Adding antifreeze, the scurs got the Weather Eye functioning almost normally. Will we continue to make up for lost time or will we get one last dying gasp out of Old Man Winter? Starting Wednesday, sunny with highs in the upper 50’s and lows in the upper 30’s. Thursday, becoming cloudy with a modest chance of rain. Highs in the low 60’s with lows in the mid-30’s. Sunny on Friday with highs in the low 60’s and lows in the upper 30’s. Saturday, sunny with highs in the low 60’s and lows in the mid-40’s. Sunny for Sunday with highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the low 50’s. Monday, mostly sunny with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the mid-50’s. Mostly cloudy Tuesday with possible showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 60’s with lows in the mid-40’s. On April 27th, we push above 14 hours of daylight for the first time since last August 14th. Then May arrives on Tuesday. The normal high for May 1st is 64 and the normal low is 42. The scurs are desperately awaiting the delivery of a May Basket. The long pull from Easter has been tough on their goody supply.
The Full Moon appears on April 29th and generally is called the Full Pink Moon for the ground phlox that blanket the woodlands in early spring. It also may be known as The Sprouting Grass Moon, The Full Egg Moon or the Fish Moon for the shad that run in the streams of the Northeast inhabited by the tribes there. This moon was known as the Broken Snowshoe Moon by the Ojibwe and the Moon of Greening Grass by the Sioux. At the ranch it is known as The Moon of Much Bellering as the early lambs are weaned from the ewes.
Although not as quickly as it fell, the snow has been leaving rapidly. Monday took a big bite out of it and about the only snow left was in the fencelines, ditches and groves — aside from the manmade piles in yards and parking lots of course. The frost is largely out of the ground, although I suspect on the north sides of groves and other shaded, sheltered areas there is probably some remaining. Ice was still fishable on area lakes this past weekend. The ground remains wet at this writing, although it too has made progress. Hilltops and areas of lighter soil we grayed off already late Monday afternoon give us hope that there still will be an opportunity to plant within a decent timeframe. There is a little small grain to go in and it would certainly be nice to get it in during April yet.
At the ranch the yard has been sopping wet. I left the snow since it was difficult enough to avoid damaging the yard just clearing the necessary paths for moving feed and water between buildings. The good snow-melting day on Monday had me looking at getting the electric fence up and running again. Unfortunately, the blizzard conditions snapped off about a dozen of the fiberglass posts so it will necessitate getting some new ones. The good news though is the grass on the south slopes is greening up nicely and once the fence is operating, we can wean ewes and hopefully protect our precious hay supply. It will likely be a while before we get any new crop.
It is amazing how fast the flora and fauna change with a spring that’s been dragging its feet like this one. After a cooler evening on Saturday the 21st, I could hear the faint sound of one western chorus frog emanating from the wetland. The sound was a wee bit louder Sunday night as a few more chimed in and a little bit louder Monday evening as even more got in the act. Once we get evening temperatures in the upper 50’s or 60’s, it becomes almost deafening, especially when right down beside the pond itself. Of course some of the flocks of red-winged blackbirds aren’t exactly quiet when they descend on the ranch. One can tell it’s spring as Mother Nature turns up the volume.
Some were concerned that the birds were struggling to find enough food with the snow covering much of it up. Indeed some did but the robins remained fairly resilient at the ranch, seeking out places such as along the house or by the barn where the ground was thawed. There was evidence of earthworm activity long before it was commonplace elsewhere. Of course they may have also been looking for mud for nest building as one robin surprised me coming off its nest when I passed an arborvitae in the windbreak.
I noticed too when checking the cutworm sticky trap there had been a general lack of flying insects in it up until Saturday when a fly was stuck in it. On Sunday we noted our first tree swallows of the season. Some gnatcatchers were spotted in the backyard along with a yellow throated warbler. These don’t show up at the ranch unless there’s an insect population to support them. Several other migrants were noted as well. A hermit thrush has been tooling around the backyard as have several flickers and a yellow bellied sapsucker. The final noteworthy sighting was a white throated sparrow. The orioles should be here within a matter of a few weeks (fingers crossed).
Some annoying crows decided to wake me up about 5 a.m. Monday morning with their loud calling from the spruce tree right outside of the bedroom window. I kept hoping they’d shut up or leave but they persisted. Finally I’d had enough of their racket and grabbed my blunderbuss. Even as stealthy as I was in my Crocs, one of the crows spotted me. They all took off quickly as I levelled a couple of blasts their direction. After I did that I noticed an owl flying off from another tree. A note to any crows reading this, you’ve got to ask yourself one question, “Do I feel lucky?” Well do ya punk?
Auntie Mar Mar and Uncle Greg were Sunday guests and we had a great time. With a beautiful day finally after all the crummy weather. We deserved this one. The meal was scrumptious with everyone contributing. There were plenty of things left and some that were brought to our place as gifts. One thing in particular that met with our palates’ approval was the blueberry coffee cake, which by the way is excellent with ice cream. It was even better than Drake’s coffee cake. Oddly enough we’d been discussing some Seinfeld episodes earlier. Big coincidence? There are no small coincidences and big coincidences!
See you next week…real good then.