Berry Picking Season Approaches

The Wild Raspberries are coloring up and should be ready for picking this week.  They are about a week behind in their maturing this year according to my recent past experiences.

I really like being out in the timber gathering both Wild Raspberries and Gooseberries in the company of all the other timber residents.The birds singing, deer and squirrels scampering, a refreshing solitude while I am out and about on my own.

Ever wonder what the the difference between Wild Raspberries vs Wild Blackberries happen to be?

I found a video done by Wild Edibles at Youtube, video quality is a little jumpy at times, but the information puts the fruits and plants side by side to give a greater insight how to identify our seasonal sweets. It isn't uncommon for them to exist in close proximity.

The Mulberries have been falling for about a week now here at Timber Life...

Changing the trail camera location I have found three species of ground bound animals enjoying the delectable treats , not to mention our feathered friends that are counted among the feast attendees.

Some people see the mulberries only as animal food,but if you have ever tasted them at the mature stage, you would find them full of sweet juice. Picking them with uncovered hands leaves a stain that takes a couple days  to wash away. Messy!

Another method for collection to avoid handling the berries is to put a catch cloth under the tree and shake or tap the fruit off like our  friend Casey is doing over at Fungal Threads.


                                                        Trail Camera Pictures

A Doe often seen around the homestead

Double the vision..

Some young Raccoons getting a feel for life in the timber.

Here's wishing you good luck on harvesting some of Nature's sweet treats while they are in season ...

Happy Father's Day

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my Hubby a  Happy Father's Day.

At this writing he is sitting at an airfield in
Chillicothe,MO waiting for favorable conditions to return to our grass strip here in Central Iowa.

Early Thursday morning we pulled the Voisin 3/5ths out for a long hop down to Gardner,KS, home base of the Kansas City Dawn Patrol. They have a yearly Fly-In on the Friday afternoon and Saturday before Father's Day.

Hubby trailered his plane to the event when it was in the building stages way back when. He has watched the weather every year to see if the flight windows would be open long enough for him to get from one airfield to another before making him sit the thunderstorms out.

When we pulled the Voisin 3/5ths out of the hangar for the this "first "  but much planned for Gardner excursion via the airways, we were aware of  forecast of thunderstorms in the target area. The clouds and rain made their returns known on the radar out in Nebraska stretching southward at the hour of our search.

The air was perfect for departure here at Timber Life, so that he did...

The first leg of his journey took him to Corydon, IA where he met up with his ground crew and another pilot from his local Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter. Things were good until reaching the second stop at Chillicothe on his way down. They sat until 5:00 PM, letting the thunderstorms pass before starting once again on their westward objective. I have been told that they made some in flight decisions as to where they would stop for the night. Hubby's plane is a daylight plane. He doesn't have any landing lights and he found himself landing at 9:00PM, in the dark because of cloud cover at an airport at Lawrence, KS.

Friday morning had them waiting for the short hop back north, again due to strong rain. Afternoon brought them good flight weather and the pilots were able to join the other WWI,WWII and current planes that came to share in the event.

During the very early morning hours Saturday, a popup camper shaking thunderstorm with 70mph winds came through. Prior to sunrise Hubby went out to see if his plane survived the hour long deluge. His heart sank when he didn't find his aircraft tied down where he put it to bed the night before. The Voisin was the only plane to take flight without its pilot in tow. Damage to important parts left the plane not air worthy until  fixed. It was good to have a place to get things patched up even though it took him away from sharing in the festivities of the day.

We expect to have him touch down on home turf come this afternoon. Then we can celebrate his safe return and  another year of being a Dad.

Before I end my post today I would like to wish all the Dad's a relaxing Happy Father's Day with their family and friends...

Blog Hiatus

Good day all!

I wanted to stop by my blog and let people know that right now I am out and about. Experiencing the outside,working on the house Hubby and I are building , helping my Mother begin her transition from one living arrangement to another,trying to get a garden established...

I would like to apologize for not stopping to read my blogs that used to be my daily ritual. Some days I just don't want to concentrate.

