Ocean Reprieve

 

 

It's been a tough several weeks plus on the farm, so today's hike to the Thumb in spectacular weather with a Black Oystercatcher chick in view on Middle Rock was just what I needed. Actually, I swear I saw two chicks with two adults but missed the second chick in my photos. They kept disappearing behind the rock fortress where my co-monitor, Casey, had guessed the nest was.

As an added bonus, the South Rock pair appear to be renesting. 

First, the Middle Rock story in photos, sort of in the order I took them:

 

 

adult left, chick behind to the right

chick, rock fortress where nest was suspected is left of chick

chick, closer

adult on foraging rock gathering food for chick(s)

foraging rock with BLOY barely visible

The nest rock is big rock in foreground. Foraging rock is the little roundish one to the right (north)

2 adults, 1 chick (between the adults)

same as above but farther away

adult

Middle Rock (nest rock) with Black (or Back) Rock behind

adult on left, chick behind, 2nd adult far right, with a 2nd chick likely behind the "fortress" behind the visible chick

adult and chick

 

I'll save the South Rock photos for my Black Oystercatcher blog. For those who would just like to see the beautiful ocean scene from my Observation Post, here it is:

Cascade Head in the distance

The offshore island covered in guano

My view from The Thumb of the nest and foraging rocks below. A good scope and/or good camera is essential. The view is too distant for binoculars.

The trail back toward The Knoll from The Thumb (the most civilized part of the trail)

The trail from The Knoll to the parking area

 Earlier this year, during the month of rain, the trails were a slippery, muddy mess. Today they were beautiful.

 

A July Photo Journey Through Our Farm

 

The Last Bale

 Oops. I totally forgot to enclose a photo of Johnny jumping the last bale of hay we picked up off the field. That is a tradition he started long ago. He says when he can no longer jump the last bale, his haying days are over. He had no trouble this year! Although it did take a bit of hitching up his pants and fastening his belt first...

Then he insisted on getting a photo of me throwing the last bale on the flatbed.

These were the last bales after the baler had broken down so we could not get them baled before it rained. They had to be re-raked after they dried and then baled, so they are not pretty. Neither were we by that time. But we did it!

A Reprieve from Angst

 Mr. Smith's sore feet occupied my worried brain through June and into July. He wasn't too bad until June 12, when a farrier came and trimmed his and Nightingale's hooves. The hooves looked much better but... the trim was apparently too short as both horses had sore feet... Nightingale for a week and Mr. Smith for much longer. He would not move at all, ate little, and was miserable. In spite of soft footing, icing, liniment on sore muscles from holding his weight off his front legs, Mr. Smith continued to be unwilling to put weight on his front feet. Relief finally came when EZ Boots RX arrived on July 5th. Johnny and I managed to get them on Mr. Smith's sore front hooves and presto! he could walk again. It is like a miracle. He appears completely sound on all surfaces. It's been years since he could walk on hard ground without mincing, thanks to his long-ago foundered front hooves. I love EZ Boots RX!

The timing was very close as I was scheduled to leave for Ashland and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival on July 6th with grandson Ian and his partner Kellin. Thanks to the EZ Boots, I was able to go and leave Johnny in charge of the animals. He had finally been able to cut hay, after the incessant rain stopped the last week of June. He baled most of it by the end of the month... when the baler quit working. We did get all the hay that was baled into the goat barn and that is plenty for us. However, the baler did not cooperate until the hay that was down got rained on. So that hay, when we are able to get it baled, will go for garden mulch. I could use lots of mulch as I've been mowing between rows rather than weeding!

And now... the adventures in photos... 

Friend Mary discovered this on our property and said it's a native peavine that is very uncommon. 

Also uncommon was this Western Pond Turtle...

Johnny discovered this turtle marching down our driveway. We took it to the creek.

We took a lot of photos of mysterious scats in our driveway and on our paths by the house, finally deciding they were from the gray foxes our neighbors in front of us had been seeing. One night I heard one "bark" behind the house. And one day Johnny saw one depositing a scat in front of our house.

Between farm adventures, I did my beached bird survey for COASST plus monitored Black Oystercatchers at Road's End and Cape Kiwanda plus monitored some eagle nests and a Peregrine Falcon nest for a group of researchers.

 

 

Meanwhile, back on the farm... our goats enjoyed the lush grass from all that rain

Indoors, orchids bloomed...

This one has bloomed off and on since October, when it was gifted to me.

These Swallowtails were drinking horse urine in our paddock to get the minerals they need. Sometimes there were dozens flitting about or lined up drinking.

At the south end of the goat barn, Cliff Swallows arrived and began repairing and rebuilding their nests from last year.

Johnny mowing the first field. I never got photos of raking or baling as life became too busy.

The amazing rose, Paul's Himalayan Musk, covered with flowers and climbing up the front yard poplar tree. It smells divine.

Roses bloomed in spite of all the weeds and lack of care.

After our whirlwind trip to Ashland from Wednesday July 5 to Friday July 7, we arrived home. Here Johnny, Kellin and Ian commune with the goats... before leaving on July 8.

My favorite photo of Kellin with Cindy Lou. Cindy Lou was named by Ian and her aunt Sarah 7 years ago because she had a white "C" on her forehead. It has sprawled and doesn't look much like a C anymore, but Cindy Lou she still is.

 

 

Busy Spring

 May zoomed by with lots of long hikes monitoring Black Oystercatchers and others. Grass keeps growing and I keep mowing, even though May is supposed to be No Mow May to allow pollinators to feed. Believe me, they have plenty of unmowed territory on our 45 acres to explore. 

The beds are a mass of grass and weeds, but I have liberated almost all the blueberry bushes and the rhubarb I could find. Johnny made a rhubarb pie. I planted and replanted tomatoes in the tires in the garden. Lots of beets and chard and potatoes volunteered. Peas are up but not flowering... weather has been cold and wet. 

A pair of bluebirds have nested in one of our boxes and now have chicks to feed... when the weather is dry enough for the insects to fly. Here is the pair, wet and bedraggled, on top of their box.

Lots of anxiety for me over my beloved Mr. Smith's sore feet in May... mostly my fault for letting him out on spring grass. I have just started letting him out for a few hours a day again. The cowbirds are happy to have a lookout post on his back and he is happy to have them eating any flies that dare to land up there.

The last goat to kid kindly did it without my help during  Mother's Day night. When I checked early the next morning, two kids were up, dry, fed and fine. What a great Mother's Day present!

 With all the ugliness in the world these days, it is nice to have bouncy baby goats in the barn and beautiful flowers blooming in the greenhouse. I go into the greenhouse to enjoy whenever the world becomes too much.

Johnny is constantly busy trying to keep things running here, getting ready for haymaking when the weather finally allows, and repairing all the stuff the goats and I break. He has also been accompanying me on some of my long coastal hikes surveying birds. 

It's all preferable to listening to the news, which seems to go from one disaster to another, most of which would be preventable with sensible laws and sensible people. 

The pandemic continues to rage but we, happily, have stayed healthy through it all and are now vaccinated and double boosted, plus wear masks when in public places. Most of our neighbors have had Covid at least once... and most, but not all, have survived. Several have had it twice. Those are mostly the ones unvaccinated and/or unmasked. Some people are very slow learners.

Here's hoping for good health, good weather, good friends... and good sense... for all.