Ornithopters; they are out there!

 

Here we have visual proof that Ornithopters exist!  

It is surely armed with a camera. We are being watched!

Down Come the Rainbarrels

 The rain barrels must be taken down for the winter.  Frozen water doesn't flow.  My routine is to put them up around April Fool's Day and take them down around All Saints Day. 

These pictures are from August.

Sometimes the trail camera takes pictures of wind.  Rain is a little easier to see.

This runoff bucket is the reason the trail camera was positioned there.  My hope was that the camera would catch the culprit.  You see, every now and then this bucket is found lying on its side.  Who is doing it?  Alas. There are no pictures of anybody caught in the act.  Not even the wind.

Suspects abound.

Ducks like water but it's probably not them.

Not highly likely.

Other suspects:

Unlikely, a bucket is not her style.  She'd rather lick dew off the side of the rain barrel.

 

Maybe

Maybe

Don't know

Perhaps

Possible

Likely

We may never know.

GWEN

Ever hear of the G W E N system?  Those tower things that emit a low frequency sound?  They were purportedly set up in 1982 to communicate with those remaining after a nuclear attack or something else terrible.  You know, just in case.  Survivors would need to, you know, be informed.

But isn't it running all the time?  Wouldn't it HAVE to be?  You know, you never know when a big terrible will come.

Two attempts to post a picture of a GWEN Tower were thwarted....by whom....and why?

Anyway.  There is one of these things not far from the Bad Dog Ranch.  A scant forty miles away, it is constantly sending messages.

GWEN is perpetually beaming.  

And now it is violently present at my front window!  A local sparrow has been literally attacking the windows of my home for over a week.  He flies to the window, pecks at the glass, all while peering in with a wild light in his eyes.

Here's a picture of a sparrow taken a couple years ago.  

Of course, who's to say the crazed GWEN sparrow isn't a descendant of this seemingly innocent sane sparrow?  But I digress.

The bird should be focused on raising a brood, not bashing his beak against a living room window.  

Who's to say those mysterious ever-present frequencies haven't driven him mad?

Seems to me, you don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to find this whole thing unnerving.  

I don't know about this GWEN theory of hers.                  One thing's for sure, that bird is wacko.

Spring is in the Air

Well, springish.  It is snowing right now.  March is what you might call a diverse month.

Still, birds are whooping it up out there.

  Soon there will be youngsters and green grass.  

'Tis a time to ponder...

Goose Poop on an Oriental Rug

Well, they didn't stay small and fluffy for long.

Soon the geese were feathered enough to go outside.

During the day they grazed.  But what to do at night?  All the duck houses were full!

No problem.  That spare dog crate in the garage worked just fine.  And because the garage floor tends to be a little slippery a nice rug was set down so the geese could enter and exit their bed without any slip and falls.  

The poop?  Just had to give that rug a good shake, a little soap and water then dry it in the sun.  All garage rugs should look so good. 

Trail Camage 26

 Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow 

Mr. Sparrow sings

A cat bird drops by.

There are baby birds to feed.

This requires frequent trips.

Mr. Sparrow on guard.

Mrs. Sparrow feeding one of the brood.

And another.

Trail Camage 24

 

An All Bird Edition!

House Finch

Robin

Cardinals

Starlings

Turkey

Sparrows

Chickens

We did something different at the Bad Dog Ranch this year.

Chickens!

These Freedom Rangers are 2 days old.

Just 6 weeks later, they are fully feathered and outside.

At 7 weeks old, roosters learn to sing.

Trail Camage 12 All Bird Edition

 One of these days, I'm gonna put a camera up high in a tree and maybe get a picture of an owl.  Till then, here's this.

Some Robins head south in the fall but many choose to remain.

Rowdy Blue Jays are ever present at Bad Dog Ranch.

Raucous Crows are permanent residents here too.

Action shot!

Wild turkeys are rather quiet this time of year.  They make up for that by whooping it up in early spring. 

The Dark-eyed Junco is not a permanent resident.  We see them twice a year as they stop on their way to where ever they're going.