Writing blog posts mentally is entertaining, but if I don't put it on paper when I'm thinking about it ,I lose whatever could have been thoughts to share. You might call it a "fleeting thought".

Again, I would like to wish  you all a Good Day! I hope to check-in again soon...

Marsh Moments

The American White Pelicans continue to captivate me when I stop to visit Hendrickson Marsh.

I have witnessed the single file skimming of the water surface to move as a flock from one place to another.
They are extremely graceful  in motion... a very beautiful sight.

The big birds have found a comfortable environment - one of the last groups to arrive seems to be lingering as they build-up reserves to move further north.

Pulling into one of the four parking areas around the Marsh I spotted an Eagle flying at tree top level.

I tried to get the camera to focus ,but the noble bird's tail feathers disappeared from view before I could get a shot.

In my usual fashion I went to two more of the parking areas. It wasn't until I almost reached the last one that I caught the Eagle sitting on a Muskrat den. My aim didn't seem to be steady for a clear picture, but I am sure you are able to catch the image.

There are two pools for the Marsh,divided by a gravel road, sometimes bird species differ from side to side.

On this last visit I was fortunate enough to see a pair of Great Egrets doing a little feeding with a few other migrating water birds still taking advantage of a revitalized habitat.

This Egret was in motion when I stopped to survey what was next for a picture model.

The day couldn't decide between sun and clouds - at the time of my visit the clouds were more dominant.

I spent a little while watching this Mallard couple.They would end up with head totally submerged, feeding on the marsh bottom - feet and tail bobbing above the water's surface.

The colors of the ducks and geese seem to be quite outstanding. A reminder to me of the season of Spring when everything seems to takes on a brand new vibrant  appearance...

As I sat watching the activity around the area I saw a heavy bodied, black waterfowl take to flight occasionally.

Then I narrowed in on some groups of these birds sitting low in the water.

My search led me to the Double-crested Cormorant to classify what I was seeing.

In summary of my Marsh Moments it seems we are still seeing the Spring migration, but the number of birds are most definitely dwindling in number.

I know the time will  fly-by swiftly until the southern return begins in late July or August for some of the species spoken of in this post. Another opportunity to share my Marsh Moments views with you on the Fall migration...

Have a great day!

Evidence of Spring in the Timber

This morning brought a little trek over a deer path, or two, to retrieve the trail camera card which hadn't been viewed since Friday. The weekend brought a few other things to do ;I thought maybe there would be a bunch of deer activity if I stayed away for awhile.

Our thunder chickens have been calling in the vicinity of the camera and that was another reason I made myself scarce since I didn't get a Spring license to be out sitting in wait for them to parade at the edge of the timber. Maybe they would by chance leave a digital impression for future viewing. It hasn't happened yet this season...

Along the trail I found some May Apples starting to send up their whorls. This weekend we had some summer like temperatures which seemed to spur the plant growth  already awakened by the seasonal highs.

I wonder how long it will be until they are in full flower and the morel mushrooms are popping?

Little violets can be seen sprouting above the surface of the ground...just big enough to know what type of plant it will become in the future.

Honeysuckles are sending out leaves as are the rose brush,raspberry brambles and gooseberries.

One of the concerns I have again this year is that everything will be encouraged to bloom and then an extreme cold snap will happen at the same time. A chance for snow this coming weekend still has things not totally out of harms way. The forecast said it won't last long. Here's hoping that is true.

We have lost some acorn production the last couple of years due to ill timed freezes. Fall deer food supplies were short and the winter was  frigid ....Created some stress that some hadn't overcome from the last long winter.

I did a small experiment beginning the last of February, when the snow initially started to disappear. Having some empty spots in our yard where the grass had been killed off by construction materials for our new home, I decided to seed some turnips. It is my understanding when some of the perennial broadleaf weeds start to grow you can plant cole crops and things that enjoy cooler temperatures to germinate. So, I gave it a try. This is my first seeding which became more prominent this past week.

