Spring 2019 New England Banter and Disco

[butterfish55]

14 minutes ago, HimoorWx said:

Lots of squirrels, a gazillion turkeys, and shockingly very little mud.  Watched a turkey fly from our roof, across the street, and over the neighbor's house - never seen a turkey fly that far before.  Actually saw a deer in our yard for the first time on Monday.  Exciting spring time activity in SNE.

Agree.  The wildlife is off the charts in these parts.  Tons of turkeys, squirrels and deer.  More than I remember seeing

[alex]

15 hours ago, powderfreak said:

Alex...that's awesome.  The bench or mid-slope elevations are just buried right now.  1,500ft is where the snowpack gets to another level.

Nice evening here on the valley floor.  I love these sunny days in the spring.  It's light until 7pm.

Dark, low albedo surfaces (like Dendrite mentioned recently) melt rapidly but the mud hasn't been bad at all so far.

I’m actually a bit surprised that it's not melting faster, but I guess Temps are not that high and dp very low. My deck still has a couple of feet on it and it sits in the sun all day and the river hasn't increased at all on flow

[alex]

15 hours ago, powderfreak said:

Alex...that's awesome.  The bench or mid-slope elevations are just buried right now.  1,500ft is where the snowpack gets to another level.

Nice evening here on the valley floor.  I love these sunny days in the spring.  It's light until 7pm.

Dark, low albedo surfaces (like Dendrite mentioned recently) melt rapidly but the mud hasn't been bad at all so far.

I’m actually a bit surprised that it's not melting faster, but I guess Temps are not that high and dp very low. My deck still has a couple of feet on it and it sits in the sun all day and the river hasn't increased at all on flow

[Ginx snewx]

1 minute ago, alex said:

I’m actually a bit surprised that it's not melting faster, but I guess Temps are not that high and dp very low. My deck still has a couple of feet on it and it sits in the sun all day and the river hasn't increased at all on flow

Thats not good, hate for us to get into warm rainy stretch.

[HIPPYVALLEY]

21 minutes ago, Ginx snewx said:

Thats not good, hate for us to get into warm rainy stretch.

GFS  isn't exactly dry next week.

[ORH_wxman]

The turkeys are out of control here too. Have had a flock of about 15-20 of them descending on the yard and fallen bird seed from the feeders at least 4 or 5 times in the past couple weeks...and those are only the times I noticed. Prob did it many more times when I wasn't home or not looking outside. 

Had 2 deer sightings as well. I tend to see them more in the fall though. 

[dryslot]

3 hours ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

We have seen a big drop in squirrel and chipmunk populations at my house.  Bobcats, foxes, fishers, and owls ftw.  We have all of them on my property

Something (mice?) made a nest in my wife's engine compartment though.  MAF sensor ftl

I was over run with Mice, Chipmunks and Grey Squirrels last year, That is why the barred owl has been around, Squirrels are one of there favorite foods, Was a recent article about the owl sightings do to the uptick in the rodent population the last couple years.

https://www.sunjournal.com/2019/03/05/barred-owl-sightings-elicit-delight-awe/

[weatherwiz]

I think the last time we had an explosion of spring wildlife that summer was active in terms of severe weather. 

[Baroclinic Zone]

15 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said:

The turkeys are out of control here too. Have had a flock of about 15-20 of them descending on the yard and fallen bird seed from the feeders at least 4 or 5 times in the past couple weeks...and those are only the times I noticed. Prob did it many more times when I wasn't home or not looking outside. 

Had 2 deer sightings as well. I tend to see them more in the fall though. 

They're like gangs.  We like to refer to them by the local territory where they reside.  They probably fight the other gangs around them for new territory.

[dryslot]

20 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said:

The turkeys are out of control here too. Have had a flock of about 15-20 of them descending on the yard and fallen bird seed from the feeders at least 4 or 5 times in the past couple weeks...and those are only the times I noticed. Prob did it many more times when I wasn't home or not looking outside. 

Had 2 deer sightings as well. I tend to see them more in the fall though. 

