Thursday Thirteen

1. We've been having very warm weather for April - a few days it has been 80 degrees! It's not supposed to be that warm until the end of June.

2. We have a lovely sky this morning; baby blue with fluffy marshmallow clouds. The clouds have a hint of pink to them as the sun is still rising as I write this. A line of clouds cover the top of the mountains in the distance.

3. We've been having trouble with vultures again. This time they apparently killed a six-week old calf. We don't expect them to attack a calf that old, just the newborns, so this was a surprise. Or maybe something else killed the calf? My husband thinks not, though.

4. I feel bad for the momma cows when they lose their babies that young. By the time we haul the calves off to the market, the mommas have weaned them so they don't miss them too much. But they do miss their new babies when they don't make it. Their milk hasn't dried up like it has with the older ones.

5. I like to watch the calves when the mamma cows leave them all with one cow. She is the babysitter of the day; she generally lays down and has 4 or 5 calves around her. The other mammas wander off to eat or drink water while she looks after all the young ones. I find it amazing what nature can do.

6. I've seen deer do the same thing; one mamma will have 3 young ones with her, but if you look you'll see the other mothers not so far away. I think at a certain age the little ones can't be trusted to be left alone because they'll roam. Kids are kids, no matter what kind of mammal.

7. I am certain the raccoon I saw on Monday was a mom with new babies. She acted like she was starving and I'm sure if she had a full litter of kits, she probably is quite hungry. I understand raccoon babies eat a lot.

8. We did not have much of a spring. We went straight from winter to summer. The redbuds came out briefly and the dogwoods barely bloomed around here. The trees grew leaves instead of blossom. I fear for the fruit crops. If they did like the dogwoods and didn't bloom, apple and peach prices will be out of reach this summer.

9. I don't care if climate change is a political hot button; anyone can see that the weather is different. We have more wind than we used to, for one thing. Earlier and hotter springs. What difference does it make whether it's created by man or not? Shouldn't eradicating pollution be a good thing regardless? Who wants to breathe in all of that bad air? After all, it's not good for children. Or their mothers and fathers.

10. We have a little birdseed left so we are still filling the feeders. The cowbirds have been hitting it recently. I saw a pair of cardinals out there yesterday. The female was much bigger than the male. He's pretty, with his red feathers, but she could take him out in a fight, I think.

11. When I was watching the eagles in California, I noted that the female eagle was bigger than the male. I wonder if that's a given in most bird species, that the female is larger than the male. A search says it varies by species.

12. My irises are not blooming; other people's are, though. Mine are quite old. I planted them over 30 years ago and have not done anything to them since then. They may need to be separated. I brought them over from my parents' farm. My mother was fond of irises. Some of hers came from my great aunt, so I am sitting on generations of irises here. Sometimes mine bloom later than other people's and I look for that to happen this year. Maybe because they are older stock?

13. And thus endeth the foray into nature for the Thursday Thirteen. Enjoy the sunshine!

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 857th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.