Spring Time on the Farm…

Crazy Thelma had a little ram…

The boys are trying out their bows that their big brother made them out of limbs…

More Lamb Love…

Heart standing on a very pregnant Mona…

Hayden working with his lamb…

Tori getting some snuggles…

Garrett checking out the hens…

Frosty, our bottle lamb from two years ago has really grown into a nice ewe and is expecting lambs of her own this spring…

Dugur, always watching…

Our Copper Maran rooster, who has surprisingly been a real gentleman…

Our tough Espen Ram

One of our Gotland/Icelandic crosses, she has some great growth on her and an interesting fleece…

Miss Freckles…

Miss Fawn…

Beautiful Fregna… can’t wait to see lambs from these girls…

And Mona finally lambed, a sweet little black ewe. That ends our pre-run on the Suffolks and we’ll start lambing in ernest in April….busy times ahead!! 🙂

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LITTLE THINGS THURSDAY

Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop

Lamb Love…

Feb26

Little Heart, out exploring her boundaries in her pen…

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While We Were Gone…

Jan15

We had beautiful, sun-filled days with gorgeous sunsets while we were in SoCAL…At home it dumped about 20 inches of snow, so we were welcomed home with this… Shaking feels so good…Water trough is almost buried…

Montana At It’s Finest…

Nov29

Last night we had pouring rain and 40 degrees, sometime in the night it changed to snow and wind. This morning it was brisk -30 degrees Fahrenheit! I don’t mind the cold or snow but sure get hard on critters when we have wet conditions and then gets really cold. I was happy to see every one fared the night alright and were anxiously awaiting breakfast this morning…

Teigen feeding Thor…

Even though he has a cozy little place to hide out in, Thor has to hang out with his guys…

Horse raspberries…

Waiting for breakfast…

Frank’s a bit frosty too…

Hayden giving Frank some love…

Hauling bales…

At least some one is happy outside…

The sun even tried to break through…

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Skywatch Friday

Camera Critters
Saturday’s Critters

Mountain Valley Sunset…

Nov14

We’ve been having some pretty spectacular sunsets the last couple of nights. These are the mountains to the east reflecting the sunset… Then the sunset to the west…

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Skywatch Friday

A Little Walk…

Oct16

Sunset pictures taken on a warm, autumn evening while out on my walk….

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Skywatch Friday

Hatch…

Oct1

The last couple of days we have had a hatch of gnats going on….

Actually, I am not sure what type of insect it is but it happens every year at this time. They cover the Green Ash trees and fill the air. They cover you when you walk outside and are kind of icky. But this year it has attracted all sorts of birds…

Bluebirds

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Pileated Woodpeckers

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More Bluebirds…

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Check out his tongue with the bugs on it!

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Did I say Bluebirds…

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Hordes of bluebird…

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Flickers, do you see three…

Downy woodpeckers…

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More flickers…

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Macro Monday

Wild Bird Wednesday, The BIRD D’pot

Blue Jays…

Sep22

We had a huge surprise in the bird feeder this morning…

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We have never seen Blue Jays around our place.

Cool Facts

Thousands of Blue Jays migrate in flocks along the Great Lakes and Atlantic coasts, but much about their migration remains a mystery. Some are present throughout winter in all parts of their range. Young jays may be more likely to migrate than adults, but many adults also migrate. Some individual jays migrate south one year, stay north the next winter, and then migrate south again the next year. No one has worked out why they migrate when they do.

Blue Jays are known to take and eat eggs and nestlings of other birds, but we don’t know how common this is. In an extensive study of Blue Jay feeding habits, only 1% of jays had evidence of eggs or birds in their stomachs. Most of their diet was composed of insects and nuts.

The Blue Jay frequently mimics the calls of hawks, especially the Red-shouldered Hawk. These calls may provide information to other jays that a hawk is around, or may be used to deceive other species into believing a hawk is present.

Tool use has never been reported for wild Blue Jays, but captive Blue Jays used strips of newspaper to rake in food pellets from outside their cages.

Blue Jays lower their crests when they are feeding peacefully with family and flock members or tending to nestlings.

At feeders in Florida, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Florida Scrub-Jays, Common Grackles, and gray squirrels strongly dominate Blue Jays, often preventing them from obtaining food.

The pigment in Blue Jay feathers is melanin, which is brown. The blue color is caused by scattering light through modified cells on the surface of the feather barbs.

The black bridle across the face, nape, and throat varies extensively and may help Blue Jays recognize one another.

The oldest known wild, banded Blue Jay lived to be at least 17 years 6 months old.

For more info, please visit here…