Aerie Report, May 13, 2010

It rained a goodly portion of the night; not a hard rain but a slow, steady, soaking affair. However, this morning at cat alarm time (6:00 freakin' AM) the sun was rising over the ridge and the sky was blue. That promise of a gorgeous, Top 10 day faded by noon when the wind shifted 90 degrees and clouds started to arrive from the west southwest. Some showers returned by 3:30 PM with a promise of more overnight. There may even be a few T-storms in the mix. Most of the heavy rain seems to be passing just to our west and north. All that is supposed to end early on Friday and the weekend is forecast to be a sunny and warm one. If that's true--and since the next forecast rain is Tuesday, I may be able to get some staining done on Saturday afternoon and all day on Sunday. That should wrap up the deck for this go round.

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I went out on the deck at noon to chase some squirrels off the bird feeders (a career activity if there ever was one) and got buzzed by a Ruby-throated Hummingbird--the first I've seen this year. He--for it was most definitely a he--might have been complaining that I had not put HIS feeder out yet. I quickly mixed up some sugar water and hung a feeder on the deck. By dinner time, he had located the free meal and was taking advantage of my largess.

The Robin family nesting on the corner of the Aerie must have a clutch of eggs. When I walked over there after dinner, the Mrs. sat tight without making a move or a sound while the Mr. squawked at me loudly from the nearby trees. I had planned to climb up and see if there were eggs, but opted instead to let them be. The chilly weather has been hard enough on them.

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Natural gas development has had quite the impact on our little section of Pennsylvania. Tioga and Bradford counties where most of the work is underway have added over 4000 new jobs since January. As more leases are developed those numbers could go higher. Between drilling and pipelines this area is booming.

Support services, too, have been on the increase. Everything from the business at local eating establishments; rentals of housing and equipment; local stores; etc. has increased. A new Tractor Supply opened a little over a month ago. Sheetz, a regional chain of gasoline and convenience stores has announced plans to build a new facility on Route 6 in Mansfield. A new hotel is nearly completed in the new business park at the junction of Routes 6 and 15. Lowes has broken ground on old Route 15. The Mansfield town offices and police station are moving into new quarters. And the University is expanding with new facilities and dormitories being constructed.

At this rate, we won't recognize the place when we get back from our summer trek.