Winter Veggie Gardening With Cattle Panel Hoop House I

First, construct the edges of your raised beds, just like you would do for a Summer Veggie Garden. The entire frame is eight feet wide, sixteen feet long, and the two beds will have a 36" internal width. The boards are 2" x 10" dimensional pine lumber. Note the rebar pounded in along each side. The rebar has two purposes. One, to hold the Cattle-Panel hoops onto the frame, and second, to keep the soil from bowing the edges out. I used 24" rebar pounded in to the ground leaving a few inches above the outside side boards and flush with the boards on the inside of the beds. Because I live south of the 40th Parallel, I oriented the beds north-to-south.

Backyard Bunting Trifecta!

What an incredible Spring Migration it has been here on the farm. Looking out my home-office window, in an area roughly 12-15 yards square, I have observed as many as 35 Indigo Buntings, four Lazuli Buntings and a female Painted Buntings simultaneously - all consuming mass quantities of millet seed!

It all began with the arrival of a regular flock of a dozen or so Indigo Buntings. This in itself is unusual, because we usually have a few pairs that call the farm home, but NEVER this many!

This was followed by the arrival of the first Lazuli Bunting on 13 May, to be followed by others over the next few days until a total of five - two pairs and a transitioning male - had arrived. This is incredible... these birds "normally" regularly occur as far east as the Colorado Rockies, and yet I had FIVE in my yard in south-central Kansas! Is God Good or what?!?!?!?! The last Lazuli, the paler male, was observed on Friday, 22 May.

Then the trifecta occured on 15 May with the arrival of a female Painted Bunting, which remained until 24 May. So from 15 May thru 22 May, I had ALL THREE probable buntings out my office window. And as if that was not enough, a male probable hybrid of an Indigo x Lazuli Bunting arrived on 20 May, and remained thru 23 May.

The maximum number of male Indigo Buntings observed together is 21, observed the evening of 26 May, 2009.

So, below I have posted a few photos to confirm my observations. Most were photographed thru a window screen, as explained under the Painted Bunting entry.

Enjoy!

Bob Broyles 26 May, 2009

Lazuli Buntings - Butler County Records!!!!

Two Male Lazuli Buntings amongst the Indigo Buntings

Two Male Lazuli Buntings

Male and Female Lazuli Buntings

Male and Female Lazuli Buntings and apparent hybrid Indigo x Lazuli Bunting with prominant white wing bar. Photos taken thru a window screen for the protection of the birds.

Apparent Hybrid Male Indigo X Lazuli Bunting

In the center of the frame you can see an "Indigo" Bunting with prominant white wing bars, which is probably a hybrid between an Indigo Bunting and Lazuli Bunting. Note also the female Lazuli Bunting to the right and in the foreground and the male Lazuli Bunting at the left border. Photographed thru a window screen. (see under female Painted Bunting)

Another photo of the apparent hybrid and the female Lazuli Bunting

Female Painted Bunting - Photographed Thru Window Screen

This female Painted Bunting arrived just after the Lazuli Buntings, and in spite of my scouring every tree and shrub in the area, no male was located. She was last seen Sunday, May 24th. The poor quality of this image is due to shooting thru the window screen. I had removed the screen for photographic purposes, but the Buntings were hitting the glass, and I did not want to improve the quality of the images at the expense of the birds, so I replaced the window screen.

15 Adult Male Indigo Buntings!

What an incredible Spring! Here you can see 15 adult male Indigo Buntings feeding on millet. Last evening there were 19, and I just looked out (Tuesday evening 8:15 PM May 26th, 2009) and counted a record 21 Male Indigo Buntings! God has truely blessed us!

There are five of them in the River Birch tree in the top photo, and four of them in a vertical row to the right of the female Cardinal in the bottom photo.                                                                            

Sharp-shin in Action!

I have concluded from observing accipiters in action over the years that a clear distinction can be made between those still on the learning curve and those who have figured out this predation thing. This note is about one of the latter.

Before I tell my story, please allow me to set the stage. Our house is located roughly fifty yards south of a wooded stream – AKA riparian habitat. Roughly eight-to-ten yards north of the house, between it and the riparian timber, is a fifteen-foot tall shelter belt of Eastern Red-cedar. To the east of the house, in the wind-shadow of the cedar shelterbelt, are two large Silver Maple trees, where most of the bird feeders are located. To the south of the house is the orchard, consisting of mature standard-sized fruit trees. Bird feeders are located in a couple of the denser apple trees there.

As I was preparing for the trip to the Cimarron National Grassland Christmas Bird Count, I heard the panicked calls of American Robins along the creek, and they scattered overhead from north to south. Simultaneously, the birds at the feeders east of the house joined in the alarm and dove for cover in the shelterbelt. Lastly, a flock of 25 Redwinged Blackbirds foraging at the orchard feeders took off in a panic – leaving a lone comrade behind. This entire sequence lasted mere seconds, and of course, I’m looking in the direction of the creek for the cause. I didn’t have to wait long, for falling from the sky like a falcon in a stoop, an immature female Sharpie, with wings tight against her sides, exploded into the apple tree, causing the remaining Redwing to scream as it flushed from its perch and attempted to brush off its now-pursuer in the dense limbs of the tree. She followed him zig for zig and zag for zag for two laps around and through the tree before catching her quarry and flying off to the creek at full throttle – as a would-be pirate Red-tail, attracted by the commotion, attempted to cut her off.

Breathtaking!