Toadlets

The tadpoles have finally started to become toadlets. They are so tiny, only about 1/4 inch.

Red Admiral

Thick, hot, humid air engulfs me as i enter the greenhouse. Tiny plants stretch for what seems forever down the length of this miniature ecosystem. As i begin to make my way down the aisle, i notice a butterfly struggling against the clouded plastic wall, trying to escape to the light. It settles long enough that i can gentle cup it in my hands. Quickly i take it outside to release it, but it chooses not to part so hastily. Sitting on my finger, it slowly opens and closes its intricately decorated wings. On the dorsal side is a bold red stripe for which it is given its name. Beneath, the wings are a cryptic brown and black. As it pauses, so do i. It is as if together we are taking a short break from our busy lives to enjoy a moment of peace. I grow impatient and touch my thumb to its abdomen. It takes off in its erratic flight and i follow suit.

Farm walk

We arrive late because the forecast was for rain. The day starts with a farm walk. This is to kind of get an over view of what is happening on the farm, which at this time is about everything. With a slight breeze coming up from the south and a steady drizzle, we begin our walk-about on the twenty acres. The lower temperatures do not seem to have dampened the spirits of the red winged black birds as they continue to call and display on the NW end of the farm. A few plants are showing signs of having not appreciated the frost a few nights ago. That the potatoes did not like the frost was a surprise to me but there are several lower leaves that look fine. The young tulip trees, paw paws and hardy kiwi did not do so well, either. It was a late frost for this area. All of the bib and romaine lettuce looked great and nestled next to one of the heads was a kill deer nest! Four seems to be the magic number for the kill deer, so far out of the 5 nests that we have found, all have had four eggs. There was not a kill deer pretending to be wounded near by. Maybe due to the large number of people, 10, it did not think that tactic would be effective. Tomorrow, i will go up a lone to see if the nest is being incubated. The eggs are such beautiful colors and the hatchlings look like little pompoms on very thin twigs.

Killdeer nest

The nest was found when we were preparing the hoop house for this years tomatoes. Any time we were close to the nest, the killdeer would call adamantly and when we were very close it would go into the broken wing act. Marking the nest, to be sure we would not accidentally step on it, i then proceeded to find out the gestation period in hopes of seeing the hatch lings. Three out of the four eggs hatched. The forth was infertile. After the first chick hatched, some of the interns on the farm went up to check out the babies. They said that they found two hiding under the dandelion leaves. After the third one hatched, we have not seen them since. There is about an acre of crimson clover and rye a few feet away from the nest.

Learning to Blog

This is my first attempt at blogging. It has been a beautiful and busy spring. Skunks and a red fox have been regulars at the compost pile. Killdeer babies have already hatched and are out hiding in the fields. The American toad tadpoles now have prominent eyes but still are not showing any signs of legs sprouting. Flea beetles and cucumber beetles are on their usual feeding frenzy to our dismay. There was a wood frog that spent the whole winter in or at least near the wooden hot tub. The barn swallows are back building their nest on the down spout. At this posting, they should have finished their mud nest. Last year, they raised 3 broods!