Tag: caracara

Busy Birds and Hobbling Horse

It’s time for a nature post today. Nothing is better for me than some bird watching, and today was fun. The fewer leaves on the trees, the better I like it. I got to observe two large and colorful birds today, so both are the Daily Bird.

Crested Caracara

I’ve been seeing a pair of these birds a lot the past few weeks. I even saw their mating flight one day. Today they flew around and around where I was until one landed high in a nearby tree. you can even tell what it is in the picture!

Better picture

Around here, we call them Mexican eagles, as they are the bird on the Mexican flag, after all. They are expanding their range northwards. They weren’t here when we first arrived; I saw my first ones in DeWitt County, where Lee’s dad was from. I think they’re very fun to watch.

Caracara time

The other large bird I enjoyed today I heard first, before I saw it. They are very loud when they call. Then I heard the banging of a big bill and knew it was the pileated woodpecker, the one whose holes I’d seen on our last camping trip.

I listened to the pecking long enough that I eventually spotted it on a dead branch on the biggest tree behind the back pond. I watched that pointy head go up and down for quite a while. I do have photos of it, but it was so far away that I only know it’s there from the Live Photo motion.

Sure, there’s a bird in that tree.

It made an excellent racket when it flew off, which capped off my morning walk well. There was also the usual red-bellied woodpecker out today, so it was easy to compare calls, but I didn’t hear the flicker today.

My afternoon animal adventures weren’t all that fun. I went out to prepare food for the horses and ride/exercise Drew, when I noticed that everyone had come up to see me but Apache. He didn’t come to me when I gave him his medicine, either, just nickered a greeting.

When he finally did move, my heart sank. He was limping. I forgot all about my plans and prepared the pens for him to stay in. I fed the other guys and got him all settled. His feet weren’t too hot, and the sore foot looked no different than it had last time I looked at it on Friday.

Hobble Horse. My poor buddy.

Sara, bless her, came over to check, even though she was having her family holiday meal soon. Apache was pretty happy other than his foot, since he had a giant bag of hay and I de-burred him. Sara put a boot on him to help. I have a harder to use boot I’ll try tomorrow.

Lee and I checked on him again before bedtime. Apache was so pleased to see me that he peed (he used to do that a lot). He was also quite pleased with the entire bale of hay I left him so he wouldn’t starve.

Hay? For me? Don’t bother unwrapping it!

Anyway, Sara and Tarrin agree it’s probably an abscess, which happened a couple of years ago. That’s no fun, because I can’t ride him, but it’s not a medical emergency like founder would be. Whew. I know it hurts, though.

The $$$ medicine he takes now will prevent founder by helping with his PPID symptoms, for which I’m grateful. I’m sure he’ll get better but it will take time, and we’ve been doing so well!

Bonus: while waiting for Sara I got all the burs out of Drew’s tail and he was friendlier than he’s been lately. I have a lesson on him tomorrow, so I hope Tarrin can help me figure out why he’s gotten so grouchy and hormonal.

Senses Working Overtime

Yesterday was a beautiful day, and whenever that happens, I’m sure to take a walk or two during the workday. I use that time to make plans for meetings and figure out problems, like I said in my previous walking post. It helps me think.

Can you spot the bees in the sweet olive bush?

Moments after I stepped out of the building, my spirits lifted, and I happily thought to myself, “Sweet Olives!” Once again I gave thanks that my sense of smell is very good and that some smart landscape designer put sweet olive hedges all around the building where I work.

They trim up nciely to make a hedge.

These plants (Osmanthus fragrans) are among the earliest to bloom, and make January and February very pleasant throughout the southern USA. The sweet olive has beautiful green leaves, making it a nice hedge plant or small tree, depending on how you prune it.

Just one tiny flower can be enjoyed for hours.

But the best thing about the plant is its flowers. They are tiny and white, and grow in not-very-showy clusters. But who cares what they look like! They smell fantastic. They are sweet, but not overly so, like many white flowers. I took one tiny blossom back to my desk and enjoyed it all afternoon.

People aren’t the only ones to enjoy the sweet olives, too. I saw many honeybees pollinating away, and even some houseflies enjoying the nectar.

I smelled this one. It smelled great. I like those landscape roses, even if they are getting a bit ubiquitous.

My nose continued to be happy as I walked around the building, because the roses are continuing to bloom, as they have all winter (they are that nonstop kind). The good news is that they do have a nice scent, though not as strong as a damask rose.

They call it sweet alyssum because it smells very sweet. And is a great edging annual.

Then, as I continued my walk, I smelled something very, very sweet. I looked down, and there, smiling at me, were some beautiful sweet alyssum. They were planted with dianthus, so, if you lean over before walking in the neighborhing buildings, you get a sweet, spicy mix. (Aside: I always find the purple ones more strongly scented, which is also true of solid purple pansies and the purple variety of lantana, which smell fantastic if you get close to them.)

The different textures in these bushes helped me forget about the cigarette I had been smelling.

Luckily, most of my other senses also got to enjoy themselves, since all kinds of plants are budding out, and there are always songbirds trying to drown out the traffic noise from US 183. The last part of my walk was bad for the nose, though, since a guy got ahead of me and lit a cigarette. That gives me the wrong kind of sensual overeload. I always wonder if smokers realize how many other people their habit can affect? (I know some do!)

Bird News

Speaking of birds, I have good news. The Swainson’s hawk pair that nested at the office appear to be back. And I was very surprised to see a caracara (Mexican Eagle) fly over outside my work window this morning. You don’t often see them in such an urban setting.