Panorama

A 180 degree panorama - beginning east, to south to west - of the 7 acres I brushed-out last weekend.

And in the end a stitched-together view of the same from an app on The Frau's SmartPhone which is really to small to be of any consequence.

Oh well...

The Nose

Lest you think that the nose on a Labrador retriever misses anything check this out.

This is a first.  

A dove alights on the grass in the field of view of a trail camera - the first of a burst of three photos.

The next day the dogs come cruising thru and who has to stop and give the landing spot a good sniff?  Blonde dog.  24 hours later.

Labs.  Hard to beat their sniffer...

Fawn

With the exception of cutting-off the legs this is another nicely composed couple of photos taken in the soft light of morning.  The lighting is just the right mix of sunrise and shadows.

This time a fawn who paused long enough for a couple of pics.

click on image to enlarge

 

Directional Flower

Silphium laciniatum - the Compass plant - is a member of the aster family and a perennial native.

click on image to enlarge

It's the tallest of plants found in the North American prairie and also happen to have the longest of tap roots - essentially making it impossible to transplant.

The  name of this flowering plant derives from the leaves which - upon close examination - line-up north south in order to maximize exposure to available sunlight.

Just like sunflowers birds are attracted to the seeds produced by the flower heads.
 

The Garden Chronicles

Let the harvesting begin.

So far we've been dining on spinach and more spinach.  Fresh lettuces - Romaine and Bibb.  The English peas have been harvested and sent to the freezer - a second generation planted last weekend.  Carrots!  And now the Blue Lake green beans and broccoli have commenced!

click on the veggies to enlarge

 

Brush Bust'n

Feeling a wee little bit like the guy that drives the county or state highway mower clearing the shoulders and medians.

click on image to enlarge

For as long as I can remember the northeast field was mowed every even-numbered year to keep the woody vegetation at bay.  Wildlife need some irregular openings for nesting, browsing, bedding and the like.

Last year was the year to clear the 7 acres (give or take) at the northeast corner but it was too wet to get back there with the tractor.  I would have bogged-down and gotten stuck.

Drier this year (as per usual) so this past weekend I tackled this and the smaller openings located at the ancestral campsite and shitter location - which also is a proven gobbler hotspot.  

Took me a good part of the day and it was tough going because all of the willow, dogwood, alder and cottonwood had another growing season under their belt.

The good news is I saved some nicely established plots of Joe Pye Weed ...

And only mowed half of the food plot...

I frost seeded that plot late winter/early spring and it's doing just fine (you can see it as the rectangular growth in the picture above.  I figure by mowing half and fertilizing both halves we can compare growth rates this fall.

Stay tuned... 

Fawns

Seems that fawn recruitment for 2015 is good.  Seeing plenty of them on the trail cameras anyway and not all at the same location.

Here are a couple of the kids mugging for a photo..

And a particularly small fawn with mom.  A late bred doe for sure...

click on images to enlarge