Showered!

       Sinai's been showered recently, including today.  It's been unusual. Several times there have been small rain showers. These have been up to .3" a couple of times Other's smaller as today it was .2". Cumulatively, perhaps something over 1.5" total. This is certainly helpful and an advantage is that there is no run off.

    Bird sightings: twice it has been Red Headed Woodpeckers, which have lost population numbers. They were in separate woodlands so not the same bird seen twice. Three Brown Thrashers were seen together. These birds with a beautiful song are quite reclusive.  A Mallard Hen with 11 newly hatched ducklings were swimming near the road. A local farmer reported seeing a Pheasant hen with a brood of chicks. These chicks and ducklings will be fully grown by winter increasing their chance of survival.

   Sinai Firemen's annual consignment auction is Saturday. Included in the sale is a never erected Quonset building. The final sale advertisement took a half a page in the local advertiser and late consignments continue to arrive. So far the only tractor offered is a John Deere 4020. No, I'm not bidding.

Takk for alt,

Al

The gorgeous Red-headed Woodpecker is so boldly patterned it’s been called a “flying checkerboard,” with an entirely crimson head, a snow-white body, and half white, half inky black wings. These birds don’t act quite like most other woodpeckers: they’re adept at catching insects in the air, and they eat lots of acorns and beech nuts, often hiding away extra food in tree crevices for later. This magnificent species has declined severely in the past half-century because of habitat loss and changes to its food supply.

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.