Uploads from Laura L. Wentz

Ewes & lambs 5-20

nobody@flickr.com (Laura L. Wentz) — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:18:37 -0700

Eating breakfast

nobody@flickr.com (Laura L. Wentz) — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:14:08 -0700

This morning after chores I ate breakfast in the kitchen with the window open. There can be 3 female hummingbirds eating without any problem, but if a male shows up, then no one can eat.

We only have 4 feeders up for them right now. As the summer goes along and the babies move out of the nest we will have at least 8 feeders. We go thru a lot of sugar water.

Unusual or ugly view?

nobody@flickr.com (Laura L. Wentz) — Mon, 20 May 2013 10:05:01 -0700

Laura L. Wentz posted a photo:

I can't decide if I like it or not. I don't know why I try to take pictures thru the windshield of the mule. It's plastic, dirty and scratched but the sun was sort of interesting and the sheep were just hanging out until they realized I was going to feed the guard dogs. Sheep love dog food (go figure) and it's not because I feed the crappy stuff with corn in it. This is why I have to feed the guard dogs outside the fence or bring a Border Collie or two in with me to hold them back.

Start of the grazing season

nobody@flickr.com (Laura L. Wentz) — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:27:22 -0700

Laura L. Wentz posted a photo:

My favorite part of the grazing season is when the dairy heifers come. After last year's drought they are 3 weeks later than they normally are. The pastures have recovered pretty well thanks to the moisture we've had in the last several months.

These are from 2 herds that are grass based dairies, their milk gets used to make cheese. We've grazed for them for several years and their heifers are always such a pleasure to work with I'm sad when they leave.

Farming may not pay a lot but the job satisfaction is high. : )

Gateway to...

nobody@flickr.com (Laura L. Wentz) — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:48:03 -0700

Laura L. Wentz posted a photo:

Getting wet. ;-) It was raining a bit this morning, but as soon as I let the dogs out it poured. I love days like today, it could only have been better if I'd been able to stay curled up in bed with a book. Too bad I have to work for a living.

Walking over the hill

nobody@flickr.com (Laura L. Wentz) — Wed, 15 May 2013 08:42:33 -0700

Laura L. Wentz posted a photo:

Themes and Challenges: Forest/Trees

Blue

nobody@flickr.com (Laura L. Wentz) — Mon, 13 May 2013 11:09:29 -0700

Laura L. Wentz posted a photo:

The swallows like to sit on the fence and soak up the sunshine in the morning. I love the iridescence of the blues on their backs. For once it would have been a better picture (for the challenge anyway) if they'd been facing the other way.

Mother

nobody@flickr.com (Laura L. Wentz) — Mon, 13 May 2013 08:53:58 -0700

Laura L. Wentz posted a photo:

Speckle, the white ewe here is the mother to the 3 white lambs following her. She's always been a good ewe and this year she surprised me with triplets. Fortunately she's got plenty of milk and they're all doing great.

Chubs sunrise

nobody@flickr.com (Laura L. Wentz) — Fri, 10 May 2013 10:37:38 -0700

Laura L. Wentz posted a photo:

This was after walking down to feed the guard dogs a couple of mornings ago. I had the camera and the time to just goof around taking pictures. I love days like that!

Candy dish

nobody@flickr.com (Laura L. Wentz) — Fri, 10 May 2013 08:57:56 -0700

Laura L. Wentz posted a photo:

ODC: Curves
Themes and Challenges: Curvature

Peppermint, butterscotch and lemon drops are the choices in the hard candy dish at work.

Bluebirds checking out the house

nobody@flickr.com (Laura L. Wentz) — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:36:07 -0700

Laura L. Wentz posted a photo:

Yesterday I had an extra wren house without a place to put it so I just stuck it in the arbor. This morning this pair of Bluebirds was flapping around trying to get into a wren sized hole. It wasn't working.

Marissa found an extra Bluebird house and we put it up about 6 feet away from the sidewalk & arbor. It's not an ideal place for it, but we're hoping that our presence will help deter the House Sparrows.

There are 22 other Bluebird houses scattered around the farm. All of them have Bluebird nests in them right now with eggs except for the 2 that are empty and the 2 that have Tree Swallows nesting in them.

