Johnny-come-lately, the new kid in town

No snow this past week, so the scurs felt vindicated. Will the Weather Eye deliver more encouraging data, or will we see Jack Frost again? Starting Thursday, mostly sunny with highs in the low 50's and some frost with lows in the mid-30's. Sunny Friday with highs in the mid-50's and frost with lows in the low 30's. Sunny on Saturday with morning frost. Highs in the low 60's with lows in the mid-40's. Sunday, mostly sunny with a fair chance of evening rain. Highs in the mid-60's with lows in the mid-40's. Mostly cloudy Monday with afternoon showers. Highs in the mid-60's with lows in the low 40's. Tuesday, cloudy with rain showers likely. Highs in the mid-50's with lows in the upper 30's. Cloudy on Wednesday with highs in the mid-50's with lows in the upper 30's. The Full Moon occurs on May 1st, and the sun will rise on the 5th at 6 a.m. on May 5th. The normal high for May 5th is 64 and the normal low is 43. The scurs can't wait to tear into their delicious May Baskets.

 

As mentioned, the Full Moon is on May 1st. With any luck it'll be visible if unobscured by clouds. It is aptly known as the Full Flower Moon. Those April showers definitely bring May flowers. There are plenty of flowering trees and shrubs in bloom around Bugtussle and environs. It is also know as the Full Corn Planting Moon as planting corn is common during the month of May. It was also once known as the Full Milk Moon as farmers would turn their cows out on pasture to enjoy the green grass. The Ojibwe commonly called this the Blossom Moon and the Sioux knew it as the Moon when Ponies Shed. At the ranch it is the Moon when Corgi's shed, at least one of them anyway. Of note, we'll also see a Blue Moon on the 31st. It occurs about every 2.4 years or once in a Blue Moon.

 

Planting progress continues to thunder along. At last check, corn planting locally would appear to be around 75% - 80% complete. Soybeans are a little harder to gauge, but likely somewhere in the 50% range would be my guess.

 

Some haven't started, some are partway done and some have completed the job. For those not done planting, take heart. Look at the rainfall data and at the calendar. We've had pretty good going thus far. If you were betting the over:under, you'd have been wise to take the under on the last two rainfall events. Soils dried more quickly than perhaps expected between them and the temperatures weren't record breaking. The print version of this article will still make your mailbox in April. Plenty of time, plenty of adapted varieties and hybrids. Go forth and plant.

 

Bird watching at the ranch continues to be a spring treat. A Harris's sparrow graced us with his presence on Saturday, joining the large numbers of white-throated sparrows. It's closer to time to put out the nectar and jelly feeders, but think I'll let the woodpeckers empty a couple of the suet feeders first. The wood ducks continue to hang around the backyard in the maple tree. They discovered the cavity on the elm tree, so will let them play with that a while longer before putting a house out for them. Barn swallows were finally spotted at the ranch Tuesday a.m.

 

Plenty of flying insects to eat when it warms up during the day. The chorus frogs are fading while the American toads are firing up both in the office slough in Bugtussle as well as in the wetland at the ranch. Spring has sprung.

 

We've kept whittling away and finally Sunday the last ewe of the season lambed at the ranch. We think. This ewe diddled away most of Sunday afternoon, waddling from the lot to the pasture, then back to the lot again. The key thing was to avoid having her lamb in the far reaches of the pasture and have a sudden thundershower show up.

 

Fortunately, she finally decided around 4:30 she'd just have it in the lot and be done with it. An aggressive, healthy buck lamb and the ewe had plenty of milk to raise triplets. Even though the lamb is late, given the circumstances it'll grow rapidly and be with the main group in no time. We already moved the two of them to the main barn to expedite the process.

 

Note I said "we think" we're done lambing. The Cache Valley virus took its toll on our lamb numbers and we're not 100% certain that some of the ewes that were affected aren't bred. Fortunately lambs are worth decent money not only for slaughter, but also for breeding stock. Prices have remained strong, thanks in part due to the high beef price as well as the lack of domestic supply. The US only raises enough lamb to meet roughly one-quarter of its demand The Cache Valley virus may have some impact on that as well, depending on how widespread it is. We know of one breeder who had 60 ewes remain open as a result of this infection. That may not sound like a lot, but when it hits enough operations, it will have an impact on domestic supply. Tariffs are likely to help keep prices high as the amount of imported lamb is expected to remain lower. Not good for the Aussies and Kiwi's perhaps, but provides some incentive for American lamb producers.

 

Poppy continues to be on guard, protecting us from deranged squirrels and vicious bunnies. Recently she's added a couple more species to her hit list, namely pheasants and wild turkeys. Rooster pheasants are numerous this spring and spend a fair amount of time cruising across the backyard. The turkeys have been "Johnny-come-lately's" as their population grows and they continue to seek out more habitat. I wasn't able to witness the encounter, but I was told the turkeys were none too impressed when they saw an enraged Corgi breathing down their necks. They hightailed it out of the backyard which suits me just fine. There will be enough woodland creatures intent on destroying the garden once it's planted.

 

See you next week..real good then.