Other Living Things On the Farm

I have been so busy with goats and trip and trying to reclaim my yard and such that I haven’t had much time to just enjoy everything out here.  One day, I decided to go take a walk and see what I could find.

red-winged blackbird

One of the biggest surprises was a butterfly I’d never seen before.  It certainly is pretty.  It’s a hackberry butterfly (thanks to Jenny for the id).

butterfly

The stilly dragonflies would not sit still for me, so I decided to try to photograph one flying.  It almost turned out not half bad. LOL

dragonfly

I did get a damselfy though.

There’s not a lot of birdsfoot trefoil out in pasture, and, even though the goats like it, it’s probably good there isn’t a lot because it can make their milk taste bitter.

I was thrilled to see a bobolink.  I saw one even closer later (when I was tracking kids), but I didn’t have my camera then.

I even decided to walk around the buffer strip before my nephew mowed it for hay. There weren’t a lot of butterflies in there, but I did find a few.  Maybe there will be more before the next cutting.

Alfalfa blossoms

Common Buckeye

wild aster

butterfly on the alfalfa

And as I came back to the barnyard, I decided I had to photograph the sparrow.

At this point, I’m a fan of anything that eats bugs.

Starting to Look Like Fall

We’re starting to see a hint of fall in the trees.

It’s enough to have me hoping for real fall and allergies ending.

Maybeline

Of course, it’s still going to be a while, but I can hope.

Margarita

About the only thing left in the buffer strip is a bit of alfalfa and wild asters.  The monarchs seem to have moved on, and all I saw out there were a couple of sulfur butterflies.

We’ve had just a bit of rain, so the pasture is looking a bit more green again.

Odie

That’s good.  Soon, the days will be short enough that I have to shut the goats off the back half of the pasture to keep them safe from coyotes.

heading back through the gate

You know, I’m almost looking forward to winter.

Hay is Late

I’m always fine with my hay being made after the first of July because that gives the boblinks and meadowlarks time to raise their babies before we go out there cutting the grass.

female and male bobolink

Since they are both on the top of the tree keeping an eye on the babies, it won’t be long before they’ve fledged.

In the meantime, the goats will keep getting lost in pasture.

An adult goat–I think it’s Harley

It’s so tall out there the March kids get lost.  The herd gets separated.  It’s horrible getting around this time of year.

Can you see the kids?

The llady llamas don’t even want to go out there right now.  They stay in the barnyard and beg for llama feed and eat the short clover.

Odie

Some of the goats even prefer to stay in the barnyard.  Harley decided to stay up in the barnyard the other day.  After giving her sweet feed and hay, she did decide to join the rest of the herd when I went out to check on everyone.

I told you we’d find them, Harley.

My buffer strip usually gets made into hay well before the Back Forty, but not this year.

It’s been rainy, making it hard to do much of anything.

The butterflies are certainly happy with it.

It makes for a nice afternoon taking pictures too.  But that has all changed.

My nephew mowed the buffer strip and around the north shed on Sunday morning.

If the weather cooperates, it won’t be long before the Back Forty gets made into hay too.