Farewell to June

The last week of June was busy and rather stressful. Johnny spent it mostly hauling more used fencing wire and posts home from Nancy and Dick's. We now have a lot of fencing material.

wire

gates

metal posts

wood posts

more wood posts... these are being treated in used motor oil

 I spent the week, as always in June, weeding, mowing, digging tansy, weeding, mowing. And there were crises. Nightingale colicked. I walked her and called the vet. By the time he arrived, she was better and I was calmer. But probably her one hour on grass that morning had not been a good thing. The horses hate being off grass and started chewing their prison down... or all of it that is wood that they can reach. So Johnny spent several days covering the wood with plastic pipe.

Now they're eating the posts they can still reach.

 I've ordered Chew Stop. They get out with muzzles on for an hour in the early morning in a small area I mowed and electric-fenced off. And they get fed hay cubes several times a day, instead of just twice like when they're out on pasture. I'll be glad when the grass dries up and the horses can be out full time again.

In between all the work, we went to the coast for a day of Black Oystercatcher surveys. Johnny saw a chick on the Middle Nest Rock at Road's End while I saw the chick on North Rock that I had found the week before.

North Rock parent with chick lower right

 Also on the North nest rock were three new Western Gull chicks. I didn't know they started out spotted!

We surveyed Cape Kiwanda earlier that day but found only one non-nesting pair of Black Oystercatchers, plus a Peregrine Falcon.

One of the two foraging, non-nesting, Cape Kiwanda Black Oystercatchers

Peregrine Falcon

 
We checked Neskowin's Refusal Rock, too, where a pair has nested in the past, but saw none. I guess they refused this year.

Refusal Rock

That survey day was long and tiring. But the scenery, as always, was beautiful. Below is my view looking south from my north observation point at Road's End. The South nest rock and Middle nest rock (among others) are in this photo. The South nest rock pair have apparently lost their eggs and left town.

The rest of the week I trimmed horse hooves (I can only trim one horse a day before my back and hands give out) along with the usual weeding, pulling tansy, etc. The hooves look good and the horses are sound so the dry lot is working, even though the horses hate it.

On Sunday, we built snow fence and metal fence barricades with netting on top around the producing blueberry bushes. Our free-roaming peacock had been picking blueberries as soon as they showed any blueness. Hopefully the barricades will allow us to eat some blueberries this year. Last year I draped netting over them. That made picking difficult for me but didn't seem to slow the birds down much.

The roses are lovely in June. I managed to weed and spread barkdust under them, but not take many photos. Here is one of Armada, always in bloom.

And blurry ones of Paul's Himalayan Musk that climbs way up the poplar in our front yard and hangs completely over the driveway. But it only lasts through June.

 The weird Voodoo Lily in the arboretum only blooms in June, too, which is probably a blessing considering how awful it smells when it first opens.

 Goodbye June... and hello July...