The lakes and rivers probably have more visitors this morning as fishermen drop their lines into the waters in hopes of catching the big one on the opening of the fishing season.
Fishing Opener
Picture of the Day for May 1, 2015
The giving of May baskets on May Day has disappeared from most of the country in this age of electronics. But the White Trout Lily probably would not have found its way into a May basket for my mom since it can take seven years for a Trout Lily to produce a flower, if the corm ever grows large enough. In the colony of flowers, among the leaves only roughly one percent produce a flower until the corm grows large enough to sprouts two leaves instead of one and blossoms. So I guess my mom gets some dandelions in her May basket instead.
White Trout Lily on May Day
Picture of the Day for April 30, 2015
Many birds are busy making nests or even sitting on eggs already in birdhouses I have made so I didn’t appreciate the Northern Flicker trying to drill through the top of one the birdhouses. It wasn’t my fault the wind blew down the dead tree a week ago where it nested in last year so he didn’t need to try to destroy another nesting site.
The Northern Flicker spends a lot of time on the ground looking for insects and I see plenty of ants around, one of its favorite foods, for it is eat and capture with its tongue which can extend two inches beyond the end of its bill.
Northern Flicker Looking for Insects
Picture of the Day for April 29, 2015
Over a blanket green, dainty white flowers extend upward on slender stems and tremble in the breeze and therefore is sometimes called Wind Flowers, although the more common name is Wood Anemone for Anemone quinquefolia.
The flowers usually stay open during the day but close during the night to protect the male and female parts of the flower while it is not being pollinated and since I was out late evening, the flowers were closing up but that allowed me to see the pinkish color on the outer layer. Wood Anemone tends to grow in thick mats, spreading via rhizomes. A single plant may take 5 years or longer to flower, so often only a few flowers are seen among the leaves.
Wood Anemone
Picture of the Day for April 28, 2015
Traveling only a few feet, you can see large tractors working the fields for spring planting and on next farm the Amish are planting as my grandfather did before getting his first tractor.
Planting with “Horsepower”
Picture of the Day for April 27, 2015
The calving season has officially started on my family’s farm yesterday with the first calf born early Sunday morning, even though the trips to the barn checking on the cows have going on for a week already. At least the calf will have a warmer and sunny week instead of snow.
First Calf
Picture of the Day for April 26, 2015
On a hill in southwestern Wisconsin, a small chapel built in 1903 overlooks the valleys emerging from long winter as signs of spring begin to emerge. The small shrine was rededicated to Our Lady of the Fields in 1958 by Bishop William O’Connor.
With the spring planting underway, ladies and men are working in the fields and inside the shrine is a statue of Saint Isidore, the patron saint of farmers.
Our Lady of the Fields Shrine
Saint Isidore
Picture of the Day for April 25, 2015
With the look of autumn, the tree buds of spring add some red and yellow color on the hillside before leafing out to the summertime green.
Springtime Tree Bud Colors
Picture of the Day for April 24, 2015
The last Friday in April in National Arbor Day (from the Latin arbor, meaning tree), a holiday in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant and care for trees, although some states observe it on different dates to coincide with the local area’s best planting times. For instance, Hawaii celebrates it on the first Friday of November, and Alaskans celebrate it on the third Monday in May.
The first American Arbor Day was originated in Nebraska City, Nebraska by J. Sterling Morton who had moved from Michigan to 160 treeless acres in Nebraska felt the state’s landscape and economy would benefit from the wide-scale planting of trees. On April 10, 1872, an estimated one million trees were planted in Nebraska.
This poor old willow tree has seen better days and lost many big limbs last year, reducing the shade which the beef cattle love in the summertime, so planting some trees in this area probably be appreciated by the critters.
Old Willow Tree
Picture of the Day for April 23, 2015
Generally my barn pictures are outside shots since I am shooting from the road, but once in a while I get to venture inside an old wooden barn. Each barn in unique with knot holes letting light seeping through or how it is built.
This barn has a rare piece of loose hay equipment called a “mower” and not a mower that cuts hay, but a platform which distributes the hay. Most older barns had a system of pulleys and tracks for the hayfork to raise the loose hay up from the wagon to the barn haymow and across the barn and tripped to drop the hay to the floor. The platform of the mower tips to either side to dump the hay closer to the side walls so required less pitching by hand when stacking the loose hay in the barn.
The exact year when this platform mower was added to the barn is unclear but the article I found about the mower was in the November 1921 issue of the Popular Mechanics magazine. The platform mower can be seen in the upper right corner and a closer view in the second picture.
The Haymow
The Platform of the Mower
