Work. Work. Work. OUCH!! MMMM!

We had a couple of dead trees that were leaning toward the house and needed to be removed. My buddy (Terry's cousin) Joe came up this morning to lend a hand.

Before we got started, however, Joe pulled out his box call and gave a series of clucks hoping to get a gobble in response. Not today. Should have been here on Sunday morning...Oh. Wait. No hunting on Sundays. (The turkeys are fully aware of this law. Or at least I am convinced they are.)

The hand that was needed was on the end of a rope to assure that the trees didn't hit the house as they came down. Both trees (one white birch, the other a gray birch) were well and truly dead having been either girdled by the previous owner of this lot when he attached a light to the white birch and then held the electric wires in place with some pretty stout nylon cord or damaged when other trees fell and scraped the bark off. Neither could be climbed to attach the rope so we spent some time with a monkey's fist trying to toss the rope over limbs about 20' in the air.

Having accomplished that on the gray birch, I notched the tree about 2' off the ground and made my back cut. Damn tree didn't follow directions and fall up hill as I had planned but instead fell parallel to the slope. At least the rope did keep it away from the house.

The white birch fell pretty much where we planned and the light bulb in the fixture didn't even break. We did dislodge a robins nest built abo0ut where the light fixture was but it didn't hold any eggs or young. In fact, I saw that robin hauling long weeds to build the nest Monday morning and it was still damp from construction.

I gave Joe a tour of my gardens--soon to be supplemented by the acorn and butternut squash Joe brought with him--and he finished his coffee and went on his way after promising to return before I head into the hospital so we can mount the mowing deck on the tractor so, when the time comes, he can come up and cut the grass. He refuses to consider using the push mower.

When Joe left, I pulled out the push mower and went to work mowing the grass and dandelions. An hour-and-a-half later (and about 2 miles) I was finished with the lawns and pretty much anything else for the day. My left knee was sending signals loudly and clearly and my right was in total sympathy.

After lunch I did manage to hobble enough to 1) install the window AC in the master bedroom (I already put the one in the guest bedroom in. It's where I'll be sleeping post op.) 2) drive down to the polling place to cast my vote in the primaries and 3) stop at the liquor store in Mansfield for a nice, big bottle of Jim Beam.

The temperature has risen to 84 on the deck at 3 PM. It had been 82 when I left to run errands at 1:30. The truck thermometer hit a high of 88 while I was on Route 6. It's too damn early for these temperatures. Especially since we had a hard freeze and high temps of just 45 two weeks ago. Oh well. We may get some T-storms this evening...and tomorrow afternoon...and Friday afternoon. Might as well get used to it.

******

On a little bit of a down note:

Terry and I rounded up the cats yesterday to clip their claws. Things went reasonably well for three of them. (If you count having to close all doors, chase and play hide and seek reasonable.) Miss Kitteh, had other ideas. After a lap or two around the livingroom, diningroom and kitchen, she went up onto the loft. We followed. She jumped off the loft to the couch. We finally corralled her and got her nails done but things weren't quite right. Rather than leave immediately--as the others do--she wanted to cuddle in my lap.

When I put her down near her lunch bowl, she limped away to her bed and stayed there all afternoon. We would spend time petting and prodding her but, while she seemed to enjoy the former, the latter produced no reaction. No broken bones that we could tell.

When terry pulled out the dust mop to do the floors, Miss Kitteh sped off to the basement and wasn't seen again until this morning when I went down and found her huddled in a drawer of the TV stand. She sped up stairs as best she could with a gitty-up in her hitch but still would not eat. She's been curled up on the couch in Terry's sewing room all day. (Except when the noise of the lawnmower had her disappear to the basement again. She hid in the utility room this time.) She purrs and licks our hands when we pet her but she has no interest in roaming about the house or eating.

What ever her problem may be, we will give her another day or two before taking her to the vet.

Aerie Visitors

We had some visitors at the Aerie this afternoon. I had just finished watering the garden at 4:30 PM when I heard a crashing and grunting in the trees less than 40 yards up the slope and saw a black bear. It stayed put as I collected all the bird feeders and brought them inside. The bear stayed put and even laid down in the powerline right of way. I thought something might be up and wondered if it might be a sow with a cub.

Turns out I was right. about 15 minutes later, the sow and her TWO cubs came down the hill and into the yard. One of the little ones was a very pale cinnamon cub. Not an albino--I don't think--but a very, very blonde bear.

As you can see, they didn't stay in the yard long. Moma heard the dishwasher going through its cycle and, I assume, the chugging sounds made her shy away from any lengthy investigation. They wandered off back up the hill and disappeared--for the time being.

Deck Birds, May 13, 2013: Part 2

Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Purple Finch

Another harbinger of spring is the appearance of the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. We get quite a few stopping by on the way north to their nesting grounds but we also hang on to a few as well. In fact, I've had three or four males hanging around lately with their lady friends so they must be nesting somewhere near. The male's bright white underside with the rose-red bib can be seen from some distance and the black and white flash of their wings and tails also helps spot them in the brush and low trees. The females on the other hand...well, they are camouflaged quite well. The better to hide while tending the low nest. Given that the males also incubate the eggs, sit nearby and sing to their mates, however, must give up the location to predators fairly often.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (female)

Purple Finches are present through out the year, but they take on a real, eye-popping hue in the spring and early summer. More red than purple the males can be pretty easy to identify. The one thing not shown in these two pictures is the bright red patch on their rump just above the tail and between the wings. The similar House Finch lacks that patch and has a more distinct brown triangle around the eye as well as some brown striping along it's flanks. The Purple's song is a lively one heard anytime during the day and lacks the whiney ending of the Goldfinch.

