Snowy Excursion

Another snow storm, another snow day and a really bad case of cabin fever. What to do? Grab the camera and walk down to the farm run by my cousin, John. I helped Derek get his mountain bike down from the loft and off we went.

Along the way we stopped to admire the apple trees. At the end of this row an ancient oak can be seen. It stands as a lone sentinel.

When we got there, we stopped to say hello the Haflingers. They were unimpressed to say the least. As we stood by the horses we looked up to see two beautiful white swans zoom overhead. I couldn't tell if there was a knob on the bill or not, but Derek said he saw the knob which would mean Mute Swan. My gut is telling me Tundra Swan though.

But the kittens in the hay loft were thrilled to see us and they mewed enthusiastically. I climbed the ladder halfway so I could give each one a nice ear scratching. They were grateful.

Then we visited a newborn Angus calf. His mother let us know in no uncertain terms that we were not welcome and that if we knew what was good for us we would leave immediately. Good thing there were two gates between us. I've been around cows a lot and this one meant business!

We watched as John loaded up three bulls for a trip to the slaughterhouse then we headed back home. It was a nice day to be out in the sunshine, even if it was a bit cold. I made the trip in two heavy sweatshirts, so it wasn't that bad at all.

On the way home, we got a good look at a Red-Tailed Hawk soaring over the orchard as well as a mature Bald Eagle lazily soaring over the Twelve Acres windbreak and field. It's raptor heaven out here and we love it!

After we'd been in the house a while I noticed that the Red-Winged Blackbirds that had been whistling and singing away merrily at the feeders were suddenly quiet. When kids are quiet, you know they're up to no good. The same can be said for birds although it's usually a sign of trouble. I glanced out the front windows to see what was going on and to my pleasant surprise, there sat Cooper in the Norway Maple, waiting for the birds to come to the feeder. I had to chuckle at her. She thinks my bid hopper feeder is her own personal diner. I didn't see any songbirds offer themselves up for lunch though. She gave up after a while and flew off after a Mourning Dove. I don't know if she succeeded with catching it though. We got a really good look at her with our binocs and it was a great treat to be able to watch her for a few solid minutes before she left!