Golden Days

I'm dying to know what is living in here. 

You know me. 

The days have been golden.  

There are some down sides to that. 

Wild onion is up, and I think there is nothing better than smelling it as 

you cut the first grass of the season. 

While Chris was here, we walked the dogs at Angel Falls.  The Water Baby LOVES to 

go in the creek. 

Note where the water is in that picture, taken ten days ago. 

By yesterday, the stream had narrowed significantly, we need 

rain badly here. 

I bought a 20 foot lead for Lil, so she can go way out in the creek.  She was hot in this picture, it was 77 out. 

This is the drainage basin at Basehor City Park, running down to the creek.  The rock bottom was showing through at the end of last week. 

Last night was a night of wild storms here, including tornados which touched down on the 

Missouri side of the metro, doing great damage. 

The basin had water in it this morning, I was glad to see that.  The birds use it daily. 

Someone was sunning himself on the walk way.  I'm so glad I saw him, 

he was very sluggish and did not even move when I touched him. 

Too cold for little snakes today! 

This is a barn two miles from where I live.  This barn and the one next to it 

were over 100 years old.  The storm last night got it. 

Look at that 100 year old wood! 

The chickens at the ag came through the storm well, except the plastic on their 

door and windows blew away.  So much for my stapling extra yesterday. 

See these thirteen eggs? 

They came out of only 3 of these slots in the nest box.  

Chickens crack me up. 

Except for trash cans blown all over... there was thankfully no damage to the old buildings. 

And everyone was happy. 

This little group of mallards was on the pasture pond as we went to the park.  

It is so shallow, I don't think geese can land there now.  

I stayed one second too long, taking four pictures. 

The rule for nature photography is DO NO HARM and don't disturb the birds/animals. 

My bad. 

And I really mean my bad, I hate disturbing them. 

Lilly will be twelve this summer.  The drool worries me, she does it as we walk. 

Totally gratuitous picture of the best Bostie in the world! 

Calm Before the Storm

First, some prayers are asked. 

This afternoon, everything went dark here, computer off, tv off, lights off. 

Keith happened to be coming home from the post and called me to 

say there was a terrible wreck a mile from us, at a dangerous intersection. 

A van had crashed into a pole, and broken the pole.  

Someone in the van was killed, and others had to be extricated. 

So, prayers for the poor families whose lives changed today. 

We went four hours without power... and 

five or more without internet, nothing compared to how 

those family's lives have changed forever. 

The dogs and I traveled around yesterday after Tuesday 

night's rains to see what we could see. 

There is water in the little pond again. 

This guy had a perch on the top of an electric pole in the pasture, where he could see 

far and wide. 

I saw this pretty girl in a pasture... and I saw some more trying to cross a road, but when they saw me 

coming, they faded back into the woods.  

We walked a mile yesterday and today.  Jester looks kind of sad about it, doesn't he? 

Our creeks are running like wild rivers.  I did not try to get near one I usually photograph. 

This is why it was closed... water over the roadway between fields, and water over the bridge.  That's a hill coming down to the bridge, and it's hard to turn around over there... I'm glad I erred on the side of caution and did not come that way. 

That's actually about a half mile from where I was sitting in the car. 

I'm going to warn you to not look at the rest of the post, if you are squeamish. 

This guy was on a long-dead possum on a road near our house. 

These birds are so helpful, ridding us of roadside bodies. 

When he had finished, there was nothing left but the fur. 

Lilly did not want to get out of the car after we walked yesterday. 

I had to leave her out there for 45 minutes, even with the leash she would not come. 

She had chased a rabbit earlier, and I am thinking that that effort cost her. 

I think she is hurting. 

She takes Rimadyl for arthritic pain. 

We are walking pretty slowly these days. 

Here is a happier bird picture for you... this is a family at the Ag Hall.  There are five goslings. 

They were happily following along with mom and dad. 

The pond there is overflowing, too. 

We are expecting at least another inch of rain on 

Saturday. 

I leave you with a last happy picture. 

Do you see him watching me???

I had to crop this way down so you could see him. 

There is another one on the left.  

I am so glad Big Mama had another successful hatch! 

The Soggy Weekend

Yes, the weekend was very soggy, raining and raining. 

That is standing water that has run down off the high end of our yard, and is 

now making a pond at the low end. 

There is standing water you see beyond it, on the left... everything is draining down there. 

It's a muddy mess. 

I took this picture of a local creek Friday night. 

Same one today. 

And another in the same vicinity. 

The dogs and I did get out and walk this afternoon in the cold... and stopped just short of a mile.  Jester has been out like a light since we got home. 

There is a large pond near us that is now very full.  It had been surrounded by 

small saplings, but about a month ago, the farmer came out and knocked down all the underbrush around the street side and the north end so his cattle will have more grazing next year. 

Now we can see the birds on the pond. 

These three migrating mallards were on the little pond I showed you all summer. 

Look how small they looked on the pond!  It is full again, too. 

And here are the cattle who hung out in the pond all summer.  

I think all those mamas are in calf again, so I expect to see this year's calves disappearing soon. 

I have been trying for two weeks to get a good picture of some of the geese 

flying over here.  You can see our skies are still leaden, and this was as 

good as it gets. 

Here though, to end with, is a very sad picture.  This goose was in distress. 

When the dogs and I left to go walk... we passed it.  It was in the backyard of someone's house along 155th street, very near us.  It was standing just like this. 

An hour later, we came back, and it was in the same exact position. 

I am sure it was dying. 

It has a very odd spot on it's neck where it has lost feathers, but 

I immediately thought H2N5.  We just had our Kansas poultry travel ban lifted a week ago after an outbreak here in the spring.  It is spread by migrating birds. 

I sure hope not... but I suspect this goose is already dead, or will be by morning. 

More Rain

Yes, we had more rain today. 

Crazy. 

It's thundering and lightening out there right now, 

and Leavenworth County Emergency Management 

just posted to stay out of Riverfront Park in Leavenworth, because

the Missouri is out of her banks.  

It's already raining again in Easton, part of which town 

floods regularly. 

Too much! 

See this bucolic creek? 

It's the one I showed you yesterday.  It's really getting a little scary. 

Here are the five little goslings I have been taking pictures of for the 

last three weeks.  I was so glad to see them this morning, and here's the reason. 

This was Monday.  The babies were no where in sight.  

This bird was moving it's wings a little, but did not lift it's head. 

I prayed and prayed it wasn't the mother goose, attacked by something. 

This goose was near, but I saw no babies anywhere that morning, 

I was relieved this morning. 

I came around a corner this morning and look who was sitting on the wood fence? 

Accompanied by six of his friends! 

Two days ago, I found a huge blood stain at this corner... as if it were a 

deer, or a cow, or a horse, all of which are in this vicinity.  I never saw a body. 

When the dogs and I came back 40 minutes later, all the birds were gone! 

This is what our skies looked like as I was getting ready to leave the old place. 

As I type this at 9:43, it is storming AGAIN.  

It's honestly getting tiresome and SCARY. 

The hawk's nest has been vacated... but I took this picture yesterday, because I knew the babies would be close and their parents feeding them.  Can you see the baby in the middle of the picture? 

I tried to find them today in the foliage, but could not. 

And last, these are the ponds at the foot of our pasture, on the Spehar's place. 

We have never seen them so full! 

Remember, there are two large ones, and another big one in the cow pasture. 

If these go over... they go across the next closest neighbor to the east, and thence across the bottomland fields... to Stranger Creek.  

We have a 90% chance of rain tomorrow, and I am listening right now to 

many frogs in our side - yard "pond" here. 

The weather bulletins say expect winds and more rain, and hail!