Mild with some light rain. Cows continue to wallow in the lush feed of the unusual wet season. Salsify, an attractive non-native composite. Cows eat it readily, yet it seems more abundant than usual.
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The bee hives arrive every year about this time, and are the source for honey Dana sends out each Christmas. With ample sweet-clover, the honey stocks will keep growing.
Cool with heavy afternoon showers. With a full-press fencing, I was able to open SG 6 with new borders. Sweet Clover is “out of control” (see photo). While fencing in SG 6 I observed an Eastern Kingbird hassling a ferruginous hawk. I think this important hawk may be nesting in a new site, as the nest in SG 6 is vacant. Small toads-Plains and Woodhouse-are often seen moving through the grasslands.
Mild temperatures with very light showers. Dana returns from 10 days in California. No moves, as I devote my efforts fencing preparing for next move. Ryan continues work on the corrals.
Mild with warming temps. Began morning with bird monitoring the King Ranch south of Winnett. Mid-day I hosted lunch for Jim and Courtney Scott, friends from the Padlock Ranch. Jim presented a wonderful gift of Sweet Grass from the Fort Belknap Reservation.
Warmer turning to evening thunderstorms and cooler temps. Cows moved to next split in SG2. I heard another Baird S. north of Ryan’s while fencing. Leaving this morning, I realized that moved of the flowering lilacs had passed-gone. So quick things can change. PAY ATTENTION.
Nice day. No moves. I attended the TNC Science day at the Matador Ranch in Phillips County north of the river.
Light rain last night and continued cool to mild temperatures. Finally got all the cows into one group early this morning in SG2. Super abundant sweet-clover in places beginning to blossom. 450 plus cows moving onto new feed can make a lot of noise. Problem? Stress? Not sure, yet calves playing and lying down throughout, suggests otherwise.in
Cool with broken clouds-great conditions. I kept at moving the rear pairs up to main group. Patient and slow going, as a lot of third cycle cows have been having their calves the last few days. With the walking and trailing, I flushed mother duck hens off four nest-all about a 1/4 mile from the ridge ponds. Also check out picture of short-eared owl fledglings
Cool with very light showers. No moves as I try to get the tail-enders up to main group. Wendy Beye and I monitored the ranch bird survey site that’s part of the Partners For USFWS’s trend monitoring project for the Musselshell Basin. We tallied 4 Baird Sparrows-first for the ranch. Their presence may be due to wet conditions leading to thicker grass cover.
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Bill Milton
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