Bird Sighting

      Several weeks ago when I chopped the corn stalks in the fields there was a significant amount of corn kernels on the ground in one field. Birds have scoured the field and when I plowed it yesterday I saw nary a single kernel. That's very helpful because corn does not like to be crowded and left over corn competes with that which is planted.

     Today I tilled two of the fields in preparation for planting. The soil is appropriately mellow and worked into a good seedbed. It was one of those rare days when my ancient equipment operated as needed. The new tractor tires engender confidence.

    Sighting a brown thrasher in my shelter belt made me happy. Very likely it is nesting in the cedars planted for wildlife cover. Brown thrashers are handsome birds but quite reclusive. They avoid human contact.

Takk for alt,

Al

PS In response to a question in the comment section from one of you:  As a boy, we too, used grease to protect plowshares. Plow paint is specially formulated to adhere to the plowshare but release with friction. It protects against rust but when plowing it quickly rubs off the share.

"It can be tricky to glimpse a Brown Thrasher in a tangled mass of shrubbery, and once you do you may wonder how such a boldly patterned, gangly bird could stay so hidden. Brown Thrashers wear a somewhat severe expression thanks to their heavy, slightly downcurved bill and staring yellow eyes, and they are the only thrasher species east of Texas. Brown Thrashers are exuberant singers, with one of the largest repertoires of any North American songbird." Cornell, All About Birds