Those wily scurs were certain we were in for a warm up but were playing it a little too close to the vest again. Based on that, wait until you get a load of what’s in store for us this week. Starting Wednesday, mostly clear with highs of 70 – 75 and lows near 45. Mostly clear both Thursday and Friday with highs near 70 and lows of 50 – 55. Partly cloudy Saturday through Monday with a slight chance of rain on Monday. Highs of 65 - 70 and lows around 55. Tuesday, partly cloudy with a chance of rain. Highs around 60 and lows near 40. We will see over 12 hours of daylight on St. Patty’s Day. The normal high for St. Patty’s Day is 40 and the normal low is 23. The forecast highs and lows are more like May 17th. The scurs are wondering how long before we pay the price for all this nice May weather.
Yes, the vernal equinox will also occur on the Tuesday the 20th at about 12:14 a.m. so it’s that time of year once again when chicken eggs stand on end making the hens more vicious than ever. It’s also when we curse the government for its exceptional ineptitude. Time for road postings and to set the clocks ahead. The road postings I can understand but the time change? Leave the clocks alone already or at least for another month. Getting up in the dark for two or three weeks after just starting to enjoy sunlight in the morning is not only foolish, it’s dangerous. The number of traffic accidents suddenly spikes as do workplace accidents. Why? People are half asleep. Some would argue there is a corresponding decrease in accidents when the clock is turned back in the fall. Using that logic, we should periodically turn it back another hour so we could really reap the benefits!
The night sky this winter has been fascinating to watch. Jupiter and Venus have both been very bright and in close proximity of each other high in the western sky. Mars has become more distinctive as well and is a little higher in the eastern sky each night at 10 p.m. during lamb check. It has dimmed slightly however as it was closest to earth back on the 5th. With Daylight Saving Time, Mars now sets around sunrise. Several have asked about my apparent fascination with the moon and the night sky among other things. The night sky has been reminding me during chores since I was a boy that we are a part of something larger. Of course, sneaking up in the attic to get out our older brother’s Gilbert telescope probably helped stimulate our imaginations as much as anything. It was almost as much fun as playing cowboys and Indians.
There was lots of phenology worthy of note at the ranch this past week. A few geese were moving around Monday but it was tough to tell if they were locals or the scout team sent in to see if there was open water in which to land. Within about an hour of the deadline time for the column there were two robins bobbing along in the yard on the 6th. The next morning there were killdeers calling from the pasture. The 8th brought the first red-winged blackbird. The following day a striped gopher was observed on the shoulder of the road east of the substation on St. Olaf Lake. By Saturday the skies were full of wave after wave of red-winged blackbirds and wedge upon wedge of geese moving in a northwesterly direction. Interestingly enough they were not all Canada’s. Up high there was a familiar higher pitched honking, that of several hundred snows and blues. They were adult birds, all the snows with black wing tips and blues with white heads, a striking appearance against the blue sky. There was also one small group of white-fronted or speckle-bellied geese making their way noisily across the sky. Thought I was back in North Dakota again. As of Monday morning, St. Olaf Lake has a ring of water around it and the ice is dark. Won’t be long, folks.
Small area wetlands continue to hold water, providing migrating waterfowl resting areas and potential nesting sites. Apparently the small amount of snow we had didn’t go anyplace and runoff from the February rain certainly didn’t hurt. Still haven’t heard the Western Chorus frogs yet but one of these warm days it will happen. One of the rooster pheasants has staked a claim to the plum thicket, likely a descendant of Little Jerry. This one is a little coyer than Little Jerry was so hopefully he will be around for a while. The frost is largely out of the ground in the fields especially after Monday’s rain. Poking around the yard and pasture Sunday with the divining rod (a specially designed electric fence post) it was out already on the south-facing slopes. On the flat and on north facing slopes it was only thawed down two to four inches depending on where one probed. With continued warm temps, some small grain seeding is anticipated along with dry fertilizer and anhydrous ammonia application. There is a slight hint of green starting to show in area lawns and pastures. Alfalfa breaking dormancy is also a distinct possibility. This is not without its perils however. A sudden cold snap has killed alfalfa before after breaking dormancy early and the potential exists for that to happen. As Kermit the frog pointed out, “It’s not easy being green”.
Ruby and the sheep entertained a group of very well behaved youngsters and their parents in Saturday’s breezy conditions. The little Border Collie thrives on attention and being out with the sheep, so she was in her element. There was time to ride in the Gator as well until one of the adults riding in the back complained of waffle-butt. The next day meant catching up after being robbed of the hour of daylight. There were tags to install and tails to dock so ewes and lambs could be moved to make room at the inn. Of course there was Ruby help involved there too but that will soon be coming to a halt. There are only six or seven more ewes to come in yet. The lambs on the ground have grown extremely rapidly. The warm, dry weather has agreed with them insomuch as they haven’t needed to burn much energy staying warm. It helps too that some of the older ewes in the flock that probably aren’t milking as they once did are able to care for their lambs without supplemental help from the shepherds. Bottle lambs are only cute if you aren’t the one feeding several of them several times a day.
See you next week…real good then.