Purple Finch

Purple Finch

Deck Birds, May 13, 2013: Part 1

Monday was a pretty blah day around the Aerie. It started out bloody cold with the deck thermometer registering 29 degrees and, while it warmed up a bit afterwards, it never got very warm--or sunny, and spit snow from time to time. The bird feeders got a pretty good workout as a result. While the numbers of birds at any given time have dropped due to migration and/or nesting duties, the variety still remains. On any given day I could gather a list of 20-25 species while looking out the window or standing on the deck. Not all of them come in to feed, of course. Robins, towhees, crows, ravens, vultures and the like either stay out in the yard or are merely passing by out in the ether.

I decided to snap a few pictures Monday morning to document some of the birds that do come up on the deck. The windows have recently been pelted by sleet, snow and rain and I've not cleaned them yet, but still, the photos seem to have come out pretty well.

I'll put these in two posts because there are a lot of them and that might slow the loading process.

Part 1: Chipping Sparrows, American Goldfinch and Blue Jay

Chipping Sparrows are the smallest of the sparrows but what they lack in size they more than make up for in energy and volume. They are constantly on the move searching for seeds on bare soil and in the lawn. They can contest a good hunting ground with the best of them and you can see some pretty good aerial dogfights among rivals for a good patch of turf. They're steady--and loud--trill in the early morning light can be confused with a Dark-eyed Junco but is ever so slightly faster, higher in pitch and louder.

 Chipping Sparrow

Chipping Sparrow

Chipping Sparrow

One of the magnificent gems of the bird world, the male American Goldfinch's transformation from olive drab to bright, bright yellow marks the beginning of spring. The only problem with them is the little whiney tilt at the end of their lilting song. Otherwise, they'd make lovely caged singers.

American Goldfinch

 American Goldfinch

The bullies of the yard are the Blue Jays. They will chase/scare all other birds off the feeders with either their size or noise. Some have learned to imitate the calls of hawks to frighten the little birds even more. They rob nests of eggs and hatchlings but eat their fair share of caterpillars and bugs. Their bright blue plumage is present even in the deep days of winter when everything and everybody is much more drab.

Decision Time

Yesterday (Tuesday) morning was spent at in Corning, NY at the Guthrie Orthopedics Center discussing and scheduling knee surgery. It wasn't easy and I was a bit hesitant to do so, but I've opted to have both knees replaced at the same time and my physician/surgeon has agreed to perform the procedure.

We're working on (read: "waiting for the insurance company to okay") getting a 3-D printer construction of my joints so two sets of blocks can be manufactured to act as templates for the knees when it comes time to do the actual cutting. This procedure is costly but less so for dual (bi-lateral) surgery like mine. It also reduces the time on the table (from around 5+ to 3-1/2 hours), chance for infection, and any possible misalignment of the new joints. It also increases the life expectancy of the new joints as a by-product of getting things lined up better.

Getting two knees done at once will reduce the total cost of the procedure. (There's only one booking of the OR, hospital stay and anesthesiologist for example.) There are some increased costs of having to stay in the hospital a couple of extra days and then go to a rehab center for another few days before going home, but compared to two trips to the OR, two hospital stays and two anesthesiologists...there is a savings in there somewhere.

One big downside is the recuperation timetable. I literally will not have a leg to stand on for quite some time. Even with rehab it could be six weeks before I'll be able to drive and so will be pretty much at the mercies of my sweet, lovely, long-suffering wife. (This will, undoubtedly cost me dearly.)

The surgery is tentatively scheduled for Monday, July 15th. There will be numerous appointments, physicals, pre-ops, etc before then.

******

Came home after the doctor's visit and chose to push the lawn mower about for two hours doing terrible damage to the dandelions bold enough to stick their pretty yellow flowers up just a tad too high. I'm not kidding myself, however. Short of taking some full strength Round-Up to the bloody things they will return. I did read somewhere that they are actually good for the lawn in that they will draw nutrients to the surface from way down deep. If you've ever tried to dig a mature dandelion out of the soil with an intact root, you can easily believe that. The average adult plant's root goes down some 9-12 inches. Not as far as some other plants like Queen Anne's Lace, but still pretty impressive.

After two hours of pushing the mower about, I'd harvested several bags of clippings for the mulch pile and reminded myself why I went to the doctor. As it was cool enough to not break a sweat, I did not have a pint+ of ale to rehydrate. Instead I went right to the bourbon to act as pain killer while sitting in front of the tube to watch NCIS and NCIS: LA.

Squirrel! White squirrel, that is. Really.

So. Terry and I were on our way over to Darling Run on Pine Creek Gorge this morning when we saw this little guy on the road just down the hill from the Aerie.

White squirrel on the road.

I've seen it before--three times in the last three years--but this was a first for Terry. We had driven past and it had jumped up into a tree alongside the road. I turned around in a driveway and got my camera out. I was surprised to see that the squirrel had returned to the road and stayed there as I drove very, very slowly back toward it. Fearing it would bolt if I got too close I stopped about 20 yards away and snapped the photo above through the windshield. With schmutz on the glass and facing into the sun, I wasn't really positive it would come out so well.

Opening the door as quietly as possible, I hoped to get a better picture but the little bugger sensed something was up and went for the nearest big tree--an ash. Well, I walked over anyway and it sat in the fork of the tree giving me the evil eye. I snapped a few more photos--the best is the one below--before giving up and returning to the truck.

White squirrel peeks from an Ash tree.

We've had a totally black squirrel in the Aerie's yard before but it only appeared for one year. This white one--or its offspring--has been around for at least three years. I couldn't clearly see if the eye was pink,dark red or a more normal black. Pink or red would indicate albinism while a black eye would simply be a melanin deficient critter. It looks a bit red in the second photo. Either way, it's pretty cool.

Our Week

So. What else have we been up to besides birding....

******

One really negative note: Last week and again today, my knees proved problematic as we walked around the lake at Hills Creek. I did see the orthopedic surgeon on Wednesday and discussed options vis-a-vis shots or surgery. We left things in the air as I needed some time to weigh those options.

