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Tag Archives: hawks

Bob’s Reverie At The Farm

 

Barb loves to fish when she has an edge and doesn’t have the whole day to hopefully hook a neighbor with shoulders enough for us to spar with! 

APtravelnews-May 16th-Crossville, TN.—Goose Holler’ Farm—Bob’s reverie at the farm–I Woke up this morning to chirps from at least a dozen birds: Blue, red, black, gray, mottled, white, yellow, striped black and gray. Their songs and calls were sweet, some raucous, some sounding playful and a few staccato as in three different kinds of woodpeckers including a bright red headed one with a real attitude that come to our feeders and the older trees with lots of dead wood near the fence-line of Goose Holler Farm.

Today was especially auspicious, as the deer with and without antlers and testicles were feeding along a weed whacker line I made near the pond (the pond brings many varieties of ducks and geese over the year to rest and feed)  to keep our paths from growing wild and hiding some other unsavory visitors. These serpent critters such as water moccasins come looking for a red- eared, or blue-gilled sunfish, or a bass fish dish alongside the weedy shallows, along with some other potentially poisonous water snakes that we all prefer not to tread on, or brush by, by accident.  Sure, I have more squirrels and chipmunks per acre than probably anywhere in our area, as I have at least 150 trees per acre on our ten acre little farmstead, but until they get into our attic, I don’t shoot at them with anything more powerful than a stinging B-B gun to keep them from clearing the bird feeders within an hour or less.  

The trees are mostly big trees of nut and flower, oaks, black walnut, maples and almond, the billions of leaves- each one slightly different than the other, keep us shaded and cool in the summer. Together with the blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, gooseberry bushes and a sundry, seed bushes, not to mention our grown fresh veggies and herbs, we have a fine cornucopia. I guess that in the great profusion of wild plants, it would take a true horticulturist to be able to name them all.  I love waking and spending my day writing, looking out and on our land and up-keeping and gardening here.

 I guess the reason for this post is I really feel blessed to wake up to nature, and the honeysuckle, roses, peonies and lilac bushes blended a sweet natural aroma to a day full of promise that anyone could enjoy if they gave their I phone, laptop and TV a rest for a day or, two a week!

Photos of the Week!

Nichole Ellis releases a bonefish with her dad Gary!
Learning about hawks in TN.
Curt Gowdy lft. and Stu Apte at a Redbone dinner!
Barb poses with a Kodiak Bear. It liked her (almost for lunch)
Flash back to VT. Barb and the “boys” David and Brian more than 40-years ago.
Scuba Diving! A fantastic experience! 

John Kricher’s: The New Neotropical Companion Book; A Review

AmericanPressTravelNews-March 21st, A book review for The New Neotropical Companion, by Biologist, John Kricher “Bob & Barb Stopping to learn all about ecological issues.This book will help thousands understand the complex ecology and natural history of the most species-rich area on earth, the American tropics. This $35 dollar book has 432-pages with 18-color illustrations covering all of tropical America. It describes the species and habitats most likely to be observed by visitors. It includes every major Eco-system, from low land rain forests to the high Andes. The book features a wealth of color photos of habitats, plants and animals. Check out press.princeton.edu   The book is 7.5 X 9.5 inches and the ISBN: 978-0-691-11525-2. HAVE BOOK WILL TRAVEL!

Book Review: “Raptors of Mexico & Central America” (Many found in N.America)

AmericanPressTravelNews-March 18th, PSL, FL. Bob and Barb “Checking Out the Sweet Bird of Paradise” in a book review. The book title is Raptors of Mexico and Central America, and it is published by the Princeton University Press (www.press.princeton.edu). Accolades by those that know Raptors are all over the place. One in particular is from Sergio Seipke, Raptours: “Accurate, comprehensive, and authoritative” were his comments. The clan of the “Raptors are among the most challenging birds to identify in the field due to their bewildering variability of plumage, flight silhouettes, and behavior patterns. Raptor of Mexico and Central America, Raptor photographer William S. Clark and renowned bird artist, N. John S. Schmitt, is the first illustrated guide to the regions 69 species of raptors, including vagrants. It features 32 stunning color plates and 213 color photos, and a distribution map for each regularly occurring species. Detailed species accounts describe key identification features, age-related plumages, status and distribution, subspecies, molts, habitats, behaviors, potential confusion species, and more”, according to Andrew DeSio at the Princeton Press. If your a birder, this is your guide!! This 272-page paper book has 32-color plates, 213-color photos, 3-line illustrations, 64-maps, It will be published April 26th, 2017. go: press.princeton.edu 

I/we have always loved and admired the wild and free raptors that fly over my TN. farm. I am absolutely loving this book! Many of these raptors are also found in N.America, many are not! The book is a treasure house of knowledge!