Springtime Changes

This is the time of the year where things change rapidly.

Soppy mud puddles dry to hard-pan soil. Baby calves get out and cavort around the fields, much to the dismay of their mothers, and sending the whole herd into a spring frenzy of running and jumping until they all get tired. The elk in the two herds can be defined easily by the antlers that are growing taller and branching. Birds that haven’t been seen since last fall have appeared, I saw yellow finches, hummingbirds and large flocks of Canada geese heading north for the summer.

Just today, I saw my first cinnabar moth of the season. You may remember the post dated 5/31/15 about the cinnabar being a species that was imported for the sole purpose of destroying the tansy ragwort plants, a noxious weed that can kill cattle and horses.

Spring has definitely arrived on the farm.