Today convinced me I need to go for the surgery. It's been only three weeks since my last cortisone shot and already the pain is up there in the 8+ range. Sometimes even reaching 9+ on a scale of 1 to 10. Sigh. I'll be calling the surgeon's office on Monday to make arrangements. It can't be done until at least three months after the cortisone shot which means mid-July at the earliest.(The cortisone interferes with the adhesive used to cement the new parts in place.)

I'm going to see if I can get the Doc to do a two-fer. Might as well get them both done at the same time. He's a bit reluctant but says the insurance companies love the idea. I've heard for folks who have done both at once and also one at a time. The former say it's the only way to go. The latter admit it drags the inevitable out but also say its good to have at least one leg to stand on. (I've also heard of at least one person who had the first knee done and then balked at having the second operated on. It was more than she could handle.)

******

Terry and I also visited the ophthalmologist on Thursday. It's been two years for me but my eyes haven't changed and no new prescription was needed. Tests for glaucoma and macular degeneration were negative, too.  Terry needs a new set of specks as she has lost some vision in one of her eyes. She has had some signs of glaucoma but this time round the tests showed some improvemend on that front. Nothing hinting at macular degeneration for her either. She should get her new glasses in a couple of weeks.

******

Friday was Terry's birthday. We celebrated by going out to dinner at Timeless Destination in Wellsboro. Good food, good service and nice atmosphere.

She's had lots of cards, a few phone calls and even posts on my Facebook page of best wishes and such and appreciates each one. 

******

On something of a plus side, Terry's knee has been feeling better...most of the time. The possible, non-dislocated medial meniscus tear has been behaving itself and she's walking far better than I am. Then again, she's not been so foolish as to go hiking on uneven terrain such as one finds on some of the trails around the Hills Creek lake.

******

The birds have succeeded in eating all the sunflower seeds I purchased last fall. (That would be 10 bags of 40 pounds each.) It's not surprising considering the number of Goldfinches and Purple Finches that have been around this past week. A rough estimate would put those numbers at around 100 for those two species alone. The Chickadees are still here, albeit in smaller numbers than in winter. Other newcomers have made up for it, however. Common Grackles, Brown-headed Cow Birds, Eastern Towhees, and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks have certainly eaten their share. I may have to go visit Agway for a couple more bags.

Birding at Hills Creek State Park:May 4, 2013

We had another great day for birding at Hills Creek State Park today. The conditions were perfect with comfortable temperatures, clear skies and no wind to speak of. Lots of people showed up, too. While we racked up a respectable number of species in 2.5 hours, the actual number of birds was a bit disappointing and there were areas that should have had birds that didn't. Maybe some have moved north--or haven't gotten here yet from the south--or maybe those that were around were setting up housekeeping. Whatever the reason, this could be considered a good day and not a great one on the bird front but certainly a great morning to be out.

Here's today's list as reported to eBird:

Hills Creek SP, Tioga, US-PA
May 4, 2013 7:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.5 mile(s)
Comments: Beautiful clear morning. 40 degrees at the start, 60 degrees when we finished. Very calm.
34 species

Canada Goose X
Mallard X
Double-crested Cormorant X
Great Blue Heron X
Osprey X
Bald Eagle X
Red-tailed Hawk X
Ring-billed Gull X
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker X
Downy Woodpecker X
Eastern Phoebe X
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Tree Swallow X
Black-capped Chickadee X
Red-breasted Nuthatch X
White-breasted Nuthatch X
Brown Creeper X
House Wren X
Eastern Bluebird X
American Robin X
Gray Catbird X
Brown Thrasher X
European Starling X
Yellow-rumped Warbler X
Black-throated Green Warbler X
Eastern Towhee X
Chipping Sparrow X
Song Sparrow X
Dark-eyed Junco X
Northern Cardinal X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Brown-headed Cowbird X
American Goldfinch X

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S13985728

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

Lazy Man's Birding from the Aerie April 29, 2013

Monday was a gray, overcast, misting, mizzling kind of day punctuated with short spurts of real rain. Not a nice day to be outside at all. The temperature never got much above 50 degrees either. After putting the bird feeders out I retreated to the comfort of the living room and decided to compile a list of all the species I saw or heard throughout the day. Turned out to be 23 of them.

1. American Goldfinch (Maybe two dozen males and as many females. The bright yellow matches the daffodils.)
2. Chipping Sparrow (Small, energetic, nearly impossible to see in grass getting close to cutting length. Thank goodness they also spent time in the clear spaces.)
3. Morning Dove (He was pitching woo. She wasn't catching.)
4. Brown-headed Cowbird (Three or four in a group hung around all morning.)
5. Purple Finch (Another abundant group. Males were as Roger Tory Peterson described them: "Dipped in raspberry juice.")
6. House Finch (Slightly less colorful than the Purple.)
7. Flicker (Hammering away at a dead snag as it proclaimed its territory.)
8. Red-winged Blackbird (Up from the neighbors' ponds looking for some free seed.)
9. Blue Jay (Bullies. Also tried to intimidate by using faux hawk whistles.)
10. Eastern Towhee (Yes! Yes! I know! I'll drink my tea! Now shut up!)
11. American Robin (Patrolling the lawn for worms and other food stuffs.)
12. Dark-eyed Junco (Why are the snow birds still here? Do they know something?)
13. Red-breasted Nuthatch (In-and-out like a flash! With just a tiny furtive look to the left and right before they grab a seed and GO!)
14. Black-capped Chickadee (Friendly little chaps--until I went out to bring the feeders in. Then they got confused/angry.)
15. Tufted Titmouse (My what big eyes you have!)
16. Wild Turkey (?) (I heard one early in the day that seemed to be about 50 yards from the deck and on my land. It is hunting season, however and it could have been someone calling although that's unlikely.)
17. White-throated Sparrow (Two males with their distinctive white bib and yellow pince-nez patch scratching for stuff under the feeders.)
18. White-breasted Nuthatch (Climbing head first down the trees and telephone pole; rotating 45 degrees this way and that as they move. A sudden flutter of the wings as the back is arched and the tail and head go up tell me at least one of the three is a female.)
19. Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Female, darn it.)
20. Eastern Phoebe (Nesting on the window ledge, it came out to search for bugs but couldn't find any of them flying so it was hitting them on the ground like a miniature hawk.)
21. Osprey (!) (I think this is the first we've ever seen from the Aerie.)
22. Downy Woodpecker (Came searching for seeds, bugs, anything it could get.)
23. Common Grackle (A dapper, sleek looking male with a bright yellow eye and a glossy deep plum-purple head and his elegant Mrs.)

