Now that the sun is getting brighter and warmer, the signs of spring are unmistakable. On our walk today we were greeted by a passing blue bird, several cowhead birds, a field of robins and the first returning tree swallow. We walked by a small pond in the forest that always fills up in the spring. A noisy place with peepers and birds that we call Matty's Pond. For the last two years we have been watching wood ducks nest there in the trees, and were fortunate to get a glimpse of them once again this morning. I am always baffled by the wood ducks because at times they are so colorful, but always seem to be able to hide themselves well in the bushes or in the trees. But the best at hiding from us is the Piliated Woodpecker. We hear him often in the trees but only get glimpses and far away pictures. This is the prefect bird hunting season as the trees are still bare and birds can't hide as well, except for that woodpecker. I am determined to get him with my camera and make it a personal vendetta to stalk him whenever possible.
When I was young my grandmother and grandfather moved from the city and bought a small home on Hot Hole Pond in Concord. As a child I spent many summers there and my grandmother was an avid birdwatcher. At the time, I really didn't understand the fascination with these tiny creatures but now I do. The arrival and departure of the birds say so much about the changing of the seasons. We wait for them in the spring like old friends, and say goodbye in the fall. That is true of our flocks of barn swallows, killdeer, and purple marlin. We also are waiting for the bats to come back to the bat houses we have waiting for them. I'm hoping that the white nose fungus didn't affect them during their winter hibernation.
The smell of fresh water and pine fill the forest this morning. We see our first wildflower, Coltsfoot, and the first butterfly, morning cloak. What a wonderful time to be out. No black flies yet. But we know they are coming.
The pond is full of frog eggs holding on to the dried grasses and branches of last year. They must come out from the mud pretty early to lay them as it seems only yesterday that the pond was covered in ice. Already the ferns are arising from the mud as they have for millions of years. I call them my Jurassic Park pictures because they remind me of things beautiful and timeless. These plants could have been growing each spring since prehistoric times. Isn't the spring a marvelous thing? This same process has been going on since the earth began and only now have I had the awareness to witness it.
The deer are looking pretty shabby these days. As the duller winter coat starts to shed, it will be replaced by the beautiful red coat of summer, which is why they are called "red deer". It's interesting how they fight for their place in the herd and especially now they bite and chase each other for unknown reasons. All except the dominate females and the large buck. Their fur is still intact although loosing its luster. Damion, the breeding male, has lost his antlers and already the buds of his new set are growing. I'm taking a picture every week to show the progress and will include them in the fall's blog to show the results. It's amazing. The antlers he lost this year weigh over eight pound each. That's a lot of weight to carry on his head. He always looks so proud holding them up. Compared to the day he looses them and he walks around with his head down and his ears floppy.
The chickens are tremendously elated to be outdoors after being snowed in all those months. They run, flap and try to fly. The rooster is quite busy working hard at trying to herd his flock of hens, but they will not be contained. The funniest story of the chickens happened when we decided to put the original four Rhode Island Reds in with the dozen newer Barred Rocks. In the barn we constructed two separate sleeping pens, with only chicken wire down the middle. We put the Rhodes in their pen. After a few days, the Barred Rocks got put in their new coop. And the stare down began. There was a lot of clucking and claws at the fence. So I was apprehensive the first day we let them out together. I let the Barred Rocks out, and they wandered away from the coop entrances to the field, then I let the Rhodes out. They too wandered off but in the opposite direction. Anyway, after a little time went by, one of the Barred Rocks noticed the door open for the Rhodes coop and the whole flock charged in, rooster first, to get those guys whom they had been quarreling with. Of course the pen was empty. As the Rhodes saw the commotion they too joined in the attack and together they ran in and out of the coop looking for the bad guys. They never did find them. And to this day we all live in peace with each breed returning to their respective coop at night. They lay their eggs in either pen.
Now that peace reigns, I was wondering how the Rhode Island Reds would respond to the rooster. They have never been with a rooster before, and I thought, "This will be interesting." And it was. On that first day the rooster did his best show-off crow. Immediately one of the Rhode Island Reds charged him and stopped him in mid crow. "Knock off that stuff!" He did.
I love chickens.
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