Aerie Report, June 20

Not a heck of a lot to report from the Aerie the last few days. It's been raining...a lot. It's been cool...a lot. It's been breezy...somewhat. And it's supposed to be that way for a couple of more days.

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We have had two visits from a bruin in the last four days. One evening (Wednesday? Thursday? they're starting to run together) it was raining hard as the sun set and I left the bird feeders out rather than get wet. The next morning one had been pulled down and the other emptied of every single seed. Since puling the feeder down required actually breaking the wire loop on which it was hung, I assumed it was a bear. Then tonight, we did get to see the bruin as it came to the feeder that remained just as I came up stairs from the basement to bring it in. It was a small bear of about 180 pounds--quite possibly a two year old. Terry says it's the smaller of the two she had come by while I was up at the Bolt Hole. "The other is three times the size," she said. And she had told me it was a mom and her cub? More likely it's two males just hanging out together. Anyway, I'll be whistling and clapping when I go out to pick up the feeders the next couple of nights. Just in case there's something in the brush or around the corner.

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We signed a contract with a local to cut some hardwoods on our property. The money will come in handy but more importantly, as far as I was concerned, was the opening of the forest canopy, the removal of marketable white ash before the emerald ash borer (it's been spotted two counties to the west) gets to them, and the creation of one more logging skidway on my steep-sloped land. This new one will connect two existing skidways and cut across the face of a hill along which there has been deer movement in the past. When they get done, I'll be throwing some clover and other seed along that road and the others the equipment is likely to tear up. Plus, the loggers will be leaving the tops of the trees where they fall. The larger pieces will make good firewood next summer and the leaves on them now will be instant deer food. Or. at least the would be if it wasn't for the fact that the neighbors are also getting their property logged by the same crew so there will be lots of tree tops down in the surrounding 100 acres or so.

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There's a rumor that tomorrow is officially the First Day of Summer. I hope it's true. So far we haven't seen much in the way of summer-like weather. One week back in the beginning of May and that was it. I got a laugh today when I checked the Old Farmers Almanac and reread their prediction for June in the Appalachian area (#3) which stretches along the mountains up passed Elmira, NY. It said we were to be warmer than normal (+3-5 degrees) and drier than normal (-1 inch). So far, at least for our area, their magic formula is a big 0-2 for the month of June.