A few of these were firsts for this year. I'm still waiting on the warblers to come through and the local Indigo Bunting to show up. He should be here any day now as the aspen leaves are getting larger than a cottontail's ears. Perfect for him to hide amidst. If the weather stays above freezing, I'll be hanging the hummingbird feeders in a day or two.

Birding at Hills Creek State Park:April 27, 2013

Another Saturday morning that was just perfect for a bird walk at Hills Creek State Park. Nary a cloud in the sky and barely enough breeze to ripple the lake surface. The temperature started at 32 degrees at 7:30 AM but climbed steadily so it was 55 degrees when we called it a morning at 10 AM. We had a great turnout of both the human (22 people) and avian (37 species) kind.

Here's the day's list as reported to eBird:

Hills Creek SP, Tioga, US-PA
Apr 27, 2013 7:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.5 mile(s)
Comments: Clear, calm morning. Started at 32 degrees but ended at 52 under bright sunshine.
37 species

Canada Goose X
Wood Duck X
Mallard X
Lesser Scaup X
Hooded Merganser X
Ruddy Duck X
Pied-billed Grebe X
Great Blue Heron X
Osprey X
Bald Eagle X
Spotted Sandpiper X
Bonaparte's Gull X
Ring-billed Gull X
Mourning Dove X
Belted Kingfisher X
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker X
Northern Flicker X
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Tree Swallow X
Black-capped Chickadee X
Red-breasted Nuthatch X
Eastern Bluebird X
American Robin X
Gray Catbird X
Brown Thrasher X
European Starling X
Palm Warbler X
Yellow-rumped Warbler X
Chipping Sparrow X
Song Sparrow X
Dark-eyed Junco X
Northern Cardinal X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Common Grackle X
Brown-headed Cowbird X
American Goldfinch X

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S13899535

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

Birding at Hills Creek State Park: Saturday, April 20, 2013

Went out birding at Hills Creek State Park for the third consecutive Saturday. With the front that moved through last evening, it was assumed it would be a rotten day, especially since the winds were still pretty strong and there didn't appear to be much on the lake. Because of the cool temperatures and strong breeze we stayed pretty much inland, skirting the north end of the lake only in passing.

Last week we had scores of waterfowl on the lake and never really left the shoreline. This week there were many fewer swimmers and even seeing those was difficult because of the chop. The woods and fields, however, produced numerous species and individuals including quite a few warblers--a sure(?) sign that spring may be gaining a footing. The trees are just beginning to bud out so the birds couldn't hide behind leaves.

 At the end of the walk we had tallied at least 33 species and could have had more if we had worked at it by extending our walk to include the beach area. Waterfowl may have been low in number, but the number of species wasn't as greatly reduced as we expected. And the number of swallows zipping through the air over the lake was amazing! What they may have been eating is a mystery as we saw no bugs hatching from the cold water.

 Any way, here's the report I filed with eBird for today's outing which included 12 birders:

 Hills Creek SP, Tioga, US-PA
Apr 20, 2013 7:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling 1.5 mile(s)
Comments: Very breezy morning about 40 degrees. Partially cloudy with a bit of snow flurry. Cold front moved through the evening before.

33 species

Canada Goose X
Wood Duck X
Mallard X
Bufflehead X
Common Merganser X
Common Loon X
Horned Grebe X
Double-crested Cormorant X
Osprey X
Northern Harrier X
Bald Eagle X
Barred Owl X
Belted Kingfisher X
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker X
Eastern Phoebe X
American Crow X
Northern Rough-winged Swallow X
Tree Swallow X
Barn Swallow X
Black-capped Chickadee X
Tufted Titmouse X
Red-breasted Nuthatch X
Golden-crowned Kinglet X
Eastern Bluebird X
American Robin X
Gray Catbird X
European Starling X
Palm Warbler X
Yellow-rumped Warbler X
Chipping Sparrow X
Song Sparrow X
Dark-eyed Junco X
Purple Finch X

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S13814903

That Was The Week That Was

And one heck of a week it was.

There was a bombing at the Boston Marathon;

The Mets got snowed out in Minneapolis and again in Denver--twice in mid-April (and these weren't little bitty snow storms, either); gun control legislation was voted down in the Senate;

The President of the US went ballistic at the Senate for its daring to uphold the Constitution and the Second Amendment while in the background the Vice President appeared to be on the verge of tears (or maybe it was just gas);

There was a huge explosion at a fertilizer factory in West, Texas;

A wild man hunt in and about the Boston environs for a couple of Chechyan brothers whose names no one could pronounce (they had difficulty with Chechyan, too) who were reportedly responsible for the bombing at the marathon;

Those same brothers shot a cop at MIT; one brother got killed in the ensuing chase while the other tossed explosives at the pursuers before he disappeared in a suburban neighborhood causing tens of thousands of folks to be told to lock their doors and stay inside;

Then, finally, tonight, Suspect #2 was found hiding in a canvas covered boat in someone's backyard.

And through it all, the mainstream media and a good portion of the opiners on the interwebs got nearly every single detail WRONG as they rushed to report what was going on.

