Mtn Ranch in late April

 Jon went up to the Mtn Ranch the last two weekends in April. The first one was for fun, the second was for hunting with more than his camera. He took pictures of quite a few birds, a couple are ones not usually found in this area, so that was super exciting. We'll start off this mountain visit with a game. 

                                                                        Duck, Duck, GOOSE! 

These ladies reminded him a bit of the two geese from Disney's Aristocats. They were high stepping and walking with a stately bustle. 

This Tom was hanging around near them. Oddly, even though he has all the lovely feathers and struts around like he owns the place, it is the hens who appear to defend their Tom. 

Up above, Jon found this hawk. The video he took was really good, but haven't yet figured out how to upload videos from him into blogger. 

There were some younglings out snacking, too. So many four footed creatures look terrible in spring. Their fur is shedding and they look as if they could eat an entire field of wheat! 

Sandhill cranes migrate north each spring and return in the fall. They are often so high overhead you can't find them. Sometimes, however, you sight their dark 'V' against the bright blue of the sky and are amazed. Amazed at how far away they are, how loud they are, and how crazy it is they exist. They are definitely an oddly shaped avian.  

The next weekend Jon was up there, it was raining. From his camp he was able to look out on the pond over the fence and he found these absolutely bizarre birds. On All About Birds, a website I have used often, it shows these shore birds are not in this area. In a larger map, it shows they might be. I'm having some trouble understanding the map feature!! Anyway, these are black necked stilts. They have an interesting call and were very busy wading on their long pink legs and foraging for whatever might be edible in this small bit of water. Jon also noticed some other birds in with the stilts. The bird below is probably a snipe, it did have long legs when it was not swimming. 

A bowling pin..or is it a penguin? 

Look at those legs!!!!! This link will take you to All About Birds. :o)  They have the second-longest legs in proportion to their bodies of any bird, exceeded only by flamingos. 

Jon also found a very brown duck on the pond. It was cinnamon teal and his mate. Like the rest of the teals, you can't see the green bit on the wings unless they are in flight. They will nest in EO, so perhaps the pair will stick around! 

Jon had gone up on Friday night to hunt for turkey. He heard them calling and anticipated an easy day on Saturday. It didn't work out that way, though! After a day of rain and not rain and using his hen call, he was about to pack up and return to the house, when he decided to call once more. This time, he had an answer. The story is a lot more interesting in his own words, but I'll sum up. A hen came out of hiding to see about the 'calling hen' and Jon waited and waited. Eventually, the prominent tom strutted forth and Jon was able to take a shot. Looking at the variety of birds Jon found on the ranch these last weeks, the turkey is by fair the oddest. They have scaly long legs, incredible soft and stiff feathers full of stunning colors, a rather creepy lizard like head and neck in several mismatched colors, formidable beaks and talons, and something called a beard that is made up of actual hair jutting out of their chest! No one could come up with all those elements if they were given a skeleton and had no knowledge of this sort of fowl. 

I'd add a photo of the feathers and another of Jonathan, however, it appears the new Chromebook isn't compatible with my cell phone. Compatibility is a typical problem! 

      We had a half of the bird for dinner on Wednesday and it had a great flavor. It had been brined with a lot of water, about a TB of brown sugar, and a good deal of garlic salt with parsley. When it was cooked, I added most of a sliced apple and an eighth of a cucumber. I didn't know exactly how long to cook it, so parts were overcooked a bit, but overall, it was a good first time from the hunt to the oven. 

Different Points of View

 Seeing the ranch from the lens of each son. They take similar photos, yet the subject matter is a bit different! Most of their time was at the Upper Place.

 I was glad Tony took these. It is always good to have documentation of getting stuck and needing your dad to pull you out. These are from the Lower Place.

Sunset over the towns. 

Early June on the Mtn Ranch

Jonathan and Steve have been doing fences the last few days. However, Jon went up alone one day with the camera and took some amazing pictures. I chose a few of the over 100 to share!

 I love all the flowers blooming up on the mountain during the spring. Yes, it is still spring up on the ranch. The fence of wild roses is rather stunning.

  Deer playing peek-a-boo!

Things you find in the pond-A GREEN dragonfly, a snail floating on the ceiling of the water, and polliwogs! 

This snail Jon took several photos of-finally, he saw it tilt and realised it was a snail underwater with it's foot on the bottom of the surface of the water~which is really strange. 

 At this time of the year, the pond is green and not full of pond weed, the cows have not torn up the edge of the pond, and everything is peaceful. I only hope the killdeer nest hatches out its babies (it was near the pond!).

 As Jon drove home, he captured the ranch in his mirror and camera (my camera). I think this is one of my favorite photos,.

Last weekend of summer vacation-mom's photos

Jon has wanted for ages to camp up on the ranch, so for the last weekend of summer vacation, we did! We only stayed up there one night, but with all the dust blowing around making us sneeze, it was long enough. Next time, I'll bring more tissue or take allergy meds and we can stay longer!

Jon, never a child to travel the beaten track, took the road less traveled to get to the pond..needless to say, it was very adventurous! The first photo does not do justice to the ruts, rocks, and washouts we encountered! I am not even sure what trees we started between. The second photo was the path we should have taken!


We got up to the area a little late in the day for much activity, but Jon unloaded the wee boat and took it out on the pond. Yes, that is a pond. We forgot the rake to use on the rather aggressive weeds choking it! Next time! Steve and I took a walk and found a couple of the willow trees he planted. The deer had eaten them, so we collected the wire holders and will plant some more next spring.
Speaking of deer, this was one of 4 or 5 bucks we saw. It is a grainy picture as they were about 100 yards away or so. At one time we saw in a row points of 4, 3, 2, and spike buck! So, we know they are there, just gotta wait for hunting season. We are hoping they stick around!!!

The next morning we were awakened very early by a cow alarm! In a city you have car alarms..in the woods, cow! They had finally gotten out of the grass where they spent the night to come down to the pond for a drink. On the good side, because they broke the fence we were able to go for a night walk in the CRP (Conservation Reserve Program-for farming areas that are not able to be farmed anymore). The Toyota is where Jon spent his night. Tents are not a good idea here due to the cows. The ground is really torn up and there are 'pies' all over the place!

One of the things we did on Saturday was go to the 'upper place'. It is totally amazing up there and I learned that this is where the guys sight in their rifles. And after a bit of a hike, that is what Jon did.

We got back to camp for a spot of relaxation and some lunch. Jon had with him approved camp out reading, especially nice for use in a kit bashed together hammock! (rope over 20 years old is not good hammock rope!) Lunch was hobo veggies and pork steaks. I had forgotten the salt and pepper, but BBQ sauce worked very well along with the Ranch dressing. Steve added a side of Mtn Dew to his.

We were planning on doing another longer hike, but I was very sneezy by this time and since the cows were out of the CRP, they decided to fix the fence (note, they are not our cows. the owner rents the land for them). It was a lot more work than they had thought it might be!

On the way back home, Jon had to take a 'vista' shot of the world below us. It is pretty incredible what you can see and my next blog will be the same weekend, only from Jon's point of view!

I did bring a book-NEVER go anywhere without one! And was able to read one of Tamora Pierce's books about Tortall (Protector of the Small-Squire).