Birds and cats

We are into that bleak, gray, damp, December period.   George always starts mentioning Miami fondly this time of year.  We decided to put out some bird feeders.

We put separate feeders out with mixed seed, black sunflower seed and niger seed (for the finches).  There is also some suet hanging under the porch roof.   We've seen the following types of birds eating this past week:  chickadee, white-breasted nuthatch, tufted titmouse, goldfinch, hairy woodpecker, cardinal, bluejay, and morning dove.    We are going through seed much faster than I planned.

    Later edit:  12/5/13:  downy woodpecker.

It occurred to us, after the crowds started arriving, that none of our neighbors seem to have bird feeders out, and there is a lot of open acreage around us.  Maybe our neighbors know something we do not.

Our two older cats have been glued to the windows.  Even when Percy can't actually get a comfortable perch to see the feeders, he sits on the floor and watches the fly by action for hours.

We are keeping an eye out the window (and on tracks in the snow) for the neighbor's barn cats.   We may have to adjust the feeders if we see increased mortality nearby.

Our neighbor has good reason to need the barn cats, and outside cats wander.   When we had sheep, we appreciated the free mousing services the cats provided around the sheep barn. 

Wandering cats are extremely hard on bird populations.    But, I view wandering (and working) barn cats differently than wandering pet cats.

During the past week, with a dusting of snow, we are seeing lots of bird and squirrel tracks, but without a mix of cat tracks.   We'll keep watching.  I am the official worrier in the family, and gray Decembers are good practice time.

Spring: Geese, Onions, Winter Rye, and Warm Morning Windows

We are having an early spring, maybe.   I've heard Canada Geese flying over at night this week.    The last two mornings there was a flock in the hayfield resting in the early morning.   The geese are lovely, but I didn't get close enough to get a picture, since they need their rest.

I've been wandering around starting to make mental lists of winter damage, and things to do. 


The old wind vane on the garage is still pointing straight out into the hayfield, northwest, which is the direction the hard winds come from in the winter, most of the time.

Some of the smaller cedars in our house's windbreak bowed over in the opposite direction from that wind this winter, and probably won't last.    Should plant some more.

The onion seeds have sprouted under lights; the first seedlings up for the spring garden.

The vegetable beds are green with winter rye, and the old lawn is brown.  All the snow if off the beds.  The one in the front is old, and the one along the fence was started last year.  This year, I want to expand out into the old pasture, beyond the fence.

And, the most reliable indicator of spring:  the two baskets in the east windows in the living room both had cats in them this morning.   If this spot is this warm....wow, maybe an early spring.

Pump, Percy and Onions

The temperature got into the upper 40s today, and everything is melting.  We used a new red pump to lift the hay baler and remove a tire for repair.   The first seedlings (onions) appeared under lights in the basement.

We don't normally allow cats on the kitchen table, but Percy is an exception.  He has poor kidneys, and needs an injection of fluids once a day.  He doesn't like this any more than anyone would, so the deal we worked out with him is that he gets to sit on the corner of the kitchen table (attractive spot since previously forbidden), and he gets fed while being "watered".  Percy has been wonderfully good about this, and even comes and gets us if we are late.

Open weather window - hay

Wow, we finally got our few days clear weather to hay, but it wasn't until the first week of July.  We've been ready to go since May.  Folks down on the Maine coast got going in May, and Kennebec County hayed in June.  We're in Penobscot County, and have been waiting to go.

This was only our second year haying using our own equipment, and we learned a lot.  Next year we'll know more.   There are so many more variables than appear on the surface.  I cut 2 days and then got rained on.  IOnly twenty percent chance of rain had sounded so good, after no break in the weather during May and June.   The hay I cut just before the rain looked pretty good, so we'll feed it here, if we run out of the later cut hay.   When things finally cleared, we raked and baled one load faster than we've ever done it - gorgeous drying weather - sunny, breezy, and low humidity.   Then, I thought some of the hay was too green, and was scared to keep it in the sheep barn, so we dragged it all outside.  Still not sure if we did the right thing or not.  Oh well.  In between we got in some hay that looks pretty good, if maybe on the dry side. 

Later edit:  Put a "free hay pile" list on Craig's List, and someone took the "too green" hay to feed some local beef, so it didn't go to waste.

I found a dead cat in the field.  I don't think haying machinery killed it - looked mostly eaten, with a head and attached entrails, and two paws left.   Maybe  it was a fox, or fisher, or coyote.  That was sad.   The cat probably belonged to a neighbor.  I walked over and told him, and he said "I try not to get too attached to the cats."  Barn cats have to be able to go outside to do their job, and it is a dangerous world.    I baled a snake, which was the end of the snake.   We managed to avoid the bobolink nest in the front field, which felt good.  Left plenty of room around it too.

Saturday - the cats

A word about the cats. We have four. Possible is an old girl whom I've had forever. She is tiny, and so fierce at fighting wandering cats that I didn't realize she was declawed (in front) for a long time. Then, I was in awe. Perciville (aka Garr) and Baxter are two very old fellows that came to stay after we moved to Rock Island Farm a couple of years ago. They both had always been indoor cats. but have now mostly transitioned to indoor/outdoor cats in good weather. One has become a good and appreciated mouser. The second only started outside recently, and is still at the cricket-pouncing stage. He may hold there, but it is ok, because he rules the other cats, and that is a job in itself. The fourth cat, Capacitor, is the only young one, and she is an indoor cat. She won't be going outside unless we find some extra money for the necessary vaccinations, and I can bring myself to overlook the commensurate rise in local bird mortality rates. In the meantime, she is in charge of fetching whatever my husband happens to throw, at lightning speed, fur-tail flying. Who says you can't teach a cat tricks?