Bush Hogging The North Field

I went out early in the morning to bush hog the north field, but when I got to the barn, I saw these two baby Starlings on the ground, next to the milk room. A Starling nests somewhere up in the insulation below the milk room roof, entering through the eave, each year. I had no way to put the babies back into the nest and could only hope the mother would find them, so all I could do was continue on into the barn and began my day:

 I have been seeing lots of Swallows, more than ever before, and had trouble identifying them. I caught this one on a wire and got a photo, deciding it was a Tree Swallow. I've also been seeing Swallows colored like Barn Swallows but without the long, forked tails. Now that I've got a nest of them, I have identified them as Cliff Swallows. The neighbors say they have Barn Swallows, but I haven't seen the nests. I don't know why the population explosion of Swallows, but I love it! This year there are fewer biting flies than previous years, and I think the swallows' swallowing them is the reason:

 Then I began bush hogging the north field, stopping to photograph wildflowers such as these beautiful Chicory flowers. They are the bluest of the blue. That is Pineapple Weed below them:

 I also stopped to spray paint any rocks which broke the surface of the ground:

 Common Milkweed, a problem plant as far as cattle are concerned, but with perhaps the sweetest perfume of any wildflower. And of course Monarch Butterflies require Milkweeds:

 I had two types of Thistles in the north field. I sprayed most of them with weed killer, but couldn't get them all. Bush hogging (I hope) will cut these off before they flower and produce seed. I searched my field guide and decided this kind was Canada Thistle:

 And this giant, invasive monster was, I decided, the aptly named Bull Thistle. They grow huge and they grow fast:

 

 While I was anxious to bush hog the thistles, I hated to do the same to the white Musk Mallows:

And the lovely pink Musk Mallows. It had to be done, though:

 Cow Vetch is everywhere and grows so low that the bush hog scarcely touched it:

 When I was all done, I removed the bush hog from the tractor and parked them both inside the barn. I was on my way back to the house when I saw a Starling flutter up from the ground. Then I noticed the babies were missing. Did some animal eat them? No, the mother had moved them around the corner, tucking them into the grass between the milk room and a lilac bush. A sad postscript to this story - the next morning, I discovered that a predator had gotten both babies:

Pigeons, Chickens And Lots More Flowers!

Things have been happening fast this spring. The Snowball Bushes, sent to me by a friend several years ago, are already blooming:

I caught my fantail pigeons hanging out with a wild Starling atop the barn roof. I'll have to speak to them about the company they keep:

The Lilacs bloomed and then faded, but not before I photographed this black and orange butterfly on one of the flower clusters:

The Bleeding Heart bloomed profusely. I plan to move it when it is finished blooming:

Normally taller, this clump of Blue-Eyed Grass was kept short by the lawn mower:

The Lamium is blooming:

And the chickens finished the spring egg laying rush and then slowed down. Sadly, one hen has disappeared. I never found a pile of feathers, a sign that she'd been killed by some predator, so I just don't know what became of her:

I dug up Iris and Asiatic Lilies when we built the generator shed, planting them in a new location this spring. But one small bulb was trying to grow from under the shed's corner. I dug it up and planted it with its relatives:

I gave the fantail pigeons an all day bath, and they splashed and played like toddlers in a kiddie pool:

Several years ago I cut the ancient Spirea down to the ground. It came back up nicely the following spring, but only this year did it begin blooming again. I see now why it is sometimes called Bridal Veil Spirea:

Our springtime is always late and it was even more so this year. My Iris is one of the first plants to push up through the earth each year, and the chickens eat it back down to the ground until there are many more plants to eat. But the Iris keeps growing and finally began blooming: