Feathered Friends

House finches on the fence

Red bellied Woodpecker

Indigo bunting

Goldfinch


Eastern Bluebird

Pileated Woodpecker & Downy Woodpecker

Watcher in the woods

Late winter & Signs of Spring

Vacant & move in ready

The woods are pretty drab right now.

The creek is muddy and snow is still patchy.

The only green in the woods is moss on logs.

But the robins are back!
Spring can't be far behind.

Maple syrup Time

Its maple sugar time in Indiana.
The nights are still below freezing, but the days warm up into the 40s & 50's causing the sap to run. Trees must be 10" in diameter to tap. This one is quite large and can handle 2 taps.

Trees are tapped with a spile and the sap collected in a bucket.

It takes 40 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup.
Here, the sap is boiled until the right consistency, usually 6-8 hours.

Delicious and pretty maple candy

Hay Run!

Its been a long winter.

We were almost out of hay at the horse barn, so we made a run to the hay barn.
Loaded up and ready to roll. We got stuck in the paddock and had to unhitch. The boys thought we had brought them a buffet line.

Hay Mongers!

Scraggley Stranger

Red Fox

Glancing out the window I noticed this little guy heading my way. Looks like that tail has seen better days.

He stopped on the back porch. I think its a bad case of mange.

Squinting & scratching. I hope this guy makes it.

Broken Bridge

Wildlife bridge down

This big Sycamore tree has been leaning over the creek since we purchased the property. Many animals use it to get to the other side while staying dry.
This morning it looked like this.

Snow is melting and the creek is up, but we've had no high winds.

The once majestic tree goes down.