always need my zoom lens to photograph them. Even if they're right next to the road when I see them, they are moving rapidly away by the time I stop and grab my camera:

 I saw this bold fox walking across my south field one morning when I was feeding the cattle. It turned in my direction when it arrived at the gravel road and began walking toward me, stopping only when I pointed a camera at it. I saw fox tracks every morning we had new snow. That is not good news for the chickens:

 The miniature horses seem immune to the cold and snow, but I'm sure they'll be happy to have green pastures once again where they can feed and play:

 We had one really nice day before the latest snowstorm, and I opened the door for hens to come outside:

 They had to cross a snow pile to get out, then ran down the driveway toward the bird feeders:

 They pecked around, looking for goodies:

 And then moved to the bird feeders (just to the left of this photo), where there was lots of spilled seed:

 I am almost out of bird seed and have a big rat which is feeding on spilled seed. I've been unable to trap the rat so far, but either way, I'll stop feeding the wild birds very soon:

Snow, No Snow, Snow, No Snow, Snow

Our weather has been changing minute by minute. On this day it was snowing again and I tried to refill the sunflower seed feeder. But the Chickadees couldn't wait, one of them landing right on the open feeder. So I backed up and snapped a picture:

One surprise snow coated the pasture gate with coils of white snow in such a lovely pattern that it could have passed as a Christmas decoration:

Beautiful sunsets are common, but on this night it was so spectacular that I had to try to capture it in a photo. The real thing, however, was more wondrous than any photo:

I took three photos and then tried to choose the best one. I couldn't decide, however, so am posting all three of them. This is number two:

And number three. Living here can be spectacular sometimes:

One day all the snow melted and the sun warmed everything up, including the leftover Rugosa Rose hips:

And one day was so darn warm that I opened the door to let the chickens out for the first time since winter began:

Only ten of the thirteen came outdoors, but those ten sure enjoyed themselves:

They spent almost the whole day beneath the bird feeders, cleaning up all the seed which had fallen to the ground:

No foxes appeared to spoil the day, so the chickens enjoyed the warm sun, even rolling onto their sides in heap to soak up the rays:

Blue and Remy can get inside the barn at any time, day or night, and they often take advantage of it. In fact, I often accuse them of coming into the barn just to poop:

Snow again. On this morning, I found tiny footprints inside the barn. They seemed a bit too big for mice, but not big enough for other mammals I could think of. Perhaps the Least Weasels have returned (or never left):

Around The Wintry Farm

The Red Poll ladies are doing well and staying fat despite the cold and snow:

 I usually throw and armful of hay aside for the little horses when I put out a new hay bale so they won't have to compete with the much bigger cows:

 I saw this amazing sight one morning in the southeastern sky. I looked it up online when I got back indoors and discovered that it was part of a sundog, also called parhelion, a phenomenon of sunlight passing through ice crystals in the atmosphere:

 This is a photo from the internet, showing the entire parhelion (pl: parhelia). I could only see the rainbow part on the bottom right. A few minutes later, I could also see the part on the bottom left, which was in the northeastern sky:

 One of my kitchen windows has a direct view of the bird feeders. It is common to see both Downy Woodpeckers (on top branch) and Hairy Woodpeckers (on square post). As you might expect, my cats think the windowsill is a theater seat for them to watch their favorite movies:

 I thought this was a Hairy Woodpecker, the bigger of the two, when I snapped the photo - but when I got indoors and saw the closeup, I decided it was probably the smaller Downy Woodpecker (because of its shorter bill). Needless to say, it's not always easy to tell them apart unless they appear together:

 
 I have a multitude of Chickadees. They used to be skittish, but have learned that I am the source of the goodies and now come within a couple of feet of me. If I aim a camera at them, however, they usually scatter:

 To help them pass the time during the winter, I've been opening the doors between the chickens and pigeons every day. The new Easter Egger hens seem to prefer to be with the pigeons:

The Easter Egger bantams also lay most of their eggs in the pigeon room:

  The older, Barred Rock bantam hens, mostly stay in their own room. They also haven't begun laying yet. They're getting kind of old now, at least for chickens, so their egg laying may be slowing down:

 The new Easter Egger bantams, however, are laying up a storm. Most of the eggs are green, but some are pink:

 The pigeons are having a difficult time starting nests with the chickens around, but no eggs or hatchlings would survive in these temperatures anyway, so no harm done: