Spring is officially here

We consider the arrival of the red-winged blackbird as our first day of spring. They were 2-3 weeks behind with the 22nd being the first day to see them in the area. A couple of days later and I'm seeing dozens on the way to work.

Last Saturday, I was surrounded by them when I was downloading from the trail cameras. Along the fence line, on the power line, among the mulberry trees and this one above me in a hackberry:

Cabin fever, get things leveled up

This weekend was interrupted by weather and a trip to Marshalltown but I got a few things done.

We added some styrofoam in the floor joists (have you tried to manage a styrofoam sheet with wind gusts of 30-40 mph? We gave up after a while.

And tried to get it leveled up:

I'm leaning about a half inch to the SW corner.

I'm hoping for some real progress this week, provided the weather cooperates, no interruptions and help is there for the big work.

Winter moon

Looking uphill from the pond.

Wednesday wildlife, two's a crowd

If this keeps up, I'm going to need a traffic light.

Spring's here and we have cabin fever

The red-winged blackbirds are back and in numbers, bluebirds are in the neighborhood again and the pelicans are migrating north. Sorry no pictures as most of the time when I see these birds, it's during my commute.

One of the goals this year is to get a small cabin built so that we can enjoy the acreage and give us a place to sleep instead of a tent on the ground.

This weekend we got started:

We should have got more work done, but I ran out of juice for the batteries. We're still primitive and we have to pack our electricity in with us a saw and drill. A few more braces, some insulation for the floor, and we can start on the walls. Let's see if I can get more work done next weekend.

We decided to put this among the young cottonwoods on the east side of the property and we can always move it if we need to. At 12 x 12, it should be big enough for us.

This should reduce drive time and I'll have no excuse for not getting more work done.

Camera mystery

Something decided to chew on one of our Stealthcam cameras.

Lots of teeth marks but no pictures to give us a clue. These are rugged little cameras and I left it on the small mulberry tree so it can continue to give us some of our better pictures from the acreage.

Wednesday wildlife, coyotes

As long as these will take the rabbits and mice, I'm fine with having them around.

Taken from our camera in the SE corner of the property on 2/22, I have several shots of coyotes at the edge of the field of view. While most of those pictures were blurry, this one paused long enough to give us a good picture.

Watch out for falling snow

At the start of our 2/1 snowstorm:

And as it melts:

It would have been funnier if someone was standing underneath.

Wednesday wildlife, bluebird's choice

We had an open house last April and had one visitor that couldn't make up their mind. Having a couple of houses to choose from, this bluebird took its time before deciding.

This year, the boxes have been cleaned out and sealed up as we hope another family of these beautiful songbirds take up residence at the farm. We have four lovely townhouses for them.

Red-winged blackbirds

They're usually in the area by this time of the year, so here's a picture of one from last year. This one was peaking at us from a mulberry tree.

Can you tell that we have spring fever?

Is spring finally here?

This was taken January 2014 but the sentiment is the same.

Spring is just around the corner.

Wednesday wildlife, out of season

A small herd of deer across the road. Recorded in January while the season was closed.

Best if watched in full screen