These little turnips were planted just before the rain came last week in one of my small deer plots. The winter greens had been totally chewed away so I wanted to get something going to get some food supplied to build up for the upcoming fawning season. The wind helped the seeds clump together while I was broadcasting so might end up doing some thinning. 

My experiment leads me to believe that the turnips still need ground temperatures into the upper 40's for sprouting to occur,but pre-planting allows them to come up as the weather becomes optimal. 

I am thankful for the moderate days we have been given and definitely looking forward to the sweet scents that will soon be wafting on the calm breezes emanating out of the timber at Timber Life.

Have a good day!

Tornadoes Hit Northwest Iowa

The beautiful April Spring weather turned tempestuous in Northwestern Iowa as a supercell thunderstorm came charging in from Nebraska on Saturday.

Blogspot Storm Chasers from Kansas and Iowa share their eye witness experiences of what they saw when this weather system started its destructive path.

I found the following videos from the weekend  at Tornadovideos.net  , a website devoted to showing us the extreme weather that has a growing number of people trying to capture digitally for others to view. More and more information is being gathered and the tools some of them use is quite sophisticated to track the developing storms.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all the communities that were touched by the numerous funnels. Reports say that as many as 27 twisters were spawned as the system passed over from mid-afternoon into the early morning hours.




Mapleton,IA




Twin Tornadoes at Pocohontas,IA

We were not apart of the extreme weather here at Timber Life, but did see the lightening and hear the thunder in the distance to our north as the storm raced on to adjacent States...

Eaglets Hatch at Decorah,IA Raptor Resource Project

Video streaming by Ustream

Good News has come to the patient and watchful eyes viewing  the Raptor Resource Project  Decorah,IA Eagle Cam. Over the weekend two of the three eggs have hatched with the third expected to make its debut in the next couple of days.. 

Mother and Father Eagle still are taking their turns in providing nurturing heat and now hunting for food to feed their growing brood.

I hope you will continue to enjoy catching the activities of the now globally watched Iowa Eagles.

Have a great day!

Spike Buck still Carrying

My trail camera has been out watching for events such as you see in the picture to your left . This individual has yet to shed his little spikes from last season. The picture came off the camera on March 22nd. His first digital capture.

 I have wanted to keep an eye on antler growth of our Whitetail Buck population passing through daily.

Some of the bucks still show recent effects of rubbing their antlers off; others are on their way to new velvet development.






This picture came off the camera this morning. The young buck still seems to have no indications he might be losing his little spikes anytime soon.

We will just have to keep an eye out and see if we can catch him later sporting a new look.







This is one of my favorite trail camera pictures I have gotten this Spring.

I'm going to head off topic here -

Adding a bit of art has made it appear like a print I would like to put in a frame at a future time.

Hubby and I were given a Kodak EasyShare P730 digital frame for Christmas. We got it out of the box recently and plugged in a memory card. Easier and more economical than printing ALL my pictures off.

Oh my! Did the creative ideas begin to form then. I can keep the deer walking around the house all day.They'll never get off the trail again...

Have a great day!

Disclaimer: I am not in anyway affiliated with the Kodak company and will not receive any monetary funds for mentioning their product in my post.

Take Action to Stop Gun Ban

We are again being asked to garner public comments on a recent study of  The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).

The Firearms Coalition is making gun owners aware of the actions now being considered and the timely manner in which our responses need to be submitted. Please checkout the link for more specific information.

Below is a sample comment you can paraphrase or simply cut and paste into your own email:

Subject: I Oppose Further Restrictions on Shotgun Imports

I strongly oppose further restrictions on the importation of shotguns and disagree with the findings in the ATF shotgun study.

The constitutional authority for import restrictions based on a vague “Sporting Purpose Test” is highly suspect in light of the recent Heller and McDonald Supreme Court decisions and the Court’s previous decision in Miller.

