Picture of the Day for April 25, 2014

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Many states are celebrating Arbor Day today, the last Friday of April. All 50 states celebrate Arbor Day although the dates may vary in keeping with the local climate. The first Arbor Day took place on April 10, 1872 in Nebraska. It was the brainchild of Julius Sterling Morton, a Nebraska journalist and politician originally from Michigan.

Morton felt that Nebraska’s landscape would benefit from the wide-scale planting of trees for wind breaks. When he became a member of Nebraska’s state board of agriculture, he proposed that a special day be set aside dedicated to tree planting and increasing awareness of the importance of trees. More than one million trees were planted on Nebraska’s first Arbor Day.

I’m glad my squirrels forget where they bury all their acorns so they plant new oak trees for me as most of my old oaks are getting hollow and blowing down.

Old Oak Tree

Old Oak Tree

Picture of the Day for April 24, 2014

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There are no leaves on the trees or corn planted in the field yet since it is the dull time of spring after the snow disappears (or most of it) and before things begin to green up, but with a rainy day on a dull landscape, I needed a more colorful picture. The old rock foundation and the mismatched upper windows caught my eye on this old barn.

Old Stones

Old Stones

Picture of the Day for April 23, 2014

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The Killdeers have been back for several weeks but hopefully they haven’t laid their eggs yet since a rainy/snowy stretch is coming up. A shorebird, who rarely spends time on a shore, but instead is found in pastures, fields, sandbar, driveways, gravel rooftops and golf courses. Course gravel rooftops are dangerous for the young when the adults lure the babies off the roof and at the cheese factory, we would try putting cushion material down when they started to jump off the roof.

I generally see them in the pastures and watch their broken-wing act to lead me away from their nest, which is often in a dry cow pie, but the broken-wing act doesn’t keep the cows from from stepping on the eggs so they will use a different tactic. The Killdeer will fluff itself up, display its tail over its head and then run at the cow to attempt to make the cattle change its path.

Killdeer get their name from the shrill, wailing kill-deer call they give so often and were also called the Chattering Plover and the Noisy Plover.

Noisy Killdeer

Noisy Killdeer

Picture of the Day for April 22, 2014

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The frog were correct, spring is here or at least the snow has finally melted off the lawn. And it is fitting that the snow left so you can see the ‘earth’ again for Earth Day.

Earth Day began in 1970, with a federal proclamation from U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, when 20 million people across the United States (one in ten) rallied for increased protection of the environment.

Nelson recounted in an essay shortly before he died in July 2005 at 89. “The American people finally had a forum to express its concern about what was happening to the land, rivers, lakes, and air—and they did so with spectacular exuberance.”

Earth Day

Earth Day

Picture of the Day for April 21, 2014

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According to the frogs, spring has finally arrived as they have been croaking up a storm. It is amazing how a tiny frog an inch long can make a noise that carries so far. I was expecting to find some big frogs making the ruckus down at the pond and it with so many singing, it was hard to find the individual noise makers, especially when I discovered most of them were little critters who double their width when they ‘croak’ and their vocal sac distends outward.

All the noise in the spring is to attract females and it is said that female frogs prefer males that produce sounds of greater intensity and lower frequency, attributes that stand out in a crowd. The rationale for this is thought to be that by demonstrating his prowess, the male shows his fitness to produce superior offspring. I heard a large range of sounds and some very high pitched ones that hurt my ears so hopefully the females will hurry up and pick their mate so the noise level goes down.

Click on the play button to hear the frog choir at the pond!

Noisy Frog

Noisy Frog

Picture of the Day for April 19, 2014

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With the sun out yesterday and no new snow, the birds could land on the ground again like these Northern Flickers. Although it can climb up the trunks of trees and hammer on wood like other woodpeckers, the Northern Flicker prefers to find food on the ground. Ants are its main food, and the flicker digs in the dirt to find them. It uses its long barbed tongue to lap up the ants.

Spring is also the time when birds are finding mates and Northern Flicker rivals face off in a display sometimes called a “fencing duel,” while a prospective mate looks on. Two birds face each other, bills pointed upward, and bob their heads in time. It was interesting to watch but I wonder what the female thinks of the males “fencing duel”.

Fencing Duel

Fencing Duel

Picture of the Day for April 18, 2014

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Mother Nature has been rather cruel to Northern Wisconsin this spring since when there is even a hint of spring arriving, more than a foot of new snow blankets the ground again. And Duluth, MN has set the fifth snowiest winter and with more snow predicted tonight, they might make number four.

I don’t know if spring will ever come before winter starts again and even my ducks must have headed south again as they didn’t like the snow.

Will Spring Come

Will Spring Come

 

Winter’s Strong Grip

Winter's Strong Grip

Picture of the Day for April 17, 2014

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I am having trouble finding any color this spring as there are no flowers blooming yet, even if I could find them under the snow. About the only color I can find are some leaves from last year which are under the water in the pond. At least the melting snow has filled the pond with clear water so you can see deep into the pond to where the leaf was resting on last year’s cattail leaves.

The refilled pond also had visitors the other day as a pair of mallards and a pair of wood ducks were enjoying a swim but I didn’t try to get pictures of them as I wanted the wood ducks to nest in the duck house.

Color Under the Water

Color Under the Water

Picture of the Day for April 16, 2014

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My niece had an early wake up call when one of her cows was calving this morning. And calving wasn’t late enough this year since the ground is white again with a fresh new layer of snow and so I didn’t even walk to the barn in the cold weather to take a picture of the new calf. The calves two years were enjoying green grass and dandelions in April but not this year. And no warm sunshine to take a nap outside either.

Sleepy Time Calf

Sleepy Time Calf

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