Mud Season

Like the caption says - it is mud season.

Mud here, mud there, mud everywhere!

The dog towels are getting a workout.

So what was this man doing on his muddy ATV?

He was putting moldy, green bagels out to see if anyone will eat them...

More From the Trail Camera

Deer from last week.

I swear that sometimes they know that something's up with the camera.

Even though there isn't a visible flash this deer is on high alert.

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Talk'n Turkey

It's almost that time of year - spring turkey hunting!

Been seeing plenty of bids on the trail camera and in the surrounding fields.

No strutting yet.

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Trespassers

Caught one of these dogs on the trail camera last year.  Now it appears there are two of them someone is allowing to roam loose.

What to do?

The Start of a Perfect Bloody Mary

...is my homemade tomato juice.

Made from vine-ripened garden tomatoes, canned immediately following picking.

Then run through a Foley Food Mill, add a dash of white pepper, garlic powder and salt to taste.

Voila!

Nine and a half quarts of the best tomato juice ever.

Mama and the Twins

Here's a cool picture from  last Friday.

A doe and her twin yearling fawns.

Part of our burgeoning deer herd here at The Platz.

They're probably picking at stale, nasty, soggy, gross, bad, whole wheat bread loaf crumbs...

Spring Comes to the Platz

As of Friday the finches have returned.  They're on the thistle feeders still sporting their olive-drab plumage.

The tree swallows have returned.

A northern flicker was picking-about in the yard.

If you step out on the porch  in the night air you can hear the distant peenting of the woodcock as they perform their mating display - the sky dance in the night  air.

The red wing blackbirds have formed gigantic bachelor flocks and are raising a racket.

And I can hear the pileated woodpecker hammering on a snag in the distant woods.

Sure hope we don't get a late season blizzard...

Massart's Garage

I left the pick-up at the local garage last Sunday for some routine maintenance.  Stopped-by yesterday to see if it was ready for pick-up.  Picking-up the pick-up so-to-speak.

As I pulled-up I could see that it was precisely where I left it.

Entering the side door into the tiny office I was greeted by a half-dozen local townsfolk just sort of hanging-out, drinking coffee or a pop and sort of holding court.

Quizzically I offered - So what's-up?  Is this a board meeting or something?

Hell no.  We're just  bored! - was the collective reply.

The Board then offered that the proprietor (and chief mechanic) was out.  Furthermore, they offered that the truck likely hadn't been touched. At least just yet.

More people piled-in   An AutoQuest guy delivering parts and two additional townsfolk.  Things were getting tight. 

Before too long the the proprieter and his wife materialized

Found out that the work on the truck is mostly complete but waiting on a vehicle that jumped to the head of the line.

I'll probably find the pick-up in the drive in a week or so and an invoice for repairs will be ready sometime next month.

Slow and steady.  Small town life.

Making a Statement

Spied this in the parking lot at the archery range the other day.  My pal, Braumeister, got a kick out of it too.

This jacked-up Chevy pick-up was sporting a big-ass Confederate battle flag flying from a post on the rear hitch.

Making a political statement maybe?

If you're going to put up with the racket a big flag makes when you're tooling down the highway maybe you should be patriotic and fly a real US of A flag...

Buck or Doe?

Cannot tell for sure from this photo if this whitetail is a boy or a  girl.

The bucks have mostly shed their antlers and this photo doesn't give a clear view of the genitalia or the skull cap.

I vote doe.

You?

Deer Eat More Bad Bakery

Deer have no taste.  Scavengers they are.

Not only will they eat bad, stale, nasty, chunky, soggy bakery.

They will eat it in a crowd.

Blech...

Deer Eat Bad Bakery

Yes indeed.  Deer are not picky. They will eat lumpy, stale, bad, homemade whole wheat bread.

Can you believe that this fella is still sporting half of his headgear?  In March? 

Amazing.

Who Eats Bad Bakery

Remember last weekend?  When Girlfriend and I went out to the trail  camera and cast a bad batch of homemade whole wheat bread upon the landscape?

We have discovered who munches on bad bakery.

Spring Comes to the Platz

Mud season has been here for a spell but  it isn't really spring until the birds arrive.

Last weekend it was the meadow larks and red wing blackbirds among others.

Yesterday - Girlfriend and I were out cleaning nest boxes - all 48 of them - and spied a pair of bluebirds setting atop the lid of one of the boxes.

Later a turkey vulture circled overhead and the sandhill cranes made their approach for the big pond.

The frogs and peepers have been calling-up a storm - even during daylight hours.

It's all good.

Morning Deer

Interesting composition with the morning sun reflecting off of the camera lens.

This doe was traveling with a much smaller deer - probably a late dropped fawn.


click on image to enlarge

Bad Bread

How difficult can it be to make bread in a bread maker?  I do it all the time and never seem to have a problem.  Last weekend?  No such luck. 

