Scattered Seed

I grew up and attended school in a much less complicated time.    I grew up in the B.C. era (Before Calculators).

Back then we had two holidays in February.   One on February 12th to celebrate Abe Lincoln’s birthday,  and another on the 22nd to celebrate George Washington’s.    Now we have the third Monday in February to celebrate these presidents (or is it all presidents?)  or shop the President’s Day sales.    We chose to skip the stores,  and headed out for another day with nature.     I don’t get a holiday or open spaces often enough,  and the fresh air and birdsong was just what I needed,  and I think the Presidents would approve.

Despite an overnight snowfall and overcast skies,  we saw some beautiful scenery.

After many roads-less-traveled and hills climbed,  we neared the Keuka Lake area.    This farm sat on the road below us,  and I could see the stone fence ran from one end of the property to the other.

We drove down for a closer look,  and marveled at the work that must have been involved to collect the stones and lay the fence.

George,  always on the lookout for something unusual,  spotted this turkey down the road,  probably a victim of a car collision.

After about three hours of meandering,  we finally arrived at the Keuka Lake shore.

We saw these common goldeneye,  several mallards,  buffleheads and Canada geese just off shore.

After a stop in Bath for lunch, George felt like continuing on,  so we took some more backways,  along the Canisteo River and the rail line there,  on into Addison,  and finally on home.

It wasn’t a good bird-photographing day,  but we did see quite a bit.     Chickadees,  juncos,  downy woodpeckers,  robins,  blue jays, crows, cardinals,  rock pigeons,  red-tailed hawks,  eastern bluebirds,  a red-bellied woodpecker, a hairy woodpecker,  goldfinches,  and an American tree sparrow.

It was a very pleasant holiday.      Thank you George (my George),  George,  and Abe.

It was the song of the redwing blackbird that stirred me from sleep this morning. It was like awakening to springtime, and it coaxed me from my warm bed.

I did a full hour’s count for The Great Backyard Bird Count,  with my numbers much improved over yesterday. Blue jays, black-capped chickadees, mourning doves, house finches, goldfinches, juncos, house sparrows, a downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, many pine siskins, starlings of course, and at least five redwings.

Mid-morning we headed in the direction of Watkins Glen, taking back roads, enjoying the sunny day and scenery.

We did a little shopping in town, then back out into the country for a roundabout drive home. For awhile we traveled over roads we were unfamiliar with, and without a map, it was a mystery where we would end up.   As long as we have a sunny day and a full tank of gas,  I enjoy the adventure.    George always wishes we had a map,  but in 36 years, we’ve never failed to arrive home.

We kept our eyes out for birds along the way,  but for some reason we tend to zip along faster in the Miata on a sunny day than we do in my car on any other day.   We did spot this Eastern bluebird sitting in a tree between two small lakes,  and it made up for all the birds we didn’t see.

Both our lunch and dinner were shared with friends  -  fast food for lunch in Painted Post, where friends happened to stop in at the same time that we did,  and a buffet dinner with George’s fellow union members,  at a restaurant in Elmira.     After a long winter of near-hibernation,   it was nice to be back out and about.

It was a slow day out back, and my bird visitors were few.

There has been a return of the redwing blackbirds,  which seems early this year.

The goldfinches have become more regular than the house finches anymore.

The downy keeps working at this little bit of suet.

Till the starlings come along and take over.

And, of course,  the house sparrows.   They hang out in our brush pile,  and are the first and last visitors every day.

I also had juncos,  chickadees, mourning doves, house finches,  and a lone pine siskin.

I’ll hope for a better count tomorrow.

After reaching a temperature of 50 degrees yesterday, the wind was howling this morning, and the temp was in the 30’s again. I was glad that we had our outing yesterday.

George made up a couple of batches of dog biscuits, trying different combinations of ingredients.   They went in the oven after our dinner came out,  and now they are hardening.    Martha was quite interested in the whole process, and she will be the final judge!

I headed down to the basement to do the weekend laundry, and this is what I discovered.

I had forgotten that I put my pot of bulbs down there, hidden behind the box of furnace filters. When George used the last filter yesterday, he took away the box, and lo and behold, the sprouts have started.     I remember what a treat it was to watch the daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths open last year as I waited for spring.

There was a lot of paperwork to catch up on, and grocery shopping to do.   And, of course, I did my weekend count for Feederwatch.

