Millbuddy

[Paul_H]

Maybe I have been working by myself too long and the weather has been wet and miserable but I really get a kick out of this little guy that has been with me all day for the past week.







He has hung around the mill since I cut some cedar that had a Ant colony in it last week.He hops around and picks up the bugs while the mill is running over top.Yesterday he was sitting on the arm for the blade guide with the running blade an inch or so below his feet.I have to take care when flipping cants too because he gets right in there with me.

I think he is a Clarks Nutcatcher,but I have shortened his name to "Bird"

[EZ]

Its amazing that some critters can get so use to humans. We have 4 beavers in our bottom pond, they will come right up to ya. Kinda almost makes me want to dive in with them, but I dont know how to swim. I guess I could grab there tail and they could just pull me around with them. ;D
Cool pictures Paul, thanks.
EZ

[Gilman]

They make hard hats that would fit a bird?

[Tom]

That's neat!   I have had birds that hung around the mill before but they were more interested in the slab pile and the bugs to be found there.  They look under the mill too, but, crank up the mill and they are gone from underneath it.

At certain times of the year, I get little insect buddies too.  My favorites are the "hover flies" that show up as soon as I turn the machine off and they check every nook and cranny on the mill.  They don't seem to be bothered by humans but disappear as quickly as they show up.

Neat pictures.  You need to give that little feller a better name than "Bird" though. :D :D

[Paul_H]

When I got to work this morning,I looked for Bird but he wasn't around.After I flashed up the mill and started sawing,he came swooping in.I worry a little that be may end up in two pieces but I don't have the heart to put the run on him.
EZ,
That's cool that the Beavers are used to having you around.When we were driving up the logging road one morning,there was one swimming down the ditch.I drove past and stopped the truck,got out and went over to the ditch to see him come by.
When he got with in a few feet,he spotted me and made a stand.Because he had long sharp Orange teeth,and seemed really irritated,I got back in the truck ;D

What is a hover fly?Is it a bird or a bug?

[Norm]

Cool pictures Paul. I'm amazed he's hung around for that long. One of my favorites while bowhunting is to watch the birds that will come in so close because of the camo on.

What wood are you cutting in the second picture, it has a pretty color to it.

[Tom]

Here is a link to a picture.  Some think it is a bee, but it isn't.  

[Grawulf]

Paul,
A hoverfly looks like an elongated bumblebee - yellow and black - rear end curves down a little - four wings instead of two. It flies like a hummingbird. Likes to hover in one place - thus the name! Look like they could sting the snot out of you but they're just a big fly.

[Paul_H]

Norm,
Are those birds that you mentioned,Whisky Jacks?

Here is a link Whiskey Jack

I thought at first that Bird was a Jack,but his beak seems to long.If you have a bit of sandwich in your hand,a Whiskey Jack will sit right in your hand.
They will also sit in a fresh hung deer or moose carcass and eat the tenderloin :-/

The board with the neat colour is Douglas fir.It was from a 33" dia log that had been down for a few years.Sometimes we get Fir that has conk stain and the boards can be pink or purple.It looks really wild but seems to fade after the light has hit it.

[Paul_H]

Thanks for the info on the hover fly,I missed it while two finger typing my last post.We have some flys with bee type stripes that we call Wannabees.

[Tom]

"After I flashed up the mill and started sawing........... "

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                                                           ?
Y'all do some strange things up
there just to saw a piece of wood.  
We don't have any rituals like that
down here.......... I don't think. :-/ :D

[Paul_H]

Thats what happens when you work by yourself for to long.A person starts to talk to birds and flash mills.Heck,I even know a guy that brought a Rabbit to a Pig Roast :D

[Jeff]

I had a green headed Pigeon that appeared a few years back that rode my pantograph back and forth while I sawed. It stuck around for almost a month. Riding the carriage back and forth. He (it? she?) disappeared just like it appeared. It was neat for the head sawyer to have a friend for a while. Board pilers tend to dislike the sawyer. :-/

[DanG]

Around these parts, we have a lot of common Egrets. Them Egrets, they do love a tractor, especially if they have a mower behind. I can start mowing in the pasture, and will have 25 of these crow-sized birds around me in minutes. A little longer, and there will be hundreds of them trailing behind the mower, grabbing the bugs that the mower leaves behind. Egrets are land birds.

Now, I tole ya dat ta tell ya dis. ;D
Back when I was doing a lot of offshore fishing, I took my brother and a friend of his out on the Gulf of Mexico for a day of deep-sea fishing. We were about 15 miles out, fishing over an old shipwreck for Amberjack. We had one of those "quiet" periods, like you frequently do when you're fishing, and I noticed this bird off in the distance. Just assumed it was a Sea Gull or Tern, or some such. As the bird got closer, it appeared to be in trouble. I mean you could just see that it was struggling to continue flying, even though it was quite a ways from the boat. It perservered, though, and when it got close, I realized it wasn't a sea bird at all, but a Common Egret!  Well, the pore thing seemed like he had flapped his last flap as he landed on the very first available perch, the tip of my Brother's fishing rod. I have pics, somewhere, of Bro petting this wild, exhausted bird and feeding him bits of his ham sandwich.  Anyway, the bird hunkered down in the walkway beside the cabin and made himself at home. Fishing didn't pick up, so we moved to do a little inshore fishing. A couple of hours later, we were doing pretty well, and Bro's friend hooked a nice Cobia, or Ling as they are known hereabouts. These fish will circle the boat when hooked, and friend made at least a dozen trips around the perimeter of the boat, and that bird was one step in front of him all the way. We finally landed the Ling, a 30 pounder, not bad for fresh-water class tackle, and headed back to the marina. The bird hunkered back down in the walkway and looked like he was freezing to death until we passed under the bridge. He jumped up like he was shot or something, saw himself a pine tree, and took off for dry land. :D

Next morning, I had a charter and got to the marina early to gulp a couple of cups of coffee. I was telling the guys about this strange experience, thinking I would really impress them. Ol' Edgar Metcalf, the top guide, just smiled through the whole story, then said, "Yeah, that little *%(^$#$  rode home with me twice last week.  :D :D

I'll see if I can find those pics.

[rvrdivr]

Thanks guy's for all the fun story's. :D Tom that is a really good close up of that fly
The only mill buddys I've had were large red ants ;D