The weather, not wanting to be left out of the mayhem, interrupted things at the Aerie a bit Friday night. After a lovely, but windy day, we were treated to a period of havoc starting around 5 PM. A thin but long squall line moved through just ahead of a cold front. Warnings of heavy winds, tornado watches, thunderstorm warnings, and torrential rains were constantly being broadcast over the emergency TV band along with the annoying “Beep…Beep…Beep.” We got only the winds and the rains between 5 and 6 PM. The rest developed to the east of here.

Following the Mets on the computer Friday night, I rejoiced when Ike Davis and Lucas Duda both went deep with solo homers in the sixth inning. Talk about your Miracles!

I would have been ecstatic to listen to them do it again in the 8th, but the power went out at around 9:30 PM and stayed out until 10:30 PM. Why? I don’t know. The storm had long past and any winds were mere memories. Apparently it was a local thing as we were the first to call it in and lights were still shining a short distance down the hill.

To top it off we got two calls from our alarm company asking if everything was all right. The first came at 11:15 PM when the power had returned 45 minutes previously, but they wanted to make sure we knew it was out and ask if we needed any assistance. The second came at 2:30 AM to let us know it had come back on and ask if we needed any assistance. I appreciate their diligence and concern, but I would have liked an uninterrupted night’s sleep too.

Is it any wonder I needed to stop at the liquor store today for more bourbon? [UPDATE: Completely forgot about the mail that tested positive for ricin sent to a Senator and the President by an Elvis impersonator. Yeah. One heck of a week!]

Sometimes You Lead with the Obvious...

...and sometimes you don't.

You see a headline like this and what's your first thoughts?

Shell confirms FBI probe

Follow it with a lead paragraph of:

Shell Appalachia spokesperson Deborah Sawyer released the following statement today, April 19, about a state police and FBI investigation at two natural gas drilling pads in Tioga County:

and you're likely to conclude (especially in light of all the anti-fracking hysteria) that Shell has made a grievous error and all hell is going to rain down upon them and all the dirty rotten frackers!

And you'd be wrong. The statement from Shell Appalachia:

"On April 12, 2013, Shell personnel contacted the Pennsylvania State Police following the discovery of charred debris on an inactive Shell natural gas well pad site in Jackson Township, PA in Tioga County. Shell personnel also informed State Police of a second, possibly similar finding, on a different pad site in Rutland Township, PA in Tioga County that was found on March 21, 2013. This finding was not previously suspect and therefore not reported to law enforcement."

Yep. The remains of two fires set on the pads of drilling rigs were found. Who set them and why is the reason for the investigation. I don't think the well workers are careless enough to set fires on the drill rig pad for any reason (cold, lunch, coffee). They are aware of the dangers of open flames near a gas drilling site--or I hope they would be. Could it have been some idiot(s) protesting the fracking going on and hoping that a small fire could cause a larger conflagration? If the latter is the case, they failed--this time.

"These incidents did not result in any injuries or damage to any facility.

"The PA State Police and the FBI are now investigating these incidents. Given the active investigation, Shell is unable to comment further about these incidents. Shell is fully cooperating with law enforcement officials."

It might be difficult to determine who is responsible as the trail has grown cold, especially for the first fire. This is the entire article as it appears on The Wellsboro Gazette's web page on April 19 as "Breaking News". Hopefully they have more details in their weekly published paper.

A slightly different report from the Williamsport Sun Gazette:

Police: Explosive remains found at inactive gas well

Police say they're investigating reports remains of small explosive devices were found at two natural gas drilling sites in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Now that makes it a whole 'nother kettle of fish!

In which I answer an "Anonymous" comment.

This morning I found this comment to a post I made a week ago about U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D) not knowing that a magazine could be reloaded and thinking that once they were used that they were no longer “available”  for use.

Normally I don’t allow anonymous comments, but this one needs to be addressed. Put aside that I did not express anything but amazement that the person (Rep. Diana DeGette (D)) who is the lead sponsor of a bill presented to the House would/could be so ignorant of the item she wishes to ban, nowhere in my post did I make any of the statements alluded to in the reply. Upon reflection, this may be a response to a discussion I've been having with a former colleague on Facebook, or it could simply be a troll. I don't know because they didn't sign their name or leave a link through which I could identify them.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Congress and Idiots...but I repeat myself":

I disagree with you and I think that banning high capcity [sic] magazines would be effective...it won't solve the problem but it will help. Yes, magazines can be reloaded, but how much time does that take? Also doesn't every security/police/military expert agree that reaction time to a situation is essential? i.e [sic] if you can slow them down then isn't that a good thing? 

Reloading a magazine in a fire fight does take time. Reloading one at leisure, not so much. Reloading a weapon when you have multiple magazines takes virtually no time at all. Watch some competition shooting by people who know how to use a pistol or rifle and you’d see that it takes less than a second or two to drop an empty magazine and slap a full one in place. The shooter in Newtown carried 10 magazines and switched out partially empty ones several times as he moved from classroom to classroom even when those magazines weren't empty. Three of the ten were still full when he took his own life but many of the other seven still held live rounds.

As to reaction time being essential, yes it is. Call 911 in an emergency and see how long it takes for armed police officers to arrive. An armed citizen on the spot could be holding the perpetrator at bay while the responders are still answering the phone.

But the bigger question I have is what practical use (I also adress [sic] gun rights below, this is simply a practical question) do you have for a high capacity magazine? I get that people want to hunt, but if you need high capacity then you're a bad hunter. You want to protect your home? Then learn to shoot without a high capacity mag. In the relatively recent Empire States Building shooting all the bystanders where [sic] shot by highly trained police officers. 

