July Night Sky

New moon is on tap for this evening.  As a consequence of the moon sitting between the earth and the sun the side facing us is totally dark.  In the absence of any moonlight to clutter the night sky this is the best night of the month to observe the heavens.

Our planet is also entering the Perseid meteor shower.  You'll have to wait for the peak of the shower a month from now; nevertheless, earth is entering the outer edge of the debris field left behind by Comet 109P Swift Tuttle.  If you're outside this evening observing the night sky there is a good chance you'll catch some meteors streaking across the sky.

Here's a Pro Tip.  Get yourself into a comfortable lawn chair and pick a wide part of the sky to stare at.  Because this is the Perseids I'm going to look to the northeast and the constellation Cassiopeia.  Constellation Perseus is immediately below.  Grab a lemonade or a cold adult beverage and allow 10-15 minutes for your eyes to adjust too the darkness.  The early Perseids are frequently very fast and bright.

Good luck and fingers-crossed for few skeeters.

 

 

Trail Cam Update

From the trail camera trap line is a selection of photographs....

Sunset

Gobblers

Sandhill Crane

Doe and Fawn

Woodcock

 

Wiley Coyote

 

Better Late Than Never

From the trail camera recently there was this.

One photo grab from a series of several dozen taken over twenty minutes of a gobbler making some moves on a foursome of ladies.  

Pardon me; but isn't it a bit late for gobbler romance? 

Theology Of The Purloined Election

Who won the 2020 presidential election?

Joe Biden did; fair and square.

Court after court after court agreed; including courts presided-over by judges appointed by Donald Trump.

Republican secretaries of state agreed on the matter.

Donald Trump's own attorney general agreed.

Recounts confirmed it.

Audits further confirmed it.

Lawsuits were settled over it. 

Time and again the stolen election hoax has been tested and rejected whenever it finds its way into a courtroom, a sworn affidavit, testimony or deposition is undertaken to present evidence.

Nevertheless, it remains an article of faith in MAGA World and no heresy on the subject matter is permitted because Donald Trump demands it be so.  Absolute fealty and obeisance to the Dear Leader is enforced.  

Even those Republicans who cannot bring themselves to say that the long-dead Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez was somehow involved in hacking the vote tabulators in 2020 are loathe to distance themselves from the Big Lie.  They'll shuffle their feet, nervously change the subject and suggest that voting by mail during COVID was somehow unfair.

As a general rule I don't pontificate (pardon the pun) about religion on social media.  Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs; and if you follow one of the three Abrahamic religions or something else that is your business.  Not mine.  But I'm acquainted with a handful of individuals who gushingly worship the president.  Some days I think that ordinarily level-headed and rational adults have somehow become spellbound by magical wishful thinking.  It's kinda creepy.

The stolen election has now been elevated to a modern day political New Testament.  It is the closest thing American politics has conjured-up in my lifetime to idolatry.  Yup; and there's a Commandment that addresses this business of idol worship.

The public profession of faith in a thing known to be false because devotion to the Leader requires it.  Yuck.

Velvet Antlers

From the trail cameras we have  buckaroos....

 

Naturalizing

Several years ago we decided to gradually reduce the amount of turf grass in the yard and seed it into native plants as pollinator habitat. 

It takes several years for these plants to establish themselves; nevertheless the ‘upland’ location (where the ancient farmhouse foundation is buried) is putting-on its own fireworks display. A seasonally “squishy" section at the north edge of the yard that is doing really well too. I figure as summer progresses more species are going to continue to pop.

Last fall, I retired my big garden adjacent to the machine shed and it was seeded into natives. At the present it is looking quite raggedy and rough and is due to receive some spot treatment of weeds.

There remains a section along the side of the road that was sprayed Tuesday.  After it is thoroughly dead it will be tilled under and seeded this fall. If you don’t like seeing wildflowers along the side of the road you’re likely one of those Godless Communists I’m hearing so much about from certain of my acquaintances.

Bottom line; less turf = less maintenance. More flowers = more pollinators = happier birds.

In case you’re wondering about the dump trailer in the driveway you’ll have to wait.

Bee balm (wild bergamot)

Black-eyed Susans

False sunflower (Oxeye)

Feverfew (wild quinine)

 

Motherwort

Update From The Oriole Ranch

This past week the Orioles really began hammering the feeders.  In four days I've gone thru two 30 oz. Jars of grape jelly and a navel orange.  As of last Monday we had not spotted any fledglings.

That changed on Tuesday with the appearance of the Graduating Class of 2026 having fledged the nest to come to the feeders. 

They still haven’t completely figured-out how to feed themselves so it is hilarious to observe the youngsters alight and then chatter and whine for an adult to feed them.

They’ll get the hang of it before too long.

Here are some photos from Thursday courtesy of the Oriole Cam on the porch…..