In the past we've had a Robin that nested in the arbor. It successfully fledged 3 youngsters and we spent a lot of time walking around the arbor to get in and out of the yard. The Chipping Sparrows have also successfully nested on top of the arbor in amongst the clematis. So obviously we aren't too awful.

10 minutes from home

nobody@flickr.com (Laura L. Wentz) — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:16:20 -0700

Laura L. Wentz posted a photo:

It's a 10 minute walk to go feed the guard dogs that are out with the sheep in the morning now. Seems like a long walk with 5 heavy dishes full of food but the walk back is a piece of cake. This is after I feed the dogs in the house and it's become our second walk of the morning.

The sheep spend most of the summer down in what we call the Bobolink field. Years ago my ex-husband heard that Bobolinks were on the decline because they nest one time a year and if the hay gets cut and destroys their nest they don't rebuild. So this 40 acre field is sheep pasture and hay field, but the hay only gets cut once and that's not until after July 10 or whenever we see that the young birds are able to fly about.

We do have 3 fields that get cut twice a year, but besides the Bobolink field there's another 154 acres that are just used for rotationally grazing cows. It's a balancing act to run things to be friendly to the birds and other wildlife and still make money.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

nobody@flickr.com (Laura L. Wentz) — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:03:11 -0700

Laura L. Wentz posted a photo:

This has quickly become my favorite warbler. They are everywhere that I go to take pictures of birds. Since I'm temporarily without a vehicle, I was just birding at home. On the farm, there's a pond where the original house was. It's spring-fed from several different places in the woods behind it and has a 20 acre open field in front of it. A friend said this would be the best spot on the farm for finding warblers and he was right. Besides these there were also several Palm Warblers and a female Pine Warbler.

There's a pair of Wood Ducks and a pair of Mallards that have been hanging out at the pond along with a pair of Lincoln Sparrows and some Song Sparrows. Two of the Bluebird houses in the field in front of here have Bluebird nests with eggs and the Tree Swallows seem to be thinking of nesting in another one. Although we cut hay on part of the field in front of the pond, the Bobolinks find plenty of places to nest on the hill that doesn't bet mowed and also out in the cow pastures.

This is the time of the year that I enjoy just sitting outside and listening to the birds sing and watching them go about their busy lives. : )

Bubbles and ripples

nobody@flickr.com (Laura L. Wentz) — Fri, 03 May 2013 14:11:15 -0700

Laura L. Wentz posted a photo:

Our Daily Challenge: Square Crop
Themes and Challenges: Curvature

Fencing in the light

nobody@flickr.com (Laura L. Wentz) — Thu, 02 May 2013 15:04:17 -0700

Laura L. Wentz posted a photo:

This morning the sheep got moved to the ditch along the driveway. In the early spring they graze these weird, out of the way places. When I started putting up the electronet it was sunny and reasonably warm. By the time I was done, it was cloudy, cold and windy. Tonight's low is supposed to be 37 again.

Signs of the season

nobody@flickr.com (Laura L. Wentz) — Thu, 02 May 2013 11:11:07 -0700

Laura L. Wentz posted a photo:

The Baltimore Orioles are back, along with a lot of other birds! We have sugar water feeders for them and the hummingbirds (who are not back yet) and some oranges out too but this guy wanted suet this morning.

Connect the dots

nobody@flickr.com (Laura L. Wentz) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 15:07:12 -0700

Laura L. Wentz posted a photo:

Themes and Challenges: Curvature

Bokeh out the window when we were in Madison Thursday evening. My favorite kind of photo.

Worm's eye view...

nobody@flickr.com (Laura L. Wentz) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:52:35 -0700

Laura L. Wentz posted a photo:

if we had worms in the office. Katie was snoozing in the sunshine. It's a nicely warm, sunny day, just like it's spring.

Fence, animals & natural light

nobody@flickr.com (Laura L. Wentz) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:13:19 -0700

Laura L. Wentz posted a photo:

Sort of a boring picture but it's a threefer for Our Daily Challenge.

The sun was shining this morning and the sheep were cleaning up the good hay in the feeders outside.

Eastern Towhee, female.

nobody@flickr.com (Laura L. Wentz) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 09:58:49 -0700

Laura L. Wentz posted a photo:

Seen in Portage, Wisconsin, USA.