18 May 2014 - Spray Paint, Color and Fences

I have a love affair with spray paint. You can go back to the entry for 4 Aug 2012 and see older spray painted projects.  My newest spray paint project is a doozy!

It all started with the need for a better deer fence around the vegetable garden. We started with a deer fence made of netting. It worked great the first year. The second year the deer discovered they could tear through it. We repaired, repaired and repaired. Very  early this Spring, a panicked young buck took a headlong run at the fence and completely destroyed one side.  It was time for a change. 

I had been noodling about the fence for most of the winter. I told my brother I was planning on getting a fence company to set posts. Digging holes in this rocky soil is almost impossible. Thought I'd leave it to the professionals, or at least stronger backs. David listened and made noises in all the right places.  Then the following weekend he showed up with his tool bag and a truck bed full of lumber.

Okaaay.  He decided we could build the fence ourselves using some existing poles, new lumber and bolt the whole thing together. I am not one to argue with my brother. It took two days last weekend to get the bones of the fence put together.

I stained all the cross pieces green to blend into the yard. One of the best things about this fence is that it adds about 10 feet in length and another 4 feet in width over the original area we had fenced in. More room to work and grow things in!

I have had this idea in mind for quite some time. It is so much fun to get it started. Next, for the uprights. 


Step one: Primer for  my collection of old tools. 

 Step two:  Spray paint!

 

Step three: Stain the handles the same color as the fence.

Step four. Install on fence. 

 Seriously, doesn't this look like a happy row of marigolds?

 David also created finials for the posts. He drilled holes in a set of  croquet balls, gave them a coat of polyurethane sealer and installed them on the posts. Quite the finishing touch!
 
In addition to all this, David created a deer repeller. He found a cheap shovel at Home Depot, which he  promptly turned into a protective spirit for the garden. It will have a place of honor beside the gate. The face reminds me of the blue people from the movie Avatar. Oversized slanted eyes, the long nose and the big mouth. Seriously, all Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) did was scream, wail or ululate. Ay yi yi. 


I need more tools! Over the last year I gleaned quite a few of Hazel's old tools from David's yard, plus many from my hoard and Pop's stash as well. Amy told me I should be checking out estate sales. With that in mind I took a look at the classifieds this morning and noticed an estate sale about a mile away. Nothing for it but to hop in the car and go. The only yard tool available was a ratty leaf rake. They gave it to me.  Cool! 

David gave the garage another once over while he was here today (listening to me grouse about needing more tools) and came up with a pruning saw on a stick. I could use it, but I hate to. It is so old that the part that holds the saw and also attaches it to the stick is cast iron. You just don't see those anymore. Who knows, it may show up on the fence at some point. 

As Justin Wilson used to say, "Don't that purty?"

12 May 2014 - Owlets!

Today, I gave myself a free pass. No responsibilities. Get out and have some fun. What did that mean?  Antelope Island. Yesterday the causeway reportedly had thousands of migrants, including six species that I have yet to see. Apparently they all moved north this morning. Sheesh. 

Black-bellied Plover

However, there were hundreds of black-bellied plovers, many willets, some smaller peeps--still working on those IDs--most likely small sandpipers such as Baird's or Least. 

The causeway also had lots of avocets, black-necked stilts, and thousands of eared-grebes with a few ducks thrown in for good measure. 

I was hoping to see the burrowing owls again, but they were not in sight. I did see lots of Loggerhead Shrikes. 

The brine flies were out in abundance and the shrikes were taking advantage of it. 



A week ago, I saw the baby Great Horned Owl sitting in the nesting box. Today he was up in the rafters of the barn and still looking very fuzzy. Doesn't look as though he has enough wing feathers to fly. 

Underneath the rafter I found a handful of owl pellets. I brought some home, and opened a couple others on the spot. 

You just never know what you'll find. In this case there were lots of feathers and little bird bones. It seems similar to being on an archeological dig.

Two of the best things about the island in spring are the Meadow Larks (great color and beautiful song) and the Horned Lark. Today was full of sightings of both birds. 

 

On the island, I was having a sunny, blue sky day. Looking east at the Wasatch Front, you could see a storm being pushed along the mountains from the north. 

I was able to wait until it passed by, then I took back roads home, following behind the rain. I really didn't want to be on the freeway, with rain and rush-hour traffic. 

The highlight of the back roads was seeing this Sandhill Crane family. 

Taking the back roads also allowed me to check on the other Great Horned Owl nest. One of the babies was still in the nest. He was very busy stretching and flapping his wings. Don't think he'll be there  much longer. The other two were still in the tree and so hard to see. But I found all three. 

Flapping baby still in nest

 2nd baby

 3rd baby

Surprises. 
I know that swallows make mud nests. I hadn't really given much thought to how they get the mud until I saw this. 

Well. There are surprises, then there are surprises. I have seen a lot of weather vanes, but this was a first. It appears to be an actual gun, not a metal cut-out or wood replica. Very odd.

3 May 2014 - Burrowing Owls and Other Delights

Robin is arriving today! I get her for a week. It will be great. Her flight is coming in at 2pm, so I took a detour on the way to get her--a 30 mile detour to Antelope Island. What the  heck. Turned out to be one of my best decisions. I found the burrowing owls. 

I know where they are supposed to be. I look for them every time I'm on the island. This time they were outside the burrow looking  around. They are only 9 inches high, so they disappear into the grass very quickly.

 We had some rain and snow in late April and early May, so the island was greening up. It was fun to see the birds amongst wild flowers. 

The chukars were out in big numbers--probably saw 20 or more. I love their bright pink bills and legs. The red eye is pretty wonderful too. 


After finding the burrowing owls, went to the hay barn at the buffalo corrals to check on the great horned owls' nesting box. To my delight, the baby was sitting up in the box. 

Won't be long before it is out on its own. 







Funny thing about birding. You go out and look until your eyes hurt.  You come home and find something unexpected. 

Tonight a flock of cedar waxwings came through. Easily 50 or more birds. They hit the apple tree and proceeded to consume the flower petals as though they hadn't eaten in a week. They were in the yard about 20 minutes then gone. It is so easy to miss something wonderful. 

Constant vigilance. Professor Moody had that right.