Aerie Report, April 14, 2010

The photo club/Audubon meeting last night was well attended and Gary wowed the people in both groups with the pictures he put on display. His work is definitely professional quality...but then it might run in the genes. His brother was a professional wildlife photographer for quite a few years and made a comfortable living at it. I've no doubt that Gary could do the same if that was where his interest lead him, but for now it's just a hobby.

One thing that everyone noticed--and took him to task for--was that he had no self confidence in the quality of the pictures. He kept imagining flaws in photos that anyone in the room--and probably many pros--would have died for.

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I spent about four hours with the ATV going up the hill to fetch loads of firewood that I had cut and stacked last summer. It wasn't difficult work but it was hard labor. First, the ATV did its usually thing of acquiring a lot of water in the gas tank over the winter. It was stalling frequently as the water got into the carburetor--which is why I was carrying a plastic cup and a Phillips head screw driver. Every time it stalled, I would open the valve and collect the mix of gas and water that flowed out. When it seemed only gas was coming down the drain tube, I would close the valve and restart the engine. Going up and down the steep hill meant that the gas in the tank got a thorough sloshing about and more water settled into the feed to the carburetor. I think I probably drained a cup of water--and an equal amount of gas--during the four hours I worked.

The lumbermen and then the gas crews have cut some lovely trails through my woods. They made access to the piles of firewood relatively easy--if you ignore the steepness of the slope, the slash that blocks the flattest passages, the erosion from melting snow and the torrential rain we had a couple times in February and March, flat stones standing on end and looking for all the world like shark fins, and the depressions from the long since decayed and rotted root systems of older trees that have themselves long since fallen over and rotted away.

I still need to take the chainsaw to much potential firewood and cluttering slash. The smaller slash can fill some of those great depressions even I was fearful of attempting to drive through. There's plenty of maple, ash and even some hickory on the hillside that I can pretty well drive right up to.

I managed to get all the work done with only one finger getting bashed between a log and the bed of the ATV. I've got nine more but this one (middle finger left hand) has got one very swollen tip that has a faint shade of purple to it. It's also about half again as large as it was this morning. Other than that, it's just sore knees and back from toting wood on a rocky, steep slope.

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Oh, and the black flies are here. Annoying as all get out once the temperature got above 50 degrees. But I seem not to have been bitten.

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And it was a lovely day to be working outdoors. While it was in the low 30s early this morning, it was clear and sunny with a high around 66 degrees late in the afternoon...just a perfect day. With the dry air and clear skies we should see the temperature fall to near 30 tonight if not lower. Even if it doesn't get below 3 at the Aerie, it might well get into the 20s in the valley. Cold air sinks and there's no breeze to speak of to stir things up.

Speaking of dry. Since the little bit of rain/snow we had on April 1st, we really haven't had any precipitation at all. As a result, the woods are like a tinder box. Only where there are springs rising out of the ground is there any moisture. Leaves, duff, twig litter are all tinder dry and ready for a spark to set them ablaze.

And there have been lots of wildfires in Potter County just to our west. Luckily there have been none nearer as far as I know.