“What practical use do you have for a high capacity magazine?” If a home invasion is made by two or more thugs, wouldn’t it be better to have as much if not more firepower than they do? High capacity magazines (also known as “standard magazines” since most modern pistols come equipped with magazines that would make Mayor Bloomberg and Senator Schumer cringe) are not so much for hunting. Many states already limit the number of rounds you may have in a shotgun or the type of rifle you may carry when hunting in their game laws. My bolt action .270 is more powerful than most AR-15s. I've been fortunate enough to take several deer with it in recent years. It took me just one shot for each, but I still carried over a dozen rounds of ammunition with me into the woods. It's magazine (built-in, non-detachable) holds five shells. I carry 8 more rounds in a belt pouch. Why? Because one never knows what will happen in the woods even a few hundred yards from the house.

The .223 round used by the Newtown shooter in his Bushmaster are excellent for small game like groundhog, fox or coyote. The 5.56 used by the military and NATO are less powerful still, but they (the military) can often select fire bursts at a time--although that's considered a wast of ammo. Civilian rifles can, at best be semi-automatic which requires one trigger pul for each shot.

Also, in your example of the Empire States Building shooting, I would suggest that your “highly trained police officers” weren’t. Be sure of your target and beyond is one of the prime directives of any firearm safety course.

You're telling me that a weekend conceal and carry course [sic] is going to make us safer? To use your argument, crime is going happen regardless, what scares me more than a single deranged gunman is a hoard of semi trained, unpracticed, scared civilians firing off rounds. Unless you spend the same amount of time on a range as our active duty paid armed police and military forces do (at a minimum) then Johnny Q Public is my biggest safety fear. And if you qualified on a rifle in previous armed conflicts with no combat re-cert then it does not make you a highly trained shooter today. 

I didn’t address this in the post, but yes, a weekend concealed carry course would make everyone safer. Those who carry on a regular basis are extremely law abiding. (More so than Mayor Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns it seems.
"The important take-away from all those numbers? After 23 years of licensing those who wish to carry handguns, Florida has only had to revoke, at most, 0.277% of those licenses for cause.
As a somewhat random reminder, I would point out that Mayors Against Illegal Guns has had 2.2% of its members arrested, charged, and convicted of criminal activities (assuming 500 mayors – a number that is fiercely debated and probably artificially inflated).

Comparatively speaking, Mayors Against Illegal Guns members are almost eight times more likely to be convicted of crimes than Florida concealed firearm license holders – but that number is based off 23 years of licenses versus four years of MAIG. Assuming the mayors had as much history as the licenses, and assuming the same trend (11 mayors convicted in four years – a sizeable assumption, but it is all the data we have to operate on), you are looking at MAIG members being over 45 times more likely to be convicted of crimes than Florida concealed firearm license holders.")
They (concealed carry permit holders) have to be if they don’t want to lose the right to carry concealed. They also spend more time at the range—when they can get ammunition—than your average police officer or even military personnel. You’d be surprised how little range time is required of those paid professionals. Talk to a police officer sometime. Ask how much time on the range is required of him/her. Even your serious hunter spends more time at the range or in the backyard with his rifle honing his shooting skills than all but the most dedicated paid professional. And if you think a police officer doesn’t get flustered or scared in a shooting situation, how do you explain the situation you brought up about the Empire State Building shooting?

To adress [sic] Rights, they also come with responsibility, I'm willing to bet, and also willing to listen if someone can give me opposing facts (real facts, not fox [sic] news, MSNBC news or any other slant/paid/sponsored research by any side; I only want true unbiased research and facts) that there are more deaths from accidental shootings, suicides and crimes of passion from registered gun users than there are against innocents/crime victims/bystandards [sic]. So if, as a society, we can't stop the real issue or show the responsibility as a society to stop a negative action (again, where are most guns accidents?) then don't we also have the right or even responsibility to regulate that action? 

Yes. Rights do come with responsibilities. Perhaps that is why so many are willing to give them up.

I’ll not do your research for you but the FBI (See Table 1 of their Crime in the U.S. Report.  ) and others have many of the numbers for which you are looking. Although they do not break things down into registered and non-registered gun users, there is a table that shows the type of weapon used in 2011: Table 20. Of note is that while the number of lawfully purchased guns has skyrocketed (millions background checks performed in recent years Total NICS Background Checks Monthly 1998-2013 (It's a PDF file)) the rate of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter has declined considerably. In 1992 the rate was 9.3 per 100,000 while in 2011 (the last year reported) it was 4.7. That's from Table 1.)

No one is taking away guns rights, the only proposition is to regulate them. Which they are already regulated and unless you think every fam [sic] should own a nuke like N Korean then you would agree. 

Wow! Quite a strawman you’ve erected there! Who said anything about nukes? Also, what part of "infringed" are you having difficulty with?

 I'm sure this will draw some incoherent ire but I am willing to listen and consider true facts. As a hint, anything that can be disproved with a simple google search should not be use [sic] in a civil discussion.

Posted by Anonymous to Compass Points at 4/10/2013 12:40 AM

Allow me to define "incoherent" for you: anyone who disagrees with me. As for your hint, I agree. Show me how any one of the proposed bans on magazines and “assault weapons” or enhanced background checks would have prevented any of the mass shootings we have suffered in the last few years without harming the ability of law abiding citizens to obtain the firearms they want (not what you deem they need) and don’t lead me to any of the biased reporting of the Brady bunch, the UN or a Soros instrument.

Congress and Idiots...but I repeat myself

All too often it appears that our elected representatives are good at only one thing: getting elected. Outside that area they are awfully stupid. For example: U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D) out of Colorado is the lead sponsor in the House on a gun control measure that would ban high capacity magazines--in the future. She thinks such a ban would soon remove all high capacity magazines from the country because, as the Denver Post reports:

“I will tell you these are ammunition, they’re bullets, so the people who have those now they’re going to shoot them, so if you ban them in the future, the number of these high capacity magazines is going to decrease dramatically over time because the bullets will have been shot and there won’t be any more available.”

