Parade
I came home from work a few days ago to find my beautiful ash tree broken in half by a windstorm. I'm going to miss that tree. I actually have a lot of good memories tied in with it. I cut up the broken half with my chainsaw, and now the power company will finish up so the power lines don't get damaged.
The branches that I cut are strewn across the yard alongside my gravel driveway. I've been surprised by how this has changed the behavior of the birds and animals that I feed. Every morning I spread sunflower seeds and corn on the driveway, then I sit in my rocking chair and drink coffee while watching the critters eat breakfast. Apparently the branches make them feel protected, because there are twice the number of birds than I normally see. I've seen as many as three red-headed woodpeckers, five blue jays, four goldfinches, doves, red-winged blackbirds, sparrows, meadowlarks, squirrels, ground squirrels, and rabbits. It's like watching a parade.
We've had a lot of rain here. The mineral block that I put out for the deer has completely melted away. I'll have to put a 'cap' on the new one somehow. The deer actually lick the ground around the block instead of the block itself, and the hole they've dug is about a foot deep and full of rainwater.
I went outdoors late last night and I heard an animal noise that I've never heard before. It was a single high-pitched shriek, about once every ten seconds. It may have been a fox. During mating season they sound like a crying baby. When I first moved here, (a city boy new to the country) I went outside late one night with a flashlight looking for the baby in my neighbor's cow pasture.
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