The turkeys have been a problem for several years up here now, Pretty fearless actually and have become a nuisance as there population has seen a boom, Just more wildlife we need to watch for when were out riding on the trails, Buddy of mine almost hit one as there were a dozen or so that were trying to fly off, Takes them a bit to get airborne because of their size .

[dendrite]

We used to have a lot of turkeys. I haven't seen any at my place in the last couple of years. I wonder if the rooster has anything to do with it?

[dendrite]

Already a 50F range at 1st Lake...from -14F to 36F.

[weatherwiz]

3 minutes ago, dendrite said:

We used to have a lot of turkeys. I haven't seen any at my place in the last couple of years. I wonder if the rooster has anything to do with it?

or thanksgiving 

[dryslot]

Just now, weatherwiz said:

or thanksgiving 

Most would probably not care for the taste of a wild turkey, There not like the butterball you buy at the store that was farm fed and raised.

[weatherwiz]

Just now, dryslot said:

Most would probably not care for the taste of a wild turkey, There not like the butterball you buy at the store that was farm fed and raised.

When I took anthropology my first semester at WestConn we watched this horrifying video on farm raised animals which would unfortunately be killed. It was disgusting about how such animals as turkeys and chickens were raised and how they were fed and force fed to make them become bigger. 

[dryslot]

3 minutes ago, weatherwiz said:

When I took anthropology my first semester at WestConn we watched this horrifying video on farm raised animals which would unfortunately be killed. It was disgusting about how such animals as turkeys and chickens were raised and how they were fed and force fed to make them become bigger. 

I sell some pkg products to some slaughter houses up here so i guess you would not eat a burger or a steak after viewing how they are euthanized.........lol

[weatherwiz]

1 minute ago, dryslot said:

I sell some pkg products to some slaughter houses up here so i guess you would not eat a burger or a steak after viewing how they are euthanized.........lol

I think some people in the class ended up becoming vegetarians  

I don't usually get grossed out by anything but that was too much...even for me. It was more of how they were treated though. OTOH, I understand that it's life and it's survival of the fittest ordeal. I'm sure if we switched places with animals they would do the same to us. 

[PowderBeard]

We've been watching a red fox couple in our neighborhood who apparently found a woodchuck den. They ran back and forth from their den to the chuck den 3-4 times, each time with one in their mouth. And definitely agree on the bard owl increases, have two in our neighborhood and spotted one a few weeks ago near campus just chilling on a road sign. No turkeys yet but we have taken down our bird feeders since the neighborhood bears should be out and about.

 

 

[dendrite]

I buy a lot of my meat from local farms now. Humanely raised, pastured, and grass fed. It tastes a little gamier than the frankenmeat from the grocery stores, but I prefer it now. I don't mind paying a few extra bucks for it,For those in my area, Miles Smith Farm and Brookford Farm are two places to check out. Brookford has some meat, but is mostly raw dairy with some produce and Miles Smith specializes in grass fed beef and pork.

[dryslot]

2 minutes ago, weatherwiz said:

I think some people in the class ended up becoming vegetarians  

I don't usually get grossed out by anything but that was too much...even for me. It was more of how they were treated though. OTOH, I understand that it's life and it's survival of the fittest ordeal. I'm sure if we switched places with animals they would do the same to us. 

I agree with you on how there treated or mistreated, We have DeCoster egg farms up here and they have been in the news over the last 20 or so years for the handling of there birds that would probably make dendrite go postal as to how they were handled.

[dendrite]

1 minute ago, PowderBeard said:

We've been watching a red fox couple in our neighborhood who apparently found a woodchuck den. They ran back and forth from their den to the chuck den 3-4 times, each time with one in their mouth. And definitely agree on the bard owl increases, have two in our neighborhood and spotted one a few weeks ago near campus just chilling on a road sign. No turkeys yet but we have taken down our bird feeders since the neighborhood bears should be out and about.

 

 

A bear already got ahold of my parents' feeders a couple weeks ago. I bring mine in every evening. I can't be luring bears with the chickens now.

