Franklin County Fair - Midway And Poultry

From the goat and cattle barns (see yesterday's post), I walked over to the midway. Alas, most people have a much later schedule than I do, and the rides and concession stands were just getting ready. Nonetheless, it was so colorful and fun to look at that I took photos anyway:

Funnel cakes and elephant ears:

Ribbon fries, Chicken tenders, Chili fries, Cheese Fries:

Cotton candy, cold drinks, Sno Kones, Popcorn, Caramel apple slices:

An old fashioned carousel:

And "The Tornado" for a wild ride:

Rock And Roll, a perennial favorite:

My next stop was the poultry barn, another favorite of mine as I've kept poultry for many years. The male peacocks were putting on quite a display:

There were ducks of all kinds and colors:

Royal Palm turkeys and many other varieties:

Golden Pheasants:

Guinea Fowl:

Polish chickens:

Old English Game Bantams:

Silkies:

And just a few cages of Tumbler Pigeons. It's a good thing they didn't have Fantail Pigeons or I might have been tempted to buy some:

Adirondack Wildlife Refuge - Part 1

I decided to drive down to see the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge in Wilmington, New York at the foot of Whiteface Mountain. It was about a 65 mile drive along winding, scenic roads, and I parked beneath the pines and walked down a path to where people were looking into a big pen:

The pen housed three wolves - two gray colored:

  And one smaller, red female:

A young man and woman entered and interacted with the wolves, who behaved admirably with the humans but got pretty darn crabby with each other:

The small red female seemed to be at the bottom of the pecking order but she liked people and, I was later told, seemed to like dogs when the tourists brought them:

I walked from there down a longer trail through the forest (definitely not handicapped accessible), passing a yurt where college student volunteers live during the summer:

They had Ravens:

And Sylvia, the Bald Eagle who has lived here for years. They showed photos of the changes in her plumage color as she matured:

There was a red fox sleeping in his director's chair. He got up and came to the front of his enclosure later, interacting with the tourists, but I forgot to take another photo then:

A Turkey Vulture:

And Nikki, the fox. Nikki had a shedding problem of some kind, but then all of these animals have a problem of some kind which prevents them from being released into the wild once again. In Nikki's case, he was a melanistic (dark phase) Red Fox, probably from a fur breeding colony, who had been abused and used to train dogs to hunt foxes. He was rescued and now lives here:

I wandered among the cages, taking photos wherever I thought there was a chance of them coming out:

The sign on this cage said it contained Kestrels, but it did not. Instead it had three ducks. But there was a lot more to see and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Small Animal Swap Meet In Gouverneur, New York - Part 2

I was attending the swap meet of the Northern New York Poultry Fanciers Association at the fairgrounds in Gouverneur, New York. I'd hoped to find some Fantail Pigeons, but was enjoying the other beautiful birds while I searched:

There were Black Swedish and Cayuga ducks:

Angora rabbits:

And finally, some pigeons. They were lovely, but not fantails:

 I think these were White Japanese:

More Vietnamese Potbelly Pigs:

An Angora rabbit being groomed. It was nice to see how tame the bunny was and how tenderly it was treated. These were mostly people who loved animals:

I asked about Fantail Pigeons and someone called a friend who said he'd bring some down at $25 per pair. I was tempted, but said that was a little steep, especially sight unseen. So I kept looking:

Dark Throat Golden Pheasants:

And Red Golden Pheasants:

Tangerine and white Ringnecked Doves:

I don't know what breed these were, but they looked old. They were also my last stop before I got back into my car and began the long drive home:

Franklin County Fair - Part 2

I'd already passed through the horse barn and the dairy barn, and was currently touring the poultry barn (see yesterday's post). There were Peacocks and ducks of various kinds:

Quail:

This big fellow was a Buff Orpington rooster and he resided near the door because he'd won a blue ribbon. I congratulated him on his success as I left the poultry barn to see what was next:

I entered the goat barn. I used to raise dairy goats, so I had a special interest in them. These big eared ladies were Nubian goats:

Another Nubian, friendly and curious:

This Toggenburg goat was being groomed on a milk stand. I used to have a stand just like this, which I kept in my kitchen and on which I milked my goats:

Once I'd seen the livestock, I headed to the midway:

It was early and the rides were just starting up, but they presented a glorious array of shapes and colors to photograph:

It was lunch time and I was hungry, but deep fried Kool-Aid didn't sound very healthy to me:

Candy Land likewise didn't look as if it offered much in the way of healthy eating. I eventually got a sausage sub which, by comparison, didn't seem as bad as it might otherwise:

I loved the inflatable lemonade stand, just in front of the Ferris Wheel:

I remembered the fun house, Crystal Lil's, from last year. I enjoy the lights, colors and people watching of the midway, so I continued my walking tour. I'll post Part 3 tomorrow: