Another beautiful nest in the berries, this one has a cowbird egg. The Brown-headed Cowbird is a brood parasite,and does not build their own nest, interestingly there are 220 different birds that they utilize to raise their young. They only lay one egg per nest but will lay up to 40 eggs a year. They have been known to chase the nest's egglayer off her nest to lay the egg and they usually pick species that have smaller eggs! Some of the bird hosts recognize the egg as unwelcome and will get rid of it or abandon the nest, but many do not and raise the baby cowbird as their own; this can sometimes be detrimental to the host's own fledgelings. Only 3 percent of cowbirds are fledged- successfully. Curious. I wonder if the diet for the young cowbird is of no consequence or are all baby birds fed an identical diet. Update.. at least two have fledged from the nest, just got a quick look so as not to disturb, not sure if one was the cowbird. By the way.. have learned that the chipping sparrow nest (which this was) is the most frequently parasitized nest.

We usually leave a wide berth around a bush that we know has a bird nest in it until the birds have fledged, but this nest seems to have been abandoned long before this picture for some reason. The nest had all manner of insects in it it and litter such as green berries that had fallen in. There is a Peterson field guide to bird nests don’t you know, but we were unable to identify, positively, the eggs in this nest It is only about 4-6 inches off the ground, and is lined with pine needles There are a few pines on the farm but not real close to the berries. I thought it looked very similar to the Rose- breasted Grosbeak, but the nest is too low to the ground. I even have a hard time trying to discern whether the eggs are splashed, blotched, dotted, spotted, overlaid or wreathed! There is a chance that they are Rufous- sided Towhee eggs, but these eggs look more heavily marked, and Dark-eyed Junco is a possibility but their nests are usually on the ground and the description does not mention pine needles in the nest. Oh well. We can usually identify the eggs by the panicked parent birds that get in a tizzy when you get too close. It will remain a mystery as to what kind of beautiful eggs these are and what happened to the parents.

Spending lots of time in the berries, weeding, mulching and fertilizing, scything and mowing, fretting and planning, all under the watchful eye of the seemingly lonely, lovely Fiona.

The Asian dogwood Cornus Kousa “Satomi” tis billed as pink but in reality, on our tree, it’s speckled dark pink on the sunny side of the tree and barely pink on the shady side. It blooms much later than the native dogwood, which is very nice. The fall fruit is edible, subtlety sweet and is loved by birds. I’ve wondered about mixing them with other fruit to preserve and I’ve read that you can make wine out of the fruit. Is there anything you can’t make wine out of? We just enjoy a few of them fresh though, competing with the birds for a week or so.

Got snow?

On April 24th we had an unusual heavy snow, unusual in that everything was in flower because of the unusually warm spring. We had to brush the snow off the bushes so no branches would be broken. the contrast was quite beautiful,

Oh boy, some of us were in seventh heaven with having 150 varieties of heirloom apple scion wood to choose from at this grafting workshop. Some were very rare and impossible to find varieties and some were new varieties. So, all participants donated scion wood which was labeled and displayed then grafting experts disbursed among the tables to share their expertise. The rootstock was available for a small charge. There was great camaraderie who shared a passion for all things apple. We picked up a “jelly flower” but have not been able to find any description of it except for a mention here. If you have knowledge of this apple variety will you let us know?

Heard the woodcock peenting the last few evenings. The elusive bird, if you don’t know already, has a rather unusual way of attracting a mate. He flies slowly upwards 300ft in a spiral then free falls to the ground producing a sound with his wings. They do this at dusk and it’s usually just light enough to watch. This usually happens in March around our neck of the woods.
We came across their eggs one year, a small clutch on the ground next to the area we call “the little woods” not far from the area where they are peenting now.
painting by Archibald Thorburn 1899.

March 7, daffodils up a good bit, pussy willows out, a day that portends green, rebirth and renewal.

End of Jan and have only had a few short days of real winter weather, not complaining but one does wonder whether it’s not a symptom of climate change. Tree and seed catalogs have all arrived with the tempting new for 2012 pics. I may have to try some of those yellow coneflowers and is there room for another apple tree?

See what you can harvest in the middle of January?

Finnegan

Our hearts are torn asunder today as our most faithful friend and regal protector has passed away.

So savage winter catches
The breath of limber things,
And what I love he snatches,
And what I love not, brings. Thomas Hardy

"The poor dog, in life the the firmest friend,
The first to welcome, foremost to defend,
Whose honest heart is still the master's own,
Who labours, fights, lives, breathes for him alone,
Unhonour'd falls, unnoticed all his worth,
Denied in heaven the soul he held on earth,
While man, vain insect hopes to be forgiven,
And claims himself a sole exclusive heaven." Lord Byron


There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.
Rudyard Kipling


"Not the least hard thing to bear when they go from us, these quiet friends, is that they carry away with them so many years of our lives. Yet, if they find warmth therein, who would begrudge them those years that they have so guarded? And whatever they take, be sure they have deserved."John Galsworthy

Seventeen persimmons on the American Persimmon tree planted in the spring of 2009. Exciting! I am going to attempt some persimmon pudding. The persimmon is a bit out of its range here, but so far, so good. We have a few smaller Asian persimmons planted, I don’t know if the American and the Asian pollinate each other but the American is self fruitful. The Asian fruit look different, more acorn shaped and less squashed tomato shape. Dried persimmon leaf tea is reported to be very delicious and high in vitamin C, best gathered in the summer. Would you like to try a cup?

No clouds are in the morning sky,
The vapors hug the stream,
Who says that life and love can die
In all this northern gleam?

At every turn the maples burn,
The quail is whistling free,
The partridge whirs, and the frosted burrs
Are dropping for you and me.

Ho! hilly ho! heigh O!
Hilly ho!
In the clear October morning.

Along our paths the woods are bold,
And glow with ripe desire;
The yellow chesnut showers its gold,
The sumachs spread their fire;

The breezes feel as crisp as steel,
The buckwheat tops are red:
Then down the lane, Love, scurry again,
And over the stubble tread?

Ho! hilly ho! heigh O!
Hilly ho!
In the clear October morning.

a poem that suits the day, it was written about the time the farm house was being built, by Edmund Clarence Stedman

The chestnuts are ripe and falling from their husks. The farm has 9 chestnut trees planted a few years after our arrival, some are Chinese and some are the Dunstan hybrid. The Dunstan hybrid is a blight resistant cross of the American and the Chinese chestnut. There is not a whole lot of difference between the taste, the Dunstans seem starchier to me. The Dunstans are ripe earlier and they are browner in color and somewhat smaller. Chestnuts are rich in the monounsaturated fats oleic acid and palmitoleic acid, known to lower LDL cholesterol, they’re rich in the B vitamins thiamine, riboflavin and niacin and a source of calcium, iron and phosphorous. This year was a very good year, the branches loaded and hanging on the ground. We took some to the market this week, and despite the cold rainy day and lack of market shoppers we managed to sell some. I kept imagining how well they could sell if we had a mechanism there to cook them and had a young chap to loudly chant- hot roasted chestnuts!!

It has been a fun and amazing wild mushroom gathering year in this part of PA. Learning lots of new mushrooms but it’s a challenge as there are so many that look so similar!! The conditions were ideal for an abundance of all sorts of mushrooms and a kind friend is guiding us to differentiate the bad from the good. Many are being dried for winter soups. They’re so ephemeral, popping up where there was nothing and in a few days all that is left is sort of a disgusting pile of slime. Would love to identify all those that grow on the farm. If you have a favorite definitive mushroom identification guide, let us know!

Approximately 48 days after they were found some of the snake eggs have hatched!!! (see earlier post) They are milk snakes, born with an umbilical cord attached! There is a bit of hope for the remaining eggs but the first 3 all hatched within a day or two of the other. We’ll wait then and perhaps do an autopsy on a remaining egg. The babies will be released close to where the eggs were found.