That's right, she thinks that when you shoot all the bullets held in the magazine that the magazine is then useless. She doesn't realize that a magazine can be reloaded over and over again. And she's been the lead sponsor of this bill for two sessions of Congress! The country is in the very best of hands.

Bits and Pieces

Terry and I made another trip into New Jersey yesterday. She with her aching knee due for an MRI later this week and me with TWO sore knees. It was our intention to get (almost) everything of Jess' out of Mom's upstairs rooms as physically possible and we succeeded. There are one or two boxes left in the attic along with some computers (Jess' and Rick's), and a desk and chair which we could not get down the steps on our own, what with Terry's complaining knee and my, by then, aching knees AND back.

We got to Mom's on the right day. She was making cookies and perogies and we got to take some of each home.

We'll be going back next weekend to get the desk and chair with help from cousin/buddy Joe who will be visiting family for Easter. With his help we should get the desk downstairs and into the back of the truck in no time.

The weather was just gorgeous for our ride. We left around 7:15 AM (the one time the cats DID NOT wake us early!) had to wait for a flock of turkeys to clear the road on our way to Route 15 and enjoyed watching the thermometer in the truck climb as we drove east. From 18 degrees at home we got to 48 at Mom's. Traffic was either nonexistent or moving smoothly the entire time both heading east and then west. The only problem was the damn sun was in my eyes in both directions but that was a small price to pay for a beautiful day. When we got home we learned that the temperature never got much above freezing-again, so there was still too much snow on the lawn. (This time of year, one inch is too much!)

Everything we brought home is out of the truck and waiting to be hauled down stairs or up. This will be done a wee bit at a time as I'm the one whose going to be doing it!

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The weather is still trying to screw with us here in the Northern Tier. The latest prediction from AccuHunch is for 1-3 inches of snow from tonight through Monday evening. Weather.com is a little more hesitant in its forecast hinting that the mess they call Virgil might slide to our south. Might.

Currently it's just above the freezing mark mostly sunny with a thin layer of clouds moving in. A light breeze is blowing from the ESE according to the windmills I can see.

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I cracked open the final bag of sunflower seeds this morning. This is the tenth of the winter. If we had been home during Mardi Gras it would have been long gone by now. The culprits are squirrels and hordes of Common Redpolls. We've had a dozen or more gray squirrels on some mornings raiding the feeders. And when they leave, there have been 50 to 75 Common Redpolls out there along with the usual Chickadees, Titmice, Nuthatches and Mourning Doves. Some days I've had to refill the feeders twice.

Redpolls are a species usually found in the Boreal Forests where they eat pine and fir seeds as well as weed seed. (They love the thistle I put out too.) They usually stay well to the north of us unless the seed crop is really bad or the weather exceptionally cold. They should be heading north by now, but here they stay. Either they really, really like sunflower seeds or they know more than Punxsutawney Phil.

About that "Affordable Care Act"...

Yeah, it's neither "affordable" nor providing much "care."

When I was growing up, I was always told to be sure to read the whole contract--including the fine print--before I signed anything. You never know what's in there until you read it and, by gum, the Devil is in the details.

Too bad our "betters" don't follow the same practice. It seems Democrats at both the state and federal (I inadvertently typed "feral" here. Purely Freudian, I'm sure.) level are beginning to notice that the Affordable Care Act may have been misnamed. At the very least they realized it's not going to do what they thought it was going to do.

Still, Democrats are becoming disillusioned at the law’s failure to achieve its ideal of quality health care for every American that doesn’t add to the deficit, reduces medical spending, and promises employees the right to stay on the company plan. And so they’re trying to clean up the mess they’ve made.

For decades, critics of the American health care system have identified two major flaws in its design. First, there is the problem of universality. Not everyone has health insurance. ...

Second, there is the problem of affordability. ...

The Affordable Care Act was sold as a way to solve both problems. What it really does, though, is extend, sloppily and expensively, a right to health insurance to all. It’s a law that deals with the universality problem, not the spending problem. The cost-cutting measures it does contain are mainly experiments that will take years to evaluate. Yes, the rate of growth in health care costs has remained stable for the last three years. But that is more likely the result of the recession, and of experiments in private networks, which began before Obama-care. Most of Obama-care has yet to take effect. The problem of rising health costs remains.

And liberals are noticing. ...

You can read the rest of the article by Matthew Continetti in the Weekly Standard here.

Perhaps if they had read the damn thing before they rushed it through the Senate and the House when both were under the Democrats' control some of the problems now coming to light could have been avoided by--you know--NOT PASSING THIS MONSTER IN THE FIRST PLACE.

But, hey! That's crazy talk!

Oh, and Mark Hemingway says the unions aren't too happy with Obamacare either.

Delayed Spring.

So, last evening just after the sun set I stepped out on the deck and heard the first Woodcock of the year. That caused me to write this on my Facebook page:

Aah! Spring must be near. I just heard my first Timerdoodle (aka Woodcock) of the year "peent" in the field across the road. Then the twittering flight as he rose to attract a mate. Hope the poor bugger doesn't get too cold and lonely tonight!

And, of course, his evening it's snowing. *sigh*

Not much snow falling and we shouldn't get much in the way of accumulation, but it's been falling in varying intensity all freakin' day there's enough to be annoying. Everything is white again and that just makes it feel colder than the 27 degrees we've currently got or today's "high" of 30 that we had around 4 PM.

The two week forecast shows highs in the upper 30s to low 40s (they took the 50s out yesterday) with overnight lows in the 20s and even the teens. This is good news for the maple sap collectors in their sugar bushes, but not much comfort to those of us looking longingly at our gardens.

Phil predicted an early spring but it appears he may have been working part time as an economic forecaster for the Democrats. Spring and recover are both delayed.

Gun Control Tomfoolery

In which I give vent to a rant...

If, as the saying goes, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, then perhaps Senators Feinstein and Schumer are certifiable.

