5/28/24 Showers Across the Valley - image ©Bruce A. Morrison |
It's official now...the Drought in Iowa has finally ended. No exclamation point punctuating the end of that opening statement yet, but I am happy none-the-less.
It's been a bit of a mixed bag of course, nothing is ever straight forward or simple. The weather systems in the middle of the country have come with a cost...flooding and damaging storms in many areas. Iowa lost the best part of two small communities in the SW/Central part of the state from tornadoes. Its been bad elsewhere too.
Its been a bit of a race with area farmers trying to get crops in during the melee...the neighbor just got his beans in behind us yesterday afternoon. I was kidding him a bit and said he still had a couple hours before the next rain comes and he said he didn't think he could disk and plant another 300 acres before then! He'll be looking for another hole in the storms like so many others I guess.
5/28/24 Showers in the "Neighborhood" - image ©Bruce A. Morrison |
Its been a real joy "here" to see everything as it "used to be"...the pastures were mostly burned late last winter and early this spring. We left the NW quarter unburned to help the invertebrates out...had a bonus surprise there just two days ago - our 3rd Prairie Skink in 22 years!!! We had our 2nd Prairie Skink outside the sheep barn in the south pasture late last summer...that really gave me hope that maybe they could make a come-back. Now I'm optimistic! Yes, even this pessimist is now optimistic! What a little rain can do for a person, right? Our first Prairie Skink here came the first or second week we moved here in the Fall of 2002...we discovered it in the mouth of the farm cat that came with the place! Ouch! Was so sad to see that.
Red-headed Woodpecker on the acreage - image ©Bruce A. Morrison |
We do not allow cats out side here unless supervised anymore...we are just down to one now and she is my studio kitty...I'm afraid that little rescued lady is indoors bound. Don't get me wrong...I have had cats since I was a little kid, but I've witnessed first hand what they do outdoors. I revisited a report I read many years ago on birds...it was reinstated recently due to the precipitous fall in the world bird population. Cats are the LARGEST documented cause in the drop in the population of birds. Larger than habitat loss even - very significant! And I will be witness to the significance of that here - we have lots of birds...more than we used to before bringing all the cats inside...lots more! And they are more successful in raising their broods than I have witnessed in past years.
Anticrepuscular Rainbow - 5-8-2024 - image ©Bruce A. Morrison |
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