[dryslot]

Just now, dendrite said:

I buy a lot of my meat from local farms now. Humanely raised, pastured, and grass fed. It tastes a little gamier than the frankenmeat from the grocery stores, but I prefer it now. I don't mind paying a few extra bucks for it,For those in my area, Miles Smith Farm and Brookford Farm are two places to check out. Brookford has some meat, but is mostly raw dairy with some produce and Miles Smith specializes in grass fed beef and pork.

A lot more people are opting for the free range style of meat and poultry these days as to not get harmed by all the chemical additives to commercially raised animals and poultry.

[dendrite]

6 minutes ago, dryslot said:

A lot more people are opting for the free range style of meat and poultry these days as to not get harmed by all the chemical additives to commercially raised animals and poultry.

Yeah I have trouble looking at the battery houses. I see a lot of people adopting those mistreated chickens overseas. They look like a mess when they take them in, but after a few months all of their feathers grow back and they're happy birds again.

This is how Brookford Farm does it. Chicken tractors that they continually move around with electric fences. Yeah, the occasional bird gets picked off by hawks, but they have pretty good lives otherwise. Plenty of grass and movement. Here's a pic I took from there in 2015.

[dryslot]

13 minutes ago, dendrite said:

Yeah I have trouble looking at the battery houses. I see a lot of people adopting those mistreated chickens overseas. They look like a mess when they take them in, but after a few months all of their feathers grow back and they're happy birds again.

This is how Brookford Farm does it. Chicken tractors that they continually move around with electric fences. Yeah, the occasional bird gets picked off by hawks, but they have pretty good lives otherwise. Plenty of grass and movement.

 

A local farmer here raises turkeys every year and you have to pre order one if your looking for a fresh free range farm bird, He raises them up to 45lbs,  The cost of the feed is what dictates the cost, I did a barter with him a few years back on some bags for him to pack his birds in exchange for a 28lb bird and i have to say, Its probably was one of the best turkeys i have ever eaten, He gets $3.25/lb for his birds though so most people will not spend those $$ when you can pay .49 cents/lb at the store but he sells out every year.

[CapturedNature]

It's funny that you guys are talking about different animals.  I got curious what was in the woods around my sugar house and starting putting out a game camera to capture videos.  I know I've seen deer, turkey's and foxes going through the yard but I've seen those along with a pair of coyote's.  I can't believe the number of deer I have.  In one video I counted a "herd" of 15.  Never thought there that many out there!

I've been trading maple products with a couple of local farms for meat and its worked out pretty good.  I usually get a pig and half a cow which lasts most of the year.  You can't beat products that you know where they come from!

[Ginx snewx]

35 minutes ago, dendrite said:

I buy a lot of my meat from local farms now. Humanely raised, pastured, and grass fed. It tastes a little gamier than the frankenmeat from the grocery stores, but I prefer it now. I don't mind paying a few extra bucks for it,For those in my area, Miles Smith Farm and Brookford Farm are two places to check out. Brookford has some meat, but is mostly raw dairy with some produce and Miles Smith specializes in grass fed beef and pork.

We are big on farm raised Buffalo and cow. A local farmer butchers too. Nothing better. Buffalo ribs are off the hook, cooked right and eaten hot.

[dendrite]

14 minutes ago, Ginx snewx said:

We are big on farm raised Buffalo and cow. A local farmer butchers too. Nothing better. Buffalo ribs are off the hook, cooked right and eaten hot.

Yup. Love it all. I get the grass fed liver and bones/knuckles for making my own soup bone broth too. It makes the store broths taste like water.

[dendrite]

Another widespread 10-20% RH day. MHT sporting the 13% right now with 44/-3.

[SJonesWX]

1 hour ago, weatherwiz said:

I think the last time we had an explosion of spring wildlife that summer was active in terms of severe weather. 

[Ginx snewx]

26 minutes ago, dendrite said:

Another widespread 10-20% RH day. MHT sporting the 13% right now with 44/-3.

Was out all morning in the sun , drinking home made cold brew ice coffee. The dogs were constantly drinking water. Dry as hell the lawn is hard as a rock