High Winds Awakens Central Iowa

3:52 A.M. RUSHING Winds of 60 MPH +,pelting rains,thunder and lightening awoke me from a twilight slumber.

The electricity gave indications that it wouldn't be a reliable power source for much longer after I climbed out of bed.

I did have a chance to catch some weather news before modern technology grew silent. The news only reinforced what I saw in the light of the lightening and the noise of the thunder I heard echoing all around.

7:05 A.M., well after sunrise - technology remains silent. Mother-Nature has calmed down, but once in a while a few more drops of rain can be seen dropping into the puddles filled by the earlier deluge.

Quiet has returned,except for the birds which found their voices...Certainly, a more pleasant way to welcome the day than the rude awakening of a few hours ago.

Another hour and a half passed until electrical service returned to stir into action the machines that make daily living here at Timber Life move smoothly.

Trees on houses, new construction in progress collapsed, just tasseled corn unevenly fallen at the whim of the down bursts skipping over the area .

Assessing the damage has swung into gear.

The deer keep vigil  over the field corn . Tassels were beginning to come out, silk and ears would have been developing soon.It looks like the harvest for man and deer will be limited this season.

Our forecast for the early morning hours tomorrow brings a repeat of what was experienced this morning. It is going to be very interesting to see if it reaches the same intensity as it did today .

Wind speeds were estimated to be 105 MPH at the little town 6 miles to the west of us. People throughout central Iowa felt the devastating power of the air masses mixing it up. What a fight they had! I don't want to forget to mention anyone who has been affected by the weather, but I am better informed about our little section of the State. Please stay safe during these drastically hot days.

The ongoing strong weather for the summer of 2011...Where will it hit next?

Decorah IA Eagle Cam Update

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Months have passed since the public started their vigil in wait for three little eaglets to hatch.

At my present viewing I hear the parents from a distance calling to their two fledglings perched on the tree limbs around the nest.

One has now taken flight to a different position out of camera view.Now,the second fledgling has left. How swiftly they grow from chicks to semi-independent individuals.

The camera area is now empty of raptors...but the sounds of morning are filling the air.

Here's wishing you all a pleasant summer day in July!

Crayfish or Crawdad?

Parked on a city street in a suburb of Des Moines, IA , yesterday. I discovered a little crustacean with a  purpose making its way along the warm concrete.

I can't say I have ever seen one of these creatures in the great outdoors up until this point. 

So, I got camera lens to antenna for a close-up. Of course it took that to be an aggressive action so it raised its pinchers and  proceeded , determined to get wherever the natural instinct was drawing him/her.

Time wasn't being wasted in going from side to side...A straight line was the fastest way to achieve the objective. Get off the pavement before he/she got cooked.The day was heating up with the sun high in the sky -  it was close to noon.

    

I am left to wonder if this multi-legged ,two clawed, speedster had made a trip around the block, because it thought there was something better on the other side?

I have a feeling this is where the crawdad was going to make his/her walk-a-bout come to an end. Back in the safety of the urban pond bank...

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

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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...