Under the definitions contained in this study, virtually all pump-action and semi-auto shotguns would be banned because all of them are capable of accepting a magazine – box or tube – capable of holding more than 5 rounds.  This and other characteristics determined to be “military” in the study are utilitarian and often significantly enhance a gun’s usefulness, particularly for people with disabilities.  Denying access to certain designs or features can effectively serve to disarm (for personal defense and sporting purposes) vast numbers of disabled veterans and others with disabilities resulting in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

There are a variety of popular and growing sports which utilize shotguns with “military” features.  These guns are dominant in USPSA, IDPA, IPSC and other popular shooting sports.  Refusing to recognize these sports as they relate to shotguns based on the implications such recognition might have on rifle and pistol importability is disingenuous at best.

Applying import restrictions does little more than increase costs and complicate compliance for US shooters and gun owners.  Foreign manufacturers remove features and adapt their firearms to comply with US import restrictions and then US shooters modify the firearms back to the desired, original configurations.  This can be expensive and legally dangerous since failing to comply with obscure provisions of the laws related to altering imported firearms can result in unintended commission of multiple felonies which carry serious penalties.

ATF should shelve all plans to implement any of the findings of this study.

           

           Respectfully submitted,

I strongly recommend adding some personal opinions of these actions and your feelings of potential,broader restrictions that could  be implemented. If they get the ban for shotgun imports put into law...Will they then work on domestic brands? 

After the series of shootings that has happened, we see the push to take away the rights of individuals to carry firearms of any sort. I am going to echo the frame of thought that it isn't the gun acting on it's own that causes the problem,but the person handling it...

Robins in Waiting

This past weekend was extremely moderate for this early stage of Spring here in Central Iowa. As the day progressed I observed Robins filling the fields.

Late in the day I saw a partial Albino Robin hopping around with his flight mates. I tried getting a picture of it in the field, but due to distance it didn't workout at the time. Patience gave me another opportunity when part of the flock wanted to search our backyard for a treat. Among them the Albino I caught sight of earlier.

Heading off to pick-up my memory card from the trail camera the next day, I once again found a partial Albino Robin with the pack hanging around our homestead.

According to the link I found, one in 30,000 Robins exhibit this trait.

My curiosity was sparked a few weeks ago. When my son got this picture, snapped with his cell phone,while he was out on a Disc Golf course 30 miles to the West of us.

This Robin certainly is exhibiting more absence of color than the one I saw flying around here.

Makes me want to carry a camera around more in case something out of the ordinary should happen to cross my path.

Our fields have been home to 1000's of migrating Robin Redbreasts since things have warmed up.

I am wondering if they are waiting for the snowstorms
to  move out up North before they leave the R&R they have found.

Mass ascensions from trees and ground created some awesome scenes over the landscape.

The only problems that may have kept the Robins looking over their right wings would have been the
local Red -Tailed Hawk, Sadie on her runs and me with my camera in hand.

This local was being harangued by the crows who are constantly making sure it keeps moving.

As it rose over the pasture on my way back from picking up the mail, I caught it gliding high on the wind, surveying all that lay below...

Here's wishing you a good day!

CDGardens - 5 Sadie - 3

It is finally time to be out looking for antler sheds at Timber Life!

The first week of January I began some preliminary searches,February 24th, I started to look some more without any luck,or so I thought...The bark was starting to be stripped right and left off small diameter saplings. Bucks needing to be rid of their now bothersome antlers are making marks everywhere.I can't begin to tell you how disappointing it is to see so many trees in this state and not finding antlers close by...

While there was snow on the ground I kept watch on coyote activity originating out of the thicket where I had secluded myself for one of my short morning hunts in December.

I went to look around and ran across the skeletal remains of a button buck in my search of the area.

Sadie had been hovering around during my investigation. Camera in hand I took a picture of her with her find. I really hadn't paid close attention - thinking she may have found a rib or two to carry away. I was more interested in getting pictures and excavating the little skull from the frozen ground.
The weather had turned nippy again so I wanted to get things done.

It wasn't until later in the afternoon when we went out for another walk that I discovered what Sadie had found. I hadn't looked at the pictures on the camera card yet...She picked up her treasure; I got a closer look.

