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We didn’t get that hard frost. Another grey and cool day. I found a sliver of space on along the county road (near the T) to feed the cows. The 3’s were more complicated. Unable to drive into their paddock, I dropped feed to the west of the road near the creek crossing. I then headed out on foot to gather the 3’s and trail them to the hay. Not a direct trail, as I had to detour across two fence to get around impassable drifts, and then two ‘temporary creeks’, but we made it by late afternoon. Later in the day I moved the 3’s in with the cows, as no other alternative was practical. One highlight of the day was sighting 7 swans resting on the overflow ponds on North Willow Creek.
Grey, foggy, and damp. No frost in thenmorning prevented us from feeding both groups. Hope for hard frost tomorrow. Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.
Cloudy with light snow and rain all day. We barely were able to feed the cows because of little morning frost and very wet conditions. Ryan got stuck in first feed attempt, BJ pulled him out and we found another path to the cows. 3’s didn’t get fed today. I walked over to see them, and they are ok.
Continued mild conditions with hard morning frosts that afford us an opportunity to feed cows and 3’s. I need to gather cattle each morning to get all together for the early morning feed on frozen ground. Bird signs of spring: Lone junco singing for a short moment; a ferruginous hawk and meadowlark seen on way to town; a nice group of tree sparrows feeding in the garden-headquarters area; and geese arriving at big wall-reservoir area. So much snow left yet one feels the pull of spring.
Beautiful day with sunny and calm. Good frost to feed on and slow the melt. Cow 188 calf died. Both groups of cows scattered over multiple paddocks. I saw my first bluebirds returning from town. I bet Wendy the meadowlarks will show by the 22nd.
A slow melt continues with good frost to feed on in the morning. A little water starts to runs, and the cows are moving out to graze. More storms will come but I feel the winter has finally broken.
This morning roads were snow-plugged between Ryan’s house and the headquarters, and the road to the 3’s was also drifted shut. By noon, without county plows-some sidelined due to repair-Ryan and Rick Adolph tractoring their way through the drifts and both cow groups were fed. Very impressive local team effort. The day began with snow-drifting winds, and ended with melting temps and almost no wind. Amazing how much can change in 24 hours.
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Bill Milton
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