That time of year

[SwampDonkey]

Well its about that time of year when everyone likes to get outside and start the yard work. I'm certainly no exception. This past winter a box elder lost a limb to a wind storm and its been hanging off the main trunk until now. On saturday I decided to do something about this eye sore. I got the huskey 55 out and fueled her up, checked the chain and oil. I then hauled on the nylon pants, gloves, helmut and ear muffs. After about 6 cranks , 'ol bessy fired up and never flinched until I had the tops and limb all cut up fine. I loaded the wood chunks on the bed of the pickup and the limbs were loaded on my trailor. I posted a link to a diagram of the trailor in a 'Trailor' thread back in February as I recall.  ;) The limbs I haul to my brush pile where I burn wood, limbs and paper waste. Its on the back of my 4.3 acre house lot. My contribution to the green house gas effect that is going to warm the north. :D My wood chunks I piled behind the house beside my fire pot (chiminea). My fire pot sits on 4 patio stones about 150 feet from the house and under some shade trees. In summer and early fall  evenings I will light a fire in the pot to make a smudge to drive flies in the evening hours.  Soon I will be getting out the hammock , by the end of May to spend some quality hours out under the shade trees and bat'n the odd mosquito and black fly. While writng this thread I'm reminded of the 'Black Fly' song which was aired on CBC TV and produced by the National Film Board of Canada. I'de post a link to it, but its only available for sale under the label, 'Kids for Canada Vol2' found here:

http://www.michael-mitchell.ca/recordings.html

more info here

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0000328

lyrics here:

www.angelfire.com/on/abitibicanyon/blackfly.html

and another version by ZZ-top here: Yup, believe it or not ;)

http://www.asklyrics.com/display/Black_Fly_LYRICS/189679

Just can't get that buzzzzz outta my head :D :D

[redpowerd]

nothing i enjoy more than living in the woods.
i see i have 3 hawks nesting in my red pine stand finally. they perch to the right of my drive waiting for a scare. easily spooked are the black ducks wadeing in the pond to the left, ten or so flutter and squak away. the woodduck pairs just chill close to their respective boxes, while mallard pairs swim in the open, fearin none. as i get up the hill, i scare a few turkeys to the trees, and some deer back to the soybeans. emerging from the timber is a tiny glow from a small campfire by the shop, and cutters sippin the finest brew. spring is good.
'just take your time up the drive, enjoy', says a sign at the start of the path.

[SwampDonkey]

May is one of the best time of the year up this way. Still no black flies out yet, but you can see the larvae twitchin in some stagnet pools from the snow melt. Walkin along the trail through the woodlot we will spot some woodcock high in the air, we can barely see them up there. They make their hollow sounding mating call and fly straight up then off to the right or left, circling around. Almost as if they are dodging a hunter' bullets. We look sharp and see 3 pairs in courtship. They are quite a site, and they will perform all day into the early evening hours. By this time of year its not dusk untill after 9:00 pm. Along with the woodcock are the snipe with there peeping sounds, that flush just as your coming upon them. Sometimes its hard to distinguish the two in flight. Also, is the sound of the spring peeper frogs, they are mainly wood frogs. We don't have many leopard frogs any longer.  They haven't seen in ages. Steady as we go out the woodlot trail we come to a small brook with a beaver pond, where a pair or mallards are smimming and feeding and away they go and sas us for disturbing them from their courting and feeding. Onward and back around another trail and we see the fresh signs of a black bear in the mud and upturned deadfall, where he was looking for ants and grubs for a meal. We travel for a way further and site a cow moose with her new born calf browsing on dogwood and willow branches. The elusive creatures trot off into the thickets and quickly disappear from site. A little while longer we emerge from the woodlot and climb into the pickup and head back home.

[Dugsaws]

yea its that time of the year to do yard work get in the woods, think about upcoming hay season, and the return of the cicada(locust), heard my first one this morning ahhh

[SwampDonkey]

I've been hearing those spring peepers up here, and the old saying suggests that every day they sing in April, they will lie still in May :D

[Jeff]

spring peepers. Wonder if thats the same thing thats up to the cabin that Tammy and I call a beeper bird. Never hardly see it  flitting in the tag alder. Its got a monotone song.