I have a cracked wheat bread recipe from the First Mate's Frau that is pretty darn good.  I've baked it previously in the machine.  The first attempted loaf came out soggy.  Blech. 

I tried again and it came out too dense and too hard.  It hardly raised before baking itself into a cracked wheat cannon ball.

I must be losing it.

Nevertheless, in our household very little is wasted so Girlfriend and I hiked down our favorite trail camera and cast the bad bread on the ground as an attractant.

I wonder if red tail hawks eat bakery?

A Couple of Raptors

Aren't they a handsome couple?

Last weekend I spied a couple of red tail hawks soaring over the open, grassland and thought to myself - I wonder if that might be a nesting pair?

Caught them both on the trail camera.

Beautiful species.

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Projects

Just finished mounting a turkey fan and beard from last spring's bird.  This is the second mount I've completed.

It's been down on the basement workbench dessicating in a rub of borax and salt.

Gander Mountain carries the prefabricated walnut mount and hardware.

This one is destined for my office at the day job.

The nest box in the background is for a friend.

click on image to enlarge

Hank Hill

Whenever the propane man commeth I am reminded of Hank Hill - the main protagonist in the animated series King Of The Hill.

With the generally mild winter and burning cheap and plentiful firewood propane costs for the heating season have been much lower. 

Ordinarily the co-op runs their delivery trucks on propane - this one was a diesel.

Romney Flaunts Wealth - Impresses Voters

Romney Now Flaunting His Wealth To Impress Voters

Ice Sculpture

This is interesting.

When the water level in the creek was higher a film of ice formed as the temperature dropped.

As the flow continued the water level dropped by almost a foot leaving the ice sheet stuck in the trees and shrubs.

Mother nature's ice sculpture.

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Mud Season

Mud season has officially arrived.

Not all of the frost is out of the ground but the snow pack has largely melted. 

The creek has overflowed its banks and some of the trails are temporary rivers.

Yesterday the first red wing blackbirds were calling from the apple trees and lilacs.  And Girlfriend flushed a meadowlark in the tall grass.

Edit to add:  As I'm enjoying a steaming cuppa joe there is a rooster pheasant picking around the cedars in the front yard.

Snow Deer

Is it possible that these deer can still detect the deer pee I dumped her a couple of months ago? 

Something still has to be there - otherwise why stop to sniff?

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Urge to Sniff

For a couple of years this camera has been the silent observer of an active scrape.

Get a load of this...

A buck reaching for the licking branch.

I may be mistaken - but if you examine the photo very carefully I think you can see antlers.

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Foggy Deer

It's a 7 degree morning.  Brrrrrr.

Don't know if this is freezing fog or condensation on the camera lens.  Nevertheless, it's a nice unintentional effect.

But three freak'n whitetails.  I have got to believe that all of the deer pee I squirted around here is vaporized and neutralized.

I am absolutely amazed at the number of deer moving through the neighborhood.

I'm beginning to have a good feeling about big game hunting this year...

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Mousing

Did you know that the Labrador retriever is a better mouser than a cat?

I'm not making this up.  This is a fact.  They're so good at it that they can locate a mouse or vole beneath almost a foot of snow.

Girlfriend can become so intent and focused on her quary that she'll tunnel and thrust herself into the snow pack in  an effort to locate and catch her prey.

Gulp!                                                      click on images to  enlarge

Snow!

By the time you read this it will already have begun warming-up and the thick blanket of white stuff will have begun to melt.  I take that back.  Overnight lows of 8 degrees and 16 degrees a 8:30 AM. The weather guessers got it wrong by a mile.

Nevertheless, I love winter and there's nothing more enjoyable than a walk through the freshly-fallen stuff.

Silver Creek is running at a swift pace.

Ordinarily these red cedar would be standing with their branches perfectly vertically erect.  And the plow guy wouldn't be working on a Saturday collecting overtime.

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Caught On Camera

Went to check on the camera yesterday.  8-10 inches of snow fell overnight - wet stuff too - so it was a bit of a hike.



I had suspected that the cam would be iced-over from the previous night's blizzard - but the lens and motion detector were perfectly clear.

 And Girlfriend promptly dug-up a pheasant carcass from beneath the snow.  The resident redtail hawk has been enjoying some fine dining of late.

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Stoned Gemini Deer

The twins are still coming around.  They're a curious pair.  Giving the camera a staredown.

That deer in the foreground looks remarkably like my stoned hunting dog.

Dude!  You got into my stash...

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Swamp Gas

SinississippiGal sent me this pic.

Cool, eh?

Winter Gobblers

Remember those pheasant carcasses that I put out as an attractant?

Seems a bachelor flock of gobblers came by to either nibble at the remains.

Or pay their respects...

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