Bird-a-licious

March came in with a promise of spring. The weather turned warm. Terry was the first to spot robins.

Robins--a sure sign of spring

I took a break from grading exams Thursday night to walk out to see the full moon rising. Kildeer were calling wildly. I did not know they were so active at night. Then I heard “peent.” Could it be? I listened. “Peent. Peent.” It did indeed sound like a woodcock. We have not had woodcocks here before. I did not have time to investigate, but I promised myself I would go out at sunset the next day. I went back inside to finish the exams.

The following morning, the setting moon was beautiful. While I should have been exercising, I was busy trying to get a photo. I turned off the flash, which made the shutter speed too long. The craters of the moon were bleached out. After some experimentation with various settings, I found out how to manually set the shutter speed! I had never done that before and was pretty proud of myself. I got this picture, and was nearly late for work.

Full moon Friday morning

Friday was Dad’s 92^nd birthday. As always, I am amazed at the rapid passage of time. Mom had decided on Seafood Pasta, but her copy of the recipe had been lost. I still had mine. Neither of us had made it in a long time. We were surprised to see it called for mushrooms. Fortunately, I had some on hand that I had no plans for. That was my contribution to supper. Hilda had the shrimp and other ingredients prepped, including home-made noodles. While she went out to close the chicken coop, I started sautéing. It wasn’t dark enough, however, and the girls ran out as soon as they heard Hilda at the gate. The pasta came together quickly, and we were soon sitting down with champagne for a birthday celebration.

Terry reached for the pasta just as I was taking the picture. I took another picture without his arm in it, but Dad had his eyes closed. So here is the better picture of my dad, with Terry’s arm.

Dad's birthday dinner

We had such a nice time. I forgot about checking for the woodcock. We all forgot about the chicken coop until Terry wondered aloud if the chickens were in bed. It was pitch dark by then, so I went out with a flashlight. I didn’t want Hilda to trip on something and fall.

Here is Dad with his birthday cake.

Birthday cake

I went shopping with Jane on Saturday. We drove all the way to Kildeer through a lot of traffic to see the store for the first time. It turned out that they didn’t have anything we needed, but it was a fine adventure. We had not been out recreational shopping to a new store in a very long time.

That night I went out at 6:15 and heard nothing but kildeer. I tried again at 6:45. There it was again. Peent. Peent, peent. I walked slowly toward the willows. The calling stopped. I stood still. It started again. I moved closer. Silence. I waited in the cold wind for a while, and then moved up. A plump bird with short wings flapping furiously flew in front of me, silhouetted by the last light in the western sky, and disappeared in the direction of the solar panels. I hoped I had not spooked it for good. I haven't been out since.

Sunday was a fine day. When I went out to do the chicken chores, I was greeted by raucous bird calls unlike anything we’d had all winter. The redwing blackbirds were back. This guy was practicing his display to no one in particular, wings down, epaulets visible.

Redwing blackbird

Although the ground did not seem to be thawed more than an inch down, the robins were pulling up foot-long night crawlers everywhere. I had been wondering if they were able to find anything to eat. It seems so early for them—and all the other birds—to be back.

We had not had rain in several days. The wind was from the east. Terry thought it would be perfect weather for burning the field. The first plots did not do so well. It was partly because the frost had not burned off and partly because there were a great many weeds that did not carry the flame. It burned enough that the voles came charging out by the dozen. Often they charged right back in. One ran right between Hilda’s legs to get to an area that we’d burned previously. She didn’t even notice.

All though the day, waves of sandhill cranes flew by. We heard them first, which is usual, and then we scanned the sky until we could see them. Often they were way up high and hard to spot. Sometimes they were lower down. They flew in lines or Vs and then broke ranks to form clusters as they glided in circles on the thermals, up, up, up, until they drifted northwest on the wind. Hundreds of cranes in each group. Dozens of groups, one after the other. As they say in Central Wisconsin, “If dere was one, dere must’ve been a t’ousand.”

After lunch, though, we had more success. Hilda and I didn’t even have too much to do. Some of the firebreak were literally still underwater, and the wind was strong enough that the fire didn’t have much of a chance against it. It carried the flames well in the direction it was blowing, however. I took a bathroom break and missed an entire section, from lit to burned in 5 minutes.

Here is Terry lighting the east side of one of the last pieces. Hilda is sitting in the background near a puddle, which does not show up in the photo. As this piece burned, she saw voles charge into the puddle and swim furiously across it.

Terry lights the edge of the grass while Hilda watches for flames creeping into the firebreak

Now he is lighting the northeast side.

Lighting another side of the plot

And here it is a few minutes later. We were surprised at how thoroughly it burned since it looked like the grass was matted and the soil soggy.

A good, complete burn

Like the warm spell in February, the weekend weather was a tease. Today is cloudy and cold with the wind blowing at 40 mph. We are expecting snow overnight. Poor birds! But it is March. We can now dare to hope that spring is on the way.