A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[sfgwife]

That goofly lil “tom” on the right.... road runner the HEN with she pannies in a snit today. This has been goin on all afternoon here. There is a robin on each end of their pen that has babies on the ground and no matter where the turks go they are gettin dive bombed. :/

 

[Molpet]

View attachment 1546070 That goofly lil “tom” on the right.... road runner the HEN with she pannies in a snit today. This has been goin on all afternoon here. There is a robin on each end of their pen that has babies on the ground and no matter where the turks go they are gettin dive bombed. :/

 

[R2elk]

View attachment 1546070 That goofly lil “tom” on the right.... road runner the HEN with she pannies in a snit today. This has been goin on all afternoon here. There is a robin on each end of their pen that has babies on the ground and no matter where the turks go they are gettin dive bombed. :/

A pair of Red-winged Blackbirds nested in my cattails this summer. Whenever the Sweetgrass tom would go stand near the pond, the male would dive bomb him repeatedly to the point where he would actually make contact because the tom was not going to be rushed no matter what.

If I got too close to the nest, I would also get dive bombed but never to the point of actual contact. With me the male would mostly just issue severe warnings.

 

[sfgwife]

She is the drama queen of the whole lot! She cannot decide whether she needs strut round makin sure her wings are draggin the ground like the boys or be dainty most days. This is par for the course with her. Lol! She struts beautifully and is a sweet gentle maman hen when she wants to be. Go figure.

 

[sfgwife]

A pair of Red-winged Blackbirds nested in my cattails this summer. Whenever the Sweetgrass tom would go stand near the pond, the male would dive bomb him repeatedly to the point where he would actually make contact because the tom was not going to be rushed no matter what.

If I got too close to the nest, I would also get dive bombed but never to the point of actual contact. With me the male would mostly just issue severe warnings.

That bout the tom is too funny! Sounds like thor the old dog here! He is in no rush anywhere his twelve year old bod wants to carry him now a days... but.... come time for bed or the occasional treat... buddy he can MOVE. LOL!

Bluebirds got me this spring. I thought the babies should have flown the nest in the tree box but i was wrong. I had went to clean it out and bam bam bam mama and dad got me. Plus the babies were ready to come out just hadn’t been brave enough yet so when i opened the box i had four lil bluebirds flyin at my face and mom and dad to deal with. I rounded up the babies and put them back while mom and dad fussed nonstop. Needless to say i waited another two weeks to go try clean that box out. Lol!

This is the thor beastie in his happy place on cool days.

 

[sfgwife]

A pair of Red-winged Blackbirds nested in my cattails this summer. Whenever the Sweetgrass tom would go stand near the pond, the male would dive bomb him repeatedly to the point where he would actually make contact because the tom was not going to be rushed no matter what.

If I got too close to the nest, I would also get dive bombed but never to the point of actual contact. With me the male would mostly just issue severe warnings.

And. Do you plant specific grasses and plants for all the wildlife you have at your home? Or does it just grow there naturally? I see such beauty in your pics and when you talk about your place. We have many many acres that we are thinkin of havin someone come out to tell us what to plant and where to plant so we can possibly attract more native wildlife back here. The bad thing are these stinkin coyotes run off so much of it here. . So we are just not sure we want to “lure” things back here only to be fodder for them.

Just last night there was somethin big in the woods by the meat birds. Athena (our lil huntress) took off and would not be recalled (which is not normal for her... the recall part) for a good bit. Paul went out behind her cause she was hackles raised and barkin a big mean girl bark and tearin out of here. He said it sounded like a bobcat screechin and growlin and then he heard somethin hit the ground hard from the trees. He went back out with his implements of destruction lookin for a good while but didnt see anything.

 

[R2elk]

And. Do you plant specific grasses and plants for all the wildlife you have at your home? Or does it just grow there naturally? I see such beauty in your pics and when you talk about your place. We have many many acres that we are thinkin of havin someone come out to tell us what to plant and where to plant so we can possibly attract more native wildlife back here. The bad thing are these stinkin coyotes run off so much of it here. . So we are just not sure we want to “lure” things back here only to be fodder for them.

Just last night there was somethin big in the woods by the meat birds. Athena (our lil huntress) took off and would not be recalled (which is not normal for her... the recall part) for a good bit. Paul went out behind her cause she was hackles raised and barkin a big mean girl bark and tearin out of here. He said it sounded like a bobcat screechin and growlin and then he heard somethin hit the ground hard from the trees. He went back out with his implements of destruction lookin for a good while but didnt see anything.

I added water to this sand dune. The birds planted a lot of Russian Olives and I keep planting bushes, trees, etc. I now have trees coming from runners and seeds everywhere there is water. I even noticed a new sprout that appears to be a Green Ash yesterday. All the tree, bush and grass roots help the sand hold the moisture.

I get to do a lot of tree trimming often because of snow damage. I started burying those branches in the sand which adds organic matter to the "soil" and also helps hold the moisture. One particular burial spot has become home to lots and lots of Alcohol Inky Cap and Shaggy Mane mushrooms. The Shaggy Mane mushrooms when split in half and batter fried in butter are melt in your mouth delicious.

I added the pond years ago because of all the song birds that were dying from dehydration due to West Nile disease from the mosquitoes. I almost never see a song bird death from West Nile since I put the pond in.

 

[sfgwife]

We actually watched a video today on the burying of tree trimmings and such to help hold water. It was so educational to me! We have never heard of that being done. The guy had had some land cleared and all the leftovers put in what he called his pasture to do the very thing you are talkin about. Most of our property is wooded except for by the creek that runs on the backside. There is wooded just not quite as dense as the rest of it. But it surely doesnt need more moisture held. The beavers help that down there quite well.

We have an old hog lagoon and holding pond that we had the water tested this spring and it tested clean. Yay! So we are gonna put fish in it next spring. But we love to go sit on cool evening and watch the natives partake of it and their adorable tomfloolery.

That is wonderful to not see dying creatures for the habitat you made for them! And mushrooms! Paul and i want to next spring take the classes the ag extension office has on foraging for them. A local grocery/deli here gets local mushrooms in from time to time and i cook them like you said and we always love them!

 

[R2elk]

We actually watched a video today on the burying of tree trimmings and such to help hold water. It was so educational to me! We have never heard of that being done. The guy had had some land cleared and all the leftovers put in what he called his pasture to do the very thing you are talkin about. Most of our property is wooded except for by the creek that runs on the backside. There is wooded just not quite as dense as the rest of it. But it surely doesnt need more moisture held. The beavers help that down there quite well.

We have an old hog lagoon and holding pond that we had the water tested this spring and it tested clean. Yay! So we are gonna put fish in it next spring. But we love to go sit on cool evening and watch the natives partake of it and their adorable tomfloolery.

That is wonderful to not see dying creatures for the habitat you made for them! And mushrooms! Paul and i want to next spring take the classes the ag extension office has on foraging for them. A local grocery/deli here gets local mushrooms in from time to time and i cook them like you said and we always love them!

I got the idea to bury the branches based on hugelkultur.

 

[memphis]

Ralphie...miss ya. Glad u stopped by.

I reuse every leaf that falls in my yard as mulch for my native beds. Never understood bagging good organic matter in plastic bags.