[Racer X 69]

This is my second time encountering "The Odd Couple." The first time was at Trap Pond in DE, this time it was kayaking in the Everglades.

First up is a Canadian Goose on the prowl, looking for love.
Then I spot an odd looking bird (Muscovy Duck?) saying she is ready for love.
The Canadian pursues.
The Odd Bird plays hard to get
The Canadian says not so fast.

I have witnessed inter breeding behavior between various birds before. In my teens my folks had a hobby farm, complete with many varieties of fowl. We had a rooster that mated with all the other birds, chicken hens, duck hens, goose hens. But he didn't stop there. Oh no, he also went after the other roosters (we always seemed to have 3 or 4), and the male ducks and geese.

Mom eventually tired of his sexually liberal proclivities and made him into stew.

We also had a male duck that exhibited the same behavior. This guy actually killed a hen and a gosling, his obsession was so fierce. We had a medium sized lake nearby that had a large duck and goose population where the citiots would drive out to from the city and feed. We released him there, figuring he may fornicate himself to the limits of his pleasure, or die trying.

I guess humans aren't the only creatures that experiment.

[ccc_]

Why are they burning the field?

the ditches they were burning were choked with poison ivy but the meadows have been a nice mix of grasses and wildflowers

the kids doing the work didn't seem to know
if we get rain soon the grasses usually come back stronger than the "weeds" and maybe few less ticks

don't know just guessing

a second thought-
western red cedar, the bane of plains grasslands
other than yanking them out by their roots, fire is the only practical answer

[ccc_]

this was first for me

I ran across a pair of red-tails working together

they had scattered a flock of two or three hundred black birds (redwings, grackles and starlings) out of an open field
then while one circled this guy went into to a tree after some lurking starlings like a sharp shin would do

too big and too slow for the job but great for me

[WPRESTO]

We had a rooster that mated with all the other birds, chicken hens, duck hens, goose hens. But he didn't stop there. Oh no, he also went after the other roosters.

A young rooster was brought into the farmyard because the resident cock was aging.

"Listen kid" said the old rooster, "the hens will never respect you until you prove yourself. Instead of fighting, let's have a race. Three times around the barn, loser gets up for the AM crowing, winner gets all the hens."

"Sounds great" replied the young cock, "Let's go!"

At the that, the old rooster took off at an astonishing speed, and the newcomer found himself well behind. But by the second run around the barn, the young rooster had caught up and had his beak right into the tail feathers of the oldster. Suddenly BLAM! and the young rooster fell dead on the spot. The old fellow strutted off toward the hens.

"Dang it!" said the farmer, clicking open the double barrel and picking up the dead young rooster by the feet. "That's the fourth new rooster I've bought and every one of 'em's bin gay."

[Racer X 69]

a second thought-
western red cedar, the bane of plains grasslands
other than yanking them out by their roots, fire is the only practical answer

They don't like cedar trees on the plains?

In my region, cedar trees are protected. Anyone caught cutting cedar trees without proper permits can be arrested and imprisoned. Cedar theft is a big deal here. The cedars used to be plentiful but the wood was over harvested because of the natural preservative qualities of the oils in the wood making it perfect for shingles and siding.

As for burning agricultural fields, I know in Oregon they used to burn the fields each autumn to kill pests and weeds. That practice ended many years ago to reduce pollution. They used to also burn wood waste at the lumber mills, another practice that has been abandoned in favor of better air quality.

[ccc_]

they didn't have any trees except where there was water
most of the water was underground
it seemed each farmstead had giant cottonwood somewhere

you could walk a hell of long way looking for shade in august
you kind of hoped your companions were fat and tall

so when farmers ripped the belly out the prairies it all blew away in successive droughts
remember your lessons in fourth grade about windbreaks, contour planting and crop rotation
osage orange (hedge) was planted as living fences but it was labor intensive
the skill of laying a hedge in the European tradition did not translate very well to boundaries several miles long

windbreaks were usually fast growing species and cedars were added for density

so following along with the law of unintended consequences we have trees
cedar being almost a weed here and by some counts invasive
in the first five years I owned my place I cut, mowed and grubbed thousands of the dam things
I finally gave up because I didn't want to use that much poison and couldn't get permits for prescribed burns during the drought years
so except for one ten acre pasture that is so wind beaten the grass has trouble growing I have an awful lot of cedar

even the grass in most pastures is brome instead of the natives
brome like walnut releases toxins so that it becomes the dominant plant in its niche
unintended consequences

they still do prescribed burns here but we have wind and a lot fewer people ( too darn many if you were to ask) so fewer to complain
as a city kid I can tell you the wildflowers are great for the next couple of years

a positive unintended consequence is the conversion of mill waste to alternative fuels and others products
I even make briquettes from sawdust and paper waste from time to time

[WPRESTO]

you could walk a hell of long way looking for shade in august

With all the trees gone a problem arose. Out on a tractor, not a tree or building in sight, nature calls and you absolutely must relieve yourself very quickly. No place for privacy. What do you do? Toss your hat high in the air, and all the neighbors turn their backs for a bit.

[zzeitg]

DA*300 @ 420mm









(and one "bonus" FA50mm f/2.8 shot...)

[ccc_]

With all the trees gone a problem arose. Out on a tractor, not a tree or building in sight, nature calls and you absolutely must relieve yourself very quickly. No place for privacy. What do you do? Toss your hat high in the air, and all the neighbors turn their backs for a bit.

one of the misconceptions about the plains is that they are flat
when they are it is magnificent curve of the earth stuff
more often they are cut by draws and canyons

it was seventeen miles from the county line to where the road ended and there were no crossroads just lanes back to the homeplaces
it mostly ran through a valley that was a mile to two miles wide
five working farms and ranches were on it
each household averaged six people
so thirty people for about twenty five square miles?

whenever you unzipped and got your plumbing arranged and pointed downwind...someone would appear
it would make a guy damn flinchy

i did work with a gentleman who'd spent most of his career on a line crew
I knew he was whizzing but couldn't figure out the mechanics of it

"kid, you just p*** down the shovel handle"

I got my own shovel and avoided puddles whenever I worked with him for the next two years

[normhead]

I saw a Red Winged Blackbird today, but couldn't snap an image, but when I got how from my walk 6 wild turkeys were up around the bird feeders.

K-1 and DA* 60-250.


K-3 and Tamron SP AF 300 2.8 with HD DA 1.4 TC. I opened the kitchen window and leaned the 300 on the window frame.

[Ducatigaz]

A few from today.K-5/FA*600mmF4ED[IF]/Eckla window mount







On Gitzo 1348 tripod.60% crops

[jacamar]

A few from today.K-5/FA*600mmF4ED[IF]/Eckla window mount

The owls are great, the Yellowhammer(s?) spectacular - even brighter than I remember them!

[Ducatigaz]

The owls are great, the Yellowhammer(s?) spectacular - even brighter than I remember them!

I find the K-5 can struggle with bright yellows sometimes.

A lot of the symbols have worn off the K-5 now and some paint.

I will have to replace it eventually

[tim60]

I find the K-5 can struggle with bright yellows sometimes.

A lot of the symbols have worn off the K-5 now and some paint.

I will have to replace it eventually

Interesting. I found the K100d struggled with yellows at the golden hour. Would just overwhelm the picture to the extent of ugliness, not the desired warm glow.

Is it similar sensor tech?

[noelpolar]

K-1 and DFA 150-450.... New Holland Honeyeater kindfully doing it's rule of thirds pose for me.