Lorelei's Writing Journal: Hikin' In Afton

Lorelei's Writing Journal: Hikin' In Afton: Let's face it, if you really want to hike your fanny off, you can do it in Afton. In the early days, when Dennis and I first arrived, there ...

Animal and Bird Antics

We have new to our yard just this year, two gray squirrels. We've never had the gray version, only the golden brown sort. They are a bit smaller, and one has the whitest belly, and his tail is trimmed in white.

As we sit and watch from our kitchen window at meal times--especially at dinner hour--the squirrels come down and begin to feed. I watched this little gray squirrel gnawing away on a nut. Gnaw, gnaw...and at first he is on his haunches, like most squirrels, and then I see him leaning back... back... and now he's on his back! I laughed. What a character. He rolled around and sat back up. I haven't named him as yet, but I'll come up with something eventually.

There have been times when I really wish I'd had a movie camera trained on the critters when I see something either hilarious or amazing.

One spring day, I looked out on the road and noticed the big male pheasant--we called him "Rusty", he was strutting slowly across the street, just a big plump guy with the most beautiful coppery chest and the longest tail feathers I've ever seen on any pheasant!

Well, I notice a crow has landed behind him and walked up and grabbed that big fine tail feather and gave it a yank!
Rusty, of course didn't like that at all! He turned, the crow abandoned the teasing for the moment, but as soon as Rusty turned back to strut his stuff for his harem, the crow went back to grabbing his tail with his beak and this went on for several minutes. Crows have a way of putting others in their place, in the bird kingdom. But sometimes they can be down right mean.

One day, just his spring, my husband reported seeing a rabbit being harassed by two or three crows down on Twombly Road. He was driving the bus, and would come back around every half hour. This went on, I guess for a while. The rabbit would try and move, and the crows would block him. Poor rabbit!

Just the other day, I saw just the opposite. I saw a rabbit chase a crow out of the yard it was in. I know that's what it did, because as soon as the crow flew away, the rabbit went back over to the tree where it had been. Well, maybe this rabbit didn't take kindly to being bullied at all!

There's been many instances which I've watched, and I'm sure other people have too, where an animal does something very un-animal-like. And this one time I really wish I'd had a video camera to capture the whole thing.

We were camped in Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park. As was usual, we get up early to watch the wildlife wander through the park before all the "flatlanders" and city-folk come alive. We've usually had our breakfast and dishes done by the time these others crawl out of their sleeping bags and warm up in their cars and go to town for breakfast--pansies...

Anyway, this morning we were probably sitting at our fire pit just enjoying our coffee when we spotted a female elk moseying through the site of another camper nearby. The people were sleeping in their van. The only thing on the table was a table cloth, and two heavy objects to hold the table cloth down on each end. I think one was a motor oil bottle, or something.

This elk went up to the table, it grasped the table cloth end with its mouth and did this up and down shake of it's head. The table cloth probably made the usual rustling as plastic would do, and it shook it again. And then it gave one big shake, and viola! the table cloth was off the table, while the two things that was keeping the table cloth in place DID NOT MOVE! Houdini was there, I swear!

There you have it my few interesting sightings of animals and birds doing unusual things. What unusual things have you ever seen animals or birds do?

Mud Flats of Afton

I think one of the wonderful things about Afton is that you can go for a hike and just keep on walking for hours! South Afton, is of course the newest addition to the park. I have not been out there in a while. However, just today I got down south of our barn, and admired the beautiful purple lupines that are in full bloom right now!

My intention was to get down to the mud flats because that's where all the shore birds would be. Along the way I caught sight of the song sparrow, as well as the yellow throat (warbler). This little guy had me going nuts trying to find and identify him for over a week! He's very common in the park and along the edges of treeline to prairie.It was not until yesterday when I went to the far northwest corner, finding indigo buntings, and other birds I know. Finally I heard the yellow throat's sliding two-note witchy-witchy-witchy-witch. And stood for the longest time waiting for him to move into view. They love to stay inside tangles of branches where you will not be able to see them clearly. At first his yellow throat looked orange and I thought I had something else. But I remained on task and when he moved, he flew into another tree--I followed and finally FINALLY! I got a good view of him!

So, today, when I followed the pathways through the old (first) wetlands, I heard his call and he was in the grasses. Amazingly, you can get rather close to them. I ided him again and shook my head. "So, you're following me around now?" I said to it.

My walk toward the southern section of Afton, (the path that follows Crego Rd.), brought back memories of myself much younger when I used to take hikes out of Cortland down the rail road tracks. Back then it wasn't wise, any more than it is today, but I could not find the wilds anywhere but the areas in the ditches along the tracks. I was so happy when we moved here, and can take a hike whenever I want!

I'm very despondent that the Bobolink has not returned to Afton. I'm not sure why. But I have not seen one in years.

Once I got close to the wetlands, I slowed. Of course the killdeer sounded their alarm, as did the red wings, who were trying to move me on at every ten feet down that trail.