Each has crafted a gun control bill that is unlikely to 1) be passed by both Senate and House and 2) be upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court.

Senator Feinstein is the authoress of the “Assault” Weapons Ban of 2013.

From PowerlineBlog.com:

Feinstein has proposed a ban on 157 different models of assault weapons. Many of them are commonly used, which means that, under the Supreme Court’s decision in Heller, banning them is problematic in terms of the Second Amendment.

She threw a hissy fit when asked by fellow Judiciary Committee member Senator Cruz whether this might cause the law to run afoul of the Supreme Court’s decisions. *sigh*

Chuck Schumer added several amendments to his push for stricter background checks, S.372. Some of them would make it a felony should you 1) leave your guns at home with a roommate or anyone other than your legally recognized spouse if you, the registered user, were to be gone for seven days or more, 2) loan your hunting rifle to a friend while you are out in the field, 3) dare to take more than 24 hours to report the theft of a gun from your home. It leaves the definition of “temporary transfer” and “gift” to be determined.

(See "Amendment to background check legislation reveals Chuck Schumer’s America" and "Schumer's Transfer Tyranny")

Of course, these and other bills being considered are “common sense” laws designed to “protect the average citizen” and, of course, just like the last “Assault” Weapons Ban—passed in 1993, in force for 10 years and did nothing to reduce the criminal use of guns—they will do nothing of the kind. Criminals do not obey gun control laws that are already on the books. What makes these idiots think more laws will bring about any compliance from the criminal community?

The one thing--the ONLY thing--these laws are designed to do is the ONE thing the 2nd Amendment says the government should NOT do and that is to "infringe" upon the right of the average, law abiding American to keep and bear arms.

It's not truly about guns. It's all about control. And it must be halted.

The Prodigal Returns

It's alive!

Yeah, I've been AWOL from this blog for far too long. No excuses as there are plenty of things to write about. Politics, economics, religion, environment, etc. I just haven't been able to focus on any one of those without getting really, really angry long enough to make coherent statements.

Let me start off with some personal stuff.

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Jessica seems to have settled into live on the west coast pretty well. She and Jake (her cat) have made some friends and she's found a job to help pay her bills.

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Terry's cousin Joe (my fishing buddy) and his wife (Pat) have become grandparents...again. Son David and his wife, Eliza have a baby added a baby girl, Eleanor Gray, to the clan. She's their first. This one is in Maine and is number four. Everyone is doing just fine.

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Terry has done something to her knee. She’s tweaked it a few times this winter shoveling snow and hauling boxes and bags of Jessica’s stuff down the stairs at her mother’s but something she did the other day really did her in. Whether it was sliding on some ice, playing limbo to get under a garage door that likes to play games, or what, Terry’s definitely hurting. She went to the doctor’s yesterday and then for an X-ray. The doc speculated it might be arthritis (Welcome to my world!) but the X-rays showed nothing: no meniscus tear, not bone-on-bone, no ligament tears, no soft tissue issues, etc. They are booking an MRI to get a better look at the soft tissues.

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Mitch Seavey has won the Iditarod on Tuesday night with a time of 9 days, 7 hours, 39 minutes, and 56 seconds. This is his second victory in The Last Great Race since he started racing in 1982. Seavey is 53 years of age and last won in 2004.

Aliy Zirkle came in second for the second consecutive year. She and her team were just about 24 minutes behind Seavey.

The race continues with only 36 of the remaining 54 teams having reached Nome. (Of the 66 teams slated to start the race, twelve have scratched or been withdrawn.) The current Red Lantern (last place) team belongs to Bob Chulpach, aged 63. Bob ran his first Iditarod in 1977 and, while he hasn’t raced every year since, he has managed to race in at least one race in each decade since. He’s run three in the ‘70s, four in the ‘80s, two in the ‘90s, one in the ‘00s (Exactly how do you say that, anyway?), and now two in the ‘10s. That’s five (5!) decades of racing. He’s finished all 11 races and has one Top Ten finish (1982). He left Unalakleet at 11:55 this morning Alaska time. That’s some 270 miles from the finish. I hope he can make it before they roll up the streets and pull him from the race.

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We enjoyed a couple of days of near spring-like weather late last week and thought we might have turned the corner on winter. The bastard sped up, however, and has overtaken us again. Today we awoke to a dusting of snow that covered the newly exposed lawn and deck and a temperature of 16 degrees. While it never got above freezing today, we did get close enough and enough sunlight to get rid of nearly all that white stuff.

The warm weather we had brought some new-for-the-year birds. Aided by a southern wind we got some Robins and Red-winged Blackbirds in the yard. I also heard some Killdeer at the farm down the hill. I’m still waiting for the first Woodcock to show up. They may be here but the strong winds the last couple of evenings (out of the north) may have kept them hunkered down instead of doing their “peenting” and twittering mating flights.

We did have a solitary hen turkey visit the bird feeders four consecutive days. She picked at the seeds the squirrels spilled from the feeders for several hours each visit, but on her last visit two days ago one squirrel attacked her and drove her off. Either that attack or the cold temperatures have convinced her to look elsewhere for her morning chow.

Hen turkey scratches for seed.

Bronzed back and mottled wing feathers make good camo for a ground nester.

Even a drab hen turkey has some amazing color patterns on her wings and back. She may be lacking a beard, wattle, snood, spurs, and a blue-and-red head, but she's still gorgeous.

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I'm still waiting for the first black bear to show up. Several couples at the photography club last Tuesday mentioned that their bird feeders have been hit by bears (probably males as they "wake up" earlier than females with cubs).  We have had a raccoon come to visit. I didn't see it but it raided the suet feeder before coming up on the deck. It left muddy foot prints as it went to check the feeders on the rail.

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Well that's about all for now. I'll be back soon with some thoughts on more serious topics. If I can keep my BP under control.