Building Season

Photo copyright Aji, 2016; all rights reserved.

First official day of spring, and the building season has been well under way for a while now. The prairie dogs are fully awake, have been for some time, and are hard at work expanding their underground city here. They are also by far the largest prairie dogs we've ever had, both in length and in weight; they are positively mutant-sized. They're not the only ones; we have at least one coyote the size of a healthy wolf. he crossed the land again yesterday evening.

The birds are busy building, too. The Says phoebe is here, and at least one young and slender grackle . We have two mated pairs of bluebirds, one western pair and one mountain pair, both here two season early and apparently deciding to stay for the year. The magpies are building their nest right outside the door, the earliest I've ever seen. After last evening, I have reason to think that the little ones may already be here, hatched before winter's end.

And our own next stage of building is three days away. If we;re lucky, we'll be scheduling the dig work this work (and if we're really lucky, it's be more than mere "scheduling"; I'm hoping they can start on it before week's end).

So it's that time again when I beg, plead, wheedle, cajole you into sharing the link to our YouCaring page. Yeah, I know; I'm sick of it, too, but we've got a looooooong way to go. I don't have a choice. So please, help us hit the subgoal point between now and Wednesday: 25% of the larger goal for these stages; we only need to raise another $700 to get there. Please use the widgets on the page itself, or cut and paste the link, rather than sharing this or the FB post. Please also grab the widget on the lower right-hand side of the page, which will give you this auto-updating image: 

I will be mostly out today, in all likelihood; I have an enormous task list, and I'm moving slowly. This season is the worst for my health at the best of times, and these are not the best of times where my health is concerned right now. It's very much a daily battle, and I'm mostly on the losing end these days.

Many thanks to everyone who has helped thus far with donations, link shares, and other support. I'll check in as soon as I'm able. 



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2016; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Signs of the Vernal Equinox

Photo copyright Ajijaakwe, 2014; all rights reserved.

Yes, of course.  More chicks.

Eight more, to be exact: the eight that were on reserve. I thought they were all going to be black. Turns out we have four Yellow Sex Links and four Black Sex Links.  No, the name has nothing to do with Teh Sexytime. It's a catch-all name for chickens specifically cross-bred so that the sexes can be identified immediately by color. The hens also reportedly have the added advantage of being outstanding layers. A couple of Australorps are supposedly coming to us late next week.

The all integrated with each other immediately: All they see are familiar-looking faces with warm fuzzy bodies, and that's all that matters.

Two-legged types could take some lessons, huh?

Of course, there are many more signs of Spring than these little girls.

It's Official

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Spring arrived three days ago.

It doesn't matter what the calendar says. I know it's spring when I first hear this being's call. That happened at 9:29 AM MDT on March 12th.

Some years he and his mate spend the winter with us. Not this year.

He's back this morning. I haven't seen him yet, but I can hear him. 

And I know, despite the likelihood of occasional snow in the weeks to come, that it is spring.




Copyright Ajijaakwe, 2014; all rights reserved.