My Yard is on the Attack

Poison Ivy. We both have it all over in all these random places, some too delicate to mention. They appear as small itchy spots that become small itchy patches, then ooze and drive us crazy. Speaking for myself there are atleast six of these random patches.

We have begun the process of decontamination... strip the bed and wash everything... maybe we need to wash the dogs too. We try to mow the lawn where it is growing, mow it really tight. I think that all we are managing to do is keep it from going to seed and covering ourselves in an aerosol version of the toxins - much like burning it is a bad idea.

http://www.poison-ivy.org/index.htm

Also as I sat down to write about the really cool birds I just heard and saw in my back yard when I felt a tickle on my arm. Of course I subconsciously swiped at it and then in the middle of the action froze up so I could catch the piece of lint or bug that was tickling me. There it was, a deer tick (most likely - based on size) just mosying along. Ahhhhh...ha! Damn! I flushed him. This reminds me that I found a bloated tick in the bedroom a few days ago and we had better be on the look out for baby ticks. UGH!

I love my dogs but are ticks really necesary in life? Yes, yes I have them on that stuff and they weren't but five seconds overdue when I found the bloated bugger.

http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/faculty/rbkimsey/tickbio.html

In terms of cool birds, I heard the first new one but never saw it. Its call is so distinct I knew I knew it, I just couldn't believe it was in my backyard. "Bob - WHITE", said the Bobwhite Quail. These are birds that are easy to recognize by their call. I don't really like them very much. It's not their fault. One particular college professor at VT ruined them for me... it was all he ever talked about, managing land for Bobwhite Quail and White tail Deer. Uck, did I ever get tired of talks about "harvest" and "edge" and "hunter relations".

http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i2890id.html

The other bird was actually more interesting to me and probably the reason I ended up with a tick on me. I heard a scatchy bird call coming my way when I was out by the orchard. I knew enough to know I wasn't familiar with it at all by sound. I watched as the bird flew into our tree line out back and sit on a low branch. My first guess was a Green Heron. This is a bird they wanted to teach us first hand at Frostburg but we never actually saw one, at least not that I remember. I realized that the "riparian" tree line in our back yard would make sense for this bird, and could help with the ID. I quietly stepped forward until I was about 15 maybe 20 feet away from the bird. There was just enough branches in the way I think to keep him from feeling fully threatened. At one point my mind thought this was a Grebe, but that is rediculous. It was sitting in a tree. So I tried to watch for its features.

I had a good five minute study. Long enough for a tick to climb or drop on me. Long enough for the Dogs to mosey and eat grass. Long enough to really take in the birds posture and yellow legs. Anyother color was hard to pin point, except perhaps a lighter color along the chest. At one point the bird relaxed and reached over to the branch next to him stretching out his neck and scooping up a bug. All of this was just cool for me. I decided to stick to Green Heron as a diagnosis. The site below confirms this as best it can but unfortunately does not include a call or sound of anykind which would seal the deal.

http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i2010id.html

The Parasite

Yes, by the way, it has been brought to my attention that my spelling and grammer need work.

In the meantime I have a new bird to share. This time I would like to thank Bluew. Somehow his curiosity towards the window drew my attention and I had to check it out. There was a interesting bird call that I am not familiar with. It started in a quick high pitch and then followed with a quick bright shrill pitch.

When I looked I saw three black colored birds grazing together mildly and near by a brown colored bird. At first I thought the sound was not them but then I saw... one of the black colored birds... like a grackle but the tail was the wrong shape and with a brown head ... bowed his head and quickly spread his wings out a bit as he emitted this two pitch squeel of a call.

A moment later another did the same and then another. The brown bird near by could have passed for a sparrow out of the corner of my eye but that was not correct either.

I thought to myself "brown head ... brown headed cowbird?" They saw me watching them and flew off, all three males and the brown female and an additional female from nearby. I thought to myself so this is how they do it and ran to the computer to check my ID skills out.

You see cowbirds are parasites who will not raise their own young. As a rule they deposit their eggs in unsuspecting nest of other bird species. When the quick hatchling cowbird is out it pushes out the competition and greedily uses the paternal and maternal insincts of the hosts to gain food and maturity.

Now I think I know how it is they meet up with each other and try and hook a date in the adult bird world.

For a look check out my handy link. http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i4950id.html

Visitors

My dad and sister Lindsey have come from Maryland to see me, about a five hour drive. The official reason for their mission is to help paint the babies new bedroom. When they arrived I gave them an official tour of the house, kinda feels silly doing that after living here for six months, as dad had not yet seen it.

Then I took them out back tired and hungry to see the backyard. My dad is a fan of this blog so he wanted to see the trees I have been getting from broadwells and all the volunteer trees and their damage. Every few feet it seemed they were asking me what's this and what's that. I didn't seem to have many answers. (All that tuition money vaporizing before my eyes.)

I created this monster by taking up a fasination with the weeds in my yard - of which I may have 25 or more species. I don't know what they are - not by a long shot. Ok well I may know that some belong in the mint Family (Laminaceae) but that is the end of all knowledge. Some of these weeds had such interesting blossoms, growth patterns or leaves that I intetionally have mowed around a good number of fine specimens. I am sure this invited the questions.

Add to this a beatle that Lindsey noticed and I am saddened to report that I did not know what Family or Genera it belonged to. This is especially sad because I sent a year identifying insect in school. My best guess was a Dung Beatle, but I could not remember the name. My mind just kept saying to me 'not Coleoptera'. Scarabaceae? Is that a word? Ugh!

Though he requested a visit with the Survivor Oak it did not happen. I had to return to the house to prevent dinner from burning.

At dinner Lindsey reported the honeysuckle eating had been nice. Ah yes they are in bloom here. As we ate dinner we could most definately smell them going into their eveing blooming cycle. As I recall they are scented for the night to attract moths. Honey suckle is my favorite scent for sure.

Today it has rained and rained and I am sleeping alot while they paint. No one has gone out to the backyard except the dogs to do their peeing.

Damn Deer

So - they just couldn't play nice - the nibbling bastards...

The deer have eaten the terninal buds off of every tree in my yard that was shorter than say 6 feet. That means every volunteer tree, the maple, oaks, green ash, alder, and tulip poplar are now all screwed up! And of course every terminal bud they could reach in the Orchard. I should not be shocked and hurt but I am. Why can't the deer play nice.

You know what it probably is? It is the highway they are putting in a mile from here... all those trees and all that deer shelter gone. It is driving them into my backyard.

No more bragging to the neighbors about all my free trees! Urg!

Atleast the deer can not stop our rock harvesting. We search every evening for more roocks to line our front garden with. We still have our free rocks to get excited about... until the fire ants move in on that one.

Take care - eat venison.