We went out for a drive today since the sky was clear and the temps were rising. We meandered on back roads, finding few birds out of the ordinary, except three robins high in a tree in Burdett.

George suggested we drive north again, and check to see if the snowy owl was still in the field where we saw it last week. Arriving about 3 p.m, we not only spotted it in the same field, but it was just a few feet from where it sat last Sunday.

The lighting was better, so our pictures are a little better this time.

When it flew off, it also headed in the same direction where it landed last week. This time we could see it from where we’d parked, looking like a little snowman on the hill.

It was well worth the drive….

After our snowy owl and turkey sightings on Sunday, we drove down by Cayuga Lake. Both George and I grew up nearby, and we knew, with the temperature finally above freezing,  it would be a great day for a deep breath of lake air.

The geese and ducks were noisy and abundant,  enjoying their day in the sunshine too.

Our snowy owl adventure yesterday had us sitting alongside a field full of hay bales. While the snowy sat and hardly moved, I was aware of movement across the road. There were probably ten wild turkeys poking around the hay.

At one point, a group of them seemed to form a chorus line as they emerged from between the bales.

I love to watch turkeys.   They never cease to amuse me.

We had no plans today, so I wasn’t even dressed yet, when I opened up my laptop to see what blog postings were up.   Mike’s subject title caught my eye, so I checked it out.   With a little investigation I realized that he was referring to an area I was pretty familiar with. My sister lives just down the road from this snowy owl sighting!

When I mentioned it to George, it was a go.   He is always on the lookout for owls, and this sounded like a good possibility.

Fortunately, it was a really nice day for a drive, and I pointed that out several times on the way up, in case the owl was not to be found.

As we neared the field,we noticed the hay bales in the field to the left ahead of us, and a car pulled over on the shoulder to the right.

We slowed down to see what they might be focused on, and there, out along a snowy ridge, sat our snowy owl,  a first for me. A couple of weeks ago we missed seeing one on the way home from Buffalo, so we were delighted that this one stuck around long enough for us to come by.

We watched it for about fifteen minutes before it flew further back in the field.

My photos don’t do it justice,  so check out Mike’s photos and account here.

We left the house early this morning, wanting to drive around the countryside near home to see what birds were about.   Fortunately, George knows most of the back roads in the area and where they will take us.

We started out where we saw the snow buntings last weekend. George had spotted them yesterday on a training run, but today they were nowhere in sight.  We did see a downy, goldfinches, cardinals, blue jays, crows, mourning doves, Canada geese, a red-tailed hawk, chickadees, white-breasted nuthatches, eastern bluebirds, and a mockingbird along the way.

It was a frigid morning at 2 degrees, and I was thankful that we were doing our birding by car. Ice hung from the banks as we drove towards Watkins Glen,  and the falls that we pass by were frozen solid.

It was a beautiful drive up along Seneca Lake,  the sun shining,  and the water bright blue.

After a stop in Seneca Falls at Sauder’s for supplies,  we did a quick stop near the visitor’s center at Montezuma before going on to Auburn. George spotted two eagles passing over the fields,  and we tried several different places to catch a better glimpse,  and photos,  but they kept their distance.

We arrived at Dad and Evelyn’s in time for lunch,  then spent the rest of the afternoon playing euchre.   It is not a game that I play often,  so it took a while for me to get the hang of it.

By the time I had my strategy worked out,  the sun was going down, and we decided we’d better start for home.

My eyes were fluttering towards sleep as soon as we left Auburn,  and it was just by chance that I caught sight of a flock of turkeys crossing a field in single file.    It was an impressive sight,  about thirty of them,  dark against the snow.

Having that picture  (in my head only), I promptly nodded off.

It was a weather watch last night, and now a weather warning. Looking at the national map, it is covering a large territory, beginning in Texas. Rebecca and Melissa were headed there as the first leg of their flight to Hawaii today, so I was glad to hear that they made it out, and the storm did not deter their plans.

Now we await the snow to fall. 100% chance they say, so it’s just a matter of how much. Predictions are for 6-10 inches here.

I noticed there was heavy traffic at the feeders this morning, and George noted the same midday.   He gets credit for these photos.    There wasn’t enough time for me to pull out the camera before work.

The birds are a good indication of the weather to come.     I’ll plan to be out there early,  boots on,  filling the feeders.