In the Sky and On the Ground

Now that the leaves are beginning to fall, I am starting to see hawks again. 

Of course, most of them are on the fly. 

And my hands were obviously shaking when I took the pictures! 

And several on the ground. 

Some I had a better shot at than others. 

At least, for a moment! 

At Last, Some Nature Photos

This morning, Leavenworth County. 

I tracked another, but this was the best I could get: 

Stinker. 

I've seen the Northern Harrier twice, from the rear end, seeing him take

off after a small animal on the ground.  Always driving, and can't get 

the camera up fast enough. 

Here is the black squirrel's red cousin... same street, one house down. 

I went the back way to church, and did not see one turkey... I have not seen any for two weeks except up near my brother's nursing home, on a busy highway. 

Then, I turned a corner, and missed this group of ten by a minute. 

As soon as I stopped, they took off for the tree line. 

Now that our big events are finished at the National Agriculture Center and Hall of Fame , 

I'll have more time to go out "hunting". 

This came up as a "memory" in my Facebook feed the other day... 

how I miss Winnie, Windy, Kelly, and even Big D (mama) 

and all the other critters at our beautiful Calamity Acres. 

(Mary Ann Yoder on Facebook, where I do post pictures almost daily) 

Happy memories! 

I'll post tomorrow about the Great Midwest Balloon Fest... it was two 

very, very busy days... and very interesting. 

Here's a picture to whet your appetite: 

Why I am bullied by my dogs: 

Lilly Ann letting me know it was time to go walk, about an hour ago. 

I hope everyone is having a peaceful Sunday. 

Lots of Pictures Post

I try to take treats to the hens daily. 

The red hens, for the most part, trust that I am not going to kill them when I feed and water... and you can see they are finally feathering in. 

I don't think, though, that they were really 18 months old... I get so few 

eggs from them.  Four or five on a given day is a lot for this bunch. 

The shady henyard is really helping them... when we first had chickens, we actually had to build a covered area for them to stay cool. Now it's so overgrown that it stays shady and cool.  The only hen panting in today's 98 degree heat was the silver Brahma on the left. I have a big fan running in the henhouse to keep them cool at night. 

Guess what?  I let him have one. 

This has been the year for squirrels...

And bunnies in the road. 

The Kansas City Star actually did an article over the weekend about the abundance of rabbits this year, attributed to the plentiful water and food.  I have seen scores on the road... like this one. 

It also gave suggestions on how to dispose of them.  My philosophy has always been live and let live, and plant enough for the bunnies and squirrels, too. 

As I drove home after church yesterday morning, I saw these guys hanging on a bale of hay. 

And these guys hanging on the barn next to them. 

And this guy coming in to join them with a big bird behind him... 

They had some friends waiting out in the pasture for them. 

But there were some other visitors in the pasture, too. 

Can you see them? 

Here are they are, a little closer. 

I think it's the two baby hawks from the big nest that I watched all during the spring! 

Remember, Mom and Dad feed them for up to a year, or perhaps longer. 

I suspect they were sitting there, waiting for lunch to be dropped down to them.  

I can't guarantee it was the juveniles, but it sure looked like them from a distance. 

I'll be keeping my eye out for them, now that I know they are moving around. 

The bales were all picked up today, so I'll be watching the fenceposts. 

This beautiful weed is not Marsh Fleabane (it's not in a marsh, Mary Ann) but 

Ironweed.  I love it, and hope to gather some of the seeds as soon as they set.
I'll plant them near my little pond in the side yard. 

Thank you, Anonymous commenter, because you set me straight on this plant, and I suspect 

it was you who identified the cotton rat in our side yard.  I appreciate it. 

This little woodpecker (girl) is loving the suet at the old house, and I'm loving taking their pictures again. 

Hot for the next day or so, and then we'll have some rain.  Jacob will be coming to help again tomorrow morning... thank heavens.  He's strong and young, just what we need! 

A Bird Post

I intended to do a post about the Flora and Fauna of Leavenworth 

County today, but I had so many good bird pictures I decided to change it. 

Keith and I came across this guy after doing chores Sunday morning... he was 

perched on the fence pole where I have seen him several times before, outside the 

big horse pasture I pass twice daily.  There are woods nearby, for cover, and 

he has a lot of room to see the little creatures he's hunting. 

He's a modest owl.  

This group of two toms, two jakes and a hen also had about four more hens out of camera range on the right.  

Yes, the hunters are out... and yes, that bird in the picture got away. 

As we were leaving the old house this afternoon after getting the eggs and doing chores... 

I saw something in the sky and grabbed the camera. 

Crows do not like hawks.  

Three crows were out to get this guy. 

They meant business. 

The hawk was diving and jeuking around. 

All of the sudden, the crows fled! 

And a pair of vultures flew over, in lazy circles. 

The thing was, they were very, very low... and I had already had a scare at the henspa. 

You may have to biggify this to see it.  Around the lower part of the six foot high henspa fence, there 

is a "layer" of poultry wire, zip-tied to the chainlink.  I bent about six inches out as it hit the 

ground, so that the dogs could not dig through.  I obviously did not pay attention this morning... 

something tried to dig in, and the poultry wire was loose in this area, which is right by the gate into the yard.  The zip ties were two years old, and popped off... so... I pulled the poultry wire to 

the chainlink, zip tied everything anew... and put something over the hole that had 

been dug that canine paws cannot move. 

You probably don't remember, but these crazy chickens I am watching are not like my flocks, they do not go inside at night, except for one hen that IS roosting inside (I can tell from the poop) and 

one hen who is brooding eggs.  They sleep in the dog house that I kept in this yard for the ducks. 

I'm hoping I don't go out there some morning soon and see a yard full of feathers. 

I have been leaving the front gate open, I may have to close it now.  

Could have been a fox, too. 

The wild birds are still coming, too. 

And this male cardinal looked like he was telling me to GET LOST!