I have not been birdwatching in a while, I've been so busy with my writing, and the job, that I could hardly spare the time unless it was in the backyard. The stealth needed to get close to waterbirds needs a certain patients. You have to be in the mindset of a cat stalking its prey. Stepping quietly, stopping often and holding for a minute. I was able to move out of the cover of the dead stalks of cattails, and into a muddy section that was firm enough I didn't sink. Then I stood there, pulling my sunglasses off, putting the binoculars to my eyes and trying to get a good vision of these birds in the shalow water on the mud flats. I knew the tall, larger ones were the Greater Yellowlegs, there were the lesser yellow legs, but there were much smaller ones in around them, and I couldn't get a good bead on them! I needed to move so that the sun angled on them and not create a shadow.

I knew that a path continued up and around this water to the east, and strode over to that and was rewarded by having these smaller birds closer and I was able to get a better look at their coloring, beaks and so on.

I identified the solitary sandpiper pretty easily from the book. The barred outer tail made the id rather quickly.

then I was down to the "Peeps" I believe they get this name from there "peeping" call. This sandpiper was very small, and it had yellow legs and very pretty feathers on the back, dark outlined with a gold-brown. Going by the Least sandpiper is "very common", and it had a buffy coloring around the head and eyes, I have to say that's what it is.

By this time, I had probably spent an hour watching these birds and had no idea that time had passed by so quickly! (I learned later I'd been gone an hour and 45 min. and Dennis had been out looking for me!) I headed back, figuring the walk back to the house would take me no more than 15 min, if I didn't stop to check out any more birds.

Well, I did. I saw a female Rosebreasted Grossbeak. Her coloring is so deceiving! She looks like a large sparrow, but the eye stripe and her heavy bill made the id easy. Don't fool me to easily, after 40 years of bird watching! But my feathered friends at the mud flats... harder to id than warblers, that's for sure!

The First Deer and Memories of Feona

We have been rather despondent about the lack of deer in the park. About two winters ago, they did legal hunting of deer in our park. It was a state-run thing to cull the herd, the explanation was that the fear of the "wasting" disease that deer are said to carry, and it was "necessary". But the truth of the matter is, they over-hunted. I'm sure of it.

Dennis, my husband, has had many a mornings where he's been in the park early for his job, and claims he has not seen a single deer. And yet I've seen their foot prints on occasion in our yard, as well on certain paths. So, I know there's at least one around.

Then, this morning, Dennis called me away from doing breakfast dishes. There was a deer out in the front yard. We went into my office, and he pulled up the blinds. I said that the bushes in front are probably hiding it, since he said it was a "small" deer.

We remembered the drought year when it was so dry water was scarce and a female deer heard Dennis watering trees, and came walking up to him, tongue lapping as though she were thirsty. She was. She actually approached him for water and drank from the hose. He later put out a large aluminum pan for her to drink from. We were rewarded by the sight of her, and then later her twins! I named her Feona. Feona was a constant visitor to our backyard because it was safe. She allowed her off-spring to prance, eat and enjoy the safe haven of our yard.

We figured that Feona must have gone by way of that hunting program. I wasn't all for it. I thought that it was an excuse for hunters to not just cull the herd but maybe collect trophies.

But here we have a new deer. A very small one, possibly a first year female, from the looks of her. I hope to see her again and figure out a name for her.

Danelions ~ haiku

Danelions

Golden dashes, bright

yellow butter cups, some folks

hate the sight of you.

published in 2004 Weeds Corner

April 18, 2012

The blue sky became clotted with steel-blue and gray clouds. Winds out of the south-west had warmed our temperatures up to 70 degrees. My walk began in the backyard, where my husband, Dennis mowed a path behind our pine trees and cut through long grass and back behind the lilacs in front, by the road.

But I cut across the long grass to the ditch and was into the park within moments. The large mower's engine creating a din. I waved to my husband who was working on the front area of Afton. He clips and saws low hanging branches as he mows, either to keep from having branches try to take his head (or glasses, hat and head set) off, or to make the park presentable. He has been doing this job for 17-going on 18 years. He is the one  you can thank for keeping the park looking the way it does.

I cut through the unmowed area, my feet shuffling through dandelion fluff as I went. Eventually my path wound back onto the gravel road which winds through the park. My destination was to get to the wetlands, south of the last bridge in the park. A trail winds through areas which is made up of various vegetation, and overflow for the wetlands. Here, the frogs sing constantly. Red-winged blackbirds perch, make their calls and watch me warily as I pass. Upon seeing me, the frogs become silent. I move on. the sky has become nearly all cloudy. Winds diminish as I walk along this path which has the old nursery that has over-grown. They used to mow down each row of trees, but quit mowing some years back. Now it's quite wild.

I make my way out of the wooded path and find the wetlands moderately choppy. At once I see a squad of ducks (no binoculars today), take off, as a marsh hawk sails across the edge of the water, breaks low as the ducks land in water by a lone Canadian goose that is poised in the shallows.

The marsh hawk continues on its quest across the prairie grass. I watch an American Coot all by itself seeming to bask in the fact that he has no competition for food.

I slowly emerge onto the open path and, my knees complaining, I walk the uneven ground slowly as I begin the upward climb of the hill toward the barn. Blue flowers growing in clumps are the only color along here. I don't know what these flowers are--five spot? I don't know. I pick a cluster for later identification.

Clouds are thick, darker and the wind still blustery, and yet warm as the wind continues out of the southwest.

I gain the house and am happy that I was able to get out and enjoy a portion of my day outside.