Gives new meaning to the term "bird brained"! Copyright 2010 Link Bar Ranch Life Photography. All rights reserved.
I’ve talked in my early posts about the cycle of cattle and birds. (Then I tried uploading a program to improve this blog and lost all the photos. So I will repost the photos as time permits, because I like them and think you will too. But it takes a long time for each photo to upload, so it won’t all happen at once.) If you are new to this blog then do go back to the beginning and read about cattle eating hay in the winter and pooping and the bugs growing in the manure. The bugs and manure (which is really just digested grass) create Superfood for the migrating waterfowl. They eat a third of our hay crop as it is growing tender delicious chutes of green. The bugs are high protein to nourish them for the last leg of their journey north, and allows them to be ready to lay eggs when they get there. Because we are managing for the cattle and what is best for them, the birds also get what is best for the birds!
A bug can squirm a long way down this throat! Copyright 2010 Link Bar Ranch Life Photography. All rights reserved.
We get a lot of people coming to look at the birds in the Spring. Like all situations, some are nice people and some are shall we say, a lot less than nice. Basically, ranchers are very friendly people. But don’t assume all our property belongs to the Refuge, or the BLM, or Forest Service. We like meeting courteous guests. We’re not too receptive to rude trespassers. I’ve met some really fascinating people who drive down my lane to look at birds. They are usually blocking the lane, so I get out and give them my “Chamber of Commerce” speel about why the birds are here. Have maintained several friendships for years because of this meeting. Other times I’ve had people driving in the meadows rutting them up, and then have the nerve to lie through their teeth to me about it. Think of it this way. If I walked into your urban back yard to look at some tweety bird in your bush, and didn’t knock on your door and ask permission, what would you do? Call the cops! It’s just that our backyards are a little bigger.
Flock eating on the edge of our flood irrigation. Copyright 2010 Link Bar Ranch Life Photography. All rights reserved.