[chet]

   :D   :D   :D   Around here spring peepers can't fly. At least I sure hope not.   ;D

[Corley5]

I agree Chet.  When the Spring Peepers start flying there is something very wrong ;) ;D

[SwampDonkey]

;) Flightless, featherless and submersible  :D :D :D :D ;D :D ;D :D

Up here its the wood frog ;)

http://www.naturenorth.com/spring/creature/woodfrog/fWf.html

[pappy]

What it sounds like--short but sweet    cause when you start hearing it--it's spring time  8) 8) 8) 8) 8)


Spring Peeper--The Musical   ;)
 
http://www.naturenorth.com/spring/sound/sppeeper.au

[Furby]

I haven't read the whole artical yet, but I thought the timing was right.
Here's a link:
Jeepers! Creepers! Peepers!

[SwampDonkey]

Northern Parula (Parula americana)

These tiny birds are greyish blue and this time of year you see them in flocks on migration traveling in deciduous woods and shrubs. They nest in older softwood forests in the north where they use 'old man's beard' lichen to build their nests. They are tiny warblers and make a loud shreek for such a small bird. Right up there with the call of the tiny winter wren.

Parula song (crow in back ground)
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i6480id.html

Winter Wren song
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i7220id.html

I never seen a bird spend so much time in a brush pile or dead fall top catchin insects as a winter wren. They never sit still.

And lets not forget everyone's favorite, the white throated sparrow. I heard this little bird on a good many fishing trips when wading streams and paddling deadwaters and lakes.

http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i5580id.html

all beautiful creatures to hear and see.

cheers

[Tom]

Here's a link too.
Mr. Peepers??

[SwampDonkey]

Today, while burning some brush in my orchard. What cought my eye?

Momma bear with three baby cubs. Next to my place is about 70 acres of corn stuble, and there are lots of unharvested cobs on the ground that over wintered. The bear are eating the corn. They are out of view from folks travelling on the highway, but from my place I can see the corner of the field they were milling on. They were there all afternoon frolicing. The sow would disappear into the thickets for a while, then return to them. If I had a better telephoto I coulda got a shot easily, but its only 7X zoom and they are 600 yards away.

[Tom]

You could sneak up on them real easy and take their picture.  That would make your telephoto long enough.  You could disguise yourself too.  If you got bare when you sneaked across that field, maybe they wouldn't recognize you. :D

[SwampDonkey]

I usually here the peepers here in May, not as early as the wood frog. When I first heard or noticed those wood frogs years ago, they sounded like ducks to me. Hahahaha :D :D

[SwampDonkey]

hmmm the closer I get to them down the field, means the further away I am from the house and all up hill :D :D :D

Reminds me of the bear hunter that was with grandfather and they we're driving along a dirt road when 2 cubs took to a spruce tree. They climbed to the top and the top bent over. Grandfather had spotted the sow bear some ways off and the sport says to him. " Let's stop and catch the cubs." Grandfather replies with a smerk, "I'll stop for ya, and you go right ahead and go catch'm."  :D :D :D

[Tom]

Reminds me of one of my favorite Jerry Clower stories.  Seems a hunter was treed by a bear and the bear was shortly after treed by a his buddies dogs. The bear and man found themselves on the same limb and he hollered down at his buddy, "shoot one of us, I need some relief". :D

[SwampDonkey]

Out west we used to carry bear banger fire-caps and flares. You had a pencil-like device you screwed the cap onto and there was a spring loaded trigger on the side to pull back, release and fire the cap or a flare. Which ever you loaded.

Well, we had been laying out some road into a forest stand to be harvested,a nd we had spent several days there getting it all aligned and placing it on the hillside just right so the grapple yarder could get proper deflection when skidding the wood. Anyway, there was this darn bear that cept coming around our work area, kind of unnerving to some of the crew. You never know how brave an animal can become.

One day we were returning from the woods in the pickup and we scared the bear, by chance,  into a hemlock tree. It was a medium sized blackie and it climbed as high up as he dared. Well .......errmmm :D we decided to have some fun with some flares :D :D and we fleeced the poor bear with flares and caps. I think when we were done he craped all up and down that tree hahahahah :D :D Never seen him again. ;)