Oh my! It was an antler shed. Where there is one just maybe there would be another. I headed back out to the fence line by the thicket,then I went back to the edge where I found the remains of the little buck. There not 10 feet away was the match for the antler Sadie had taken. My interest sparked, I headed for the adjacent pasture ,and found another little shed. The last one for a few days until weather and time allowed.

We have done some intermittent searches with varied results.

I have found skeletal remains from an estimated four years old to positively the present. Running into 7 hide piles and miscellaneous bones - it looked like they had been ambushed in the deeryard. There were three in one group yesterday and four in the group I found today.

 For some reason I  kept forgetting to take a picture of the shed before I picked it up. This time I remembered!

Now, I am going through some trail camera picture to see if I can match the tines to the bucks. There are a couple of pictures that I believe puts a flesh and blood owner to the one pictured on the ground and to the left in the group shot.

Take a look and see if you agree. It seems this Roman nosed fellow just might be a good match. The antler to your left as you look straight at his picture...He has been a camera hog on more than one occasion. He even tried licking the lense one night.

It looks like he is around to start a new set of antlers for me to find again next year.

Time to see if I can find owners for the rest of them.






To date me and Sadie have jointly found 7 antlers of various sizes and one that I removed from the buck that I was given by hunters hunting our property in December.

Five out of the eight antlers has considerable wear or an injury during the developmental stage causing some thickening at that point. The big 4 point to the right appears to have potentially been a five but the  tine was broken off early in development,leaving a hole in the middle. All have character.


A few more days and another direction should  be enough to finish the Whitetail Shed Hunting season for me.

I want to wish all of you that have an interest for collecting ... Good shed hunting!

Waterfowl Fill the Air

This is the start to one of the best times of the year around Timber Life.Soon to be Spring!

February 20,2011

In February, we started to see both geese and ducks starting to arrive what seemed to be around three weeks earlier than last year.The up and down temperatures were playing with Mother Nature's inner clock. She sent advance sentinels to clear the way for the rest of the troops to come swishing through.

They would fly from one direction to another looking for a place to sit down. The empty cornfields became places of rest and recuperation, our local Marsh was still solid ice.

The unsteady temperatures brought low clouds and decreased visibility to the human eye.You would hear the honking and quacking, briefly catching a glimpse of the noise makers before they would  turn around and once again wing their way back into the chilly mist to look for a more hospitable location.

The activities now of the waterfowl fly-way have started to bring wave after wave of ducks and geese.

March 10,2011

Wednesday, late afternoon, I was on my way home from visiting my Mom when I found these birds sitting in the cornfields across the blacktop to the south of the Marsh.

The day ended with masses of geese seeking shelter where ever they could find it.

Yesterday , I got the chance to head over to the Marsh before the hoarfrost had started to fall from the trees and electric wires. Beautiful was the effect as it  ever so slowly gave way to the slightly warmer temperatures, turning the ice back into a flowing pool of water.


It appeared to be snowing for a time as the frost lost it's grip,tumbling to the ground where it collectively added to the puddles left by the remnants of the snow from a few days ago.

                                 Ducks and Geese were willing companions as they shared the
                                 amenities of the expanding open water.

                                I was guilty of disturbing the tranquility of our fine feathered 

                                friends. This is only a small example of the total number of 

                                birds temporarily giving us a look into their habits.

                                 I love to watch the geese working together to rise into the sky.

                                 An observation I would like to offer is the position of the tail

                                 feathers in correlation with wing position as they lift off in

                                 their group.

                                I definitely have been privileged to see the Spring migration

                                happening in the central Iowa Fly-way.   Certainly a most 

                                enjoyable transition from winter to warmer days...

                               

Spring Forward

I see it's that time of year again...

                            There are a few ways to say it...

                                      Don't forget!

Time for us to set the clock forward at 2:00 A.M.Sunday morning to begin our Daylight Savings Time, or more conveniently, when you head to bed the night before if you don't pull all nighters on the weekends.

I am one of those people who has a readjustment curve when the semi-annual changes come. How does it affect you?