Suddenly Mother Nature decided to relent and give all of us a much needed day of warmth and beautiful sunshine. The farm burst into spring yesterday. I think we can all use a few “feel good” moments these days. Enjoy these spring photos quickly since apparently we are moving into summer weather by this afternoon! (Note – Our crop of dandelions is not included in the photo album since Curtis ran them all over with the lawnmower.) For more photos showing signs of spring you can visit “Buds & Blossoms.”
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Happy Family Day Canada! Here’s a look at some different families spotted recently here at the farm. We hope you enjoy this long weekend with those you love! To see some other pictures of animals you can visit “Pond Life Part II.”
Here’s a little something fun for everyone to do this weekend. This is my on-line version of our wildly popular trivia game presented at the 2018 Farm To Fork Tour. Now’s your chance to challenge yourself by playing “Are You Smarter Than A Potato Farmer?” There are five true and false slides that will test your knowledge of some common animals found around our farm. (We felt it would be rather unfair to have a trivia challenge based on potatoes!) The first slide will have a true or false question which will be followed a second slide holding the answer. You can use the “pause” button found in the top left corner of the slide to think about your response before you move to the answer revealed. Good luck!
If you have been playing along this week on our Facebook page, you just need to watch the slideshow to see how you fared with your answers. Feel free to post the correct number of answers you got on our page. If you managed to get all five correct you have earned supreme bragging rights as you have proven to be smarter than a potato farmer. (Or at least as smart as we are!) For some more fun photos of some of the wildlife spotted here at the farm you can visit “Cute & Fuzzy Animals” and “Predators.” This enormous flock of tiny birds has been hanging around our house for about three weeks. The flock is comprised of goldfinch, purple finch, house finch, and a variety of sparrows. My best guess is there are about four or five hundred birds in the flock. They are difficult to identify as they are seldom still for more than a few seconds at a time. I assume their constant movement is a defense mechanism against the bitter cold and biting wind. We are happy to provide them with the opportunity to forage for sweet corn leftovers! To see another interesting video of birds that hang around the farm you can visit “Geese en Masse.”
Oh deer! We have deer…and not the green tractor type for this post. While the animals that live with us here at the farm can be elusive, we are occasionally treated to viewings such as this group of white tailed deer. These serene animals are interesting to observe. There is always one deer that appears first. I am undecided whether it is the lookout or a decoy for the coywolves! You can visit the “Animals” category of the Common-Tater for more photos and videos of some of the animals we have spotted.
Everyone always wants to know what farmers do in the winter. I have decided a more interesting post could be generated by the question: “What does a farm dog do during the winter?” From preparing for Santa Paws to helping clear driveways to romping in the snow, Murray toughs it out like the rest of us here in Canada during the long winter while he dreams of spring. For more photos of animals here at the farm you can visit “Pond Life Part II.”
This video is a very common sight when we are working the land in the fall. I have no idea where these seagulls come from but it’s a little bit eerie. There is virtually no sign of seagulls here all summer, but as soon as the tractors fire up in the fall they swoop in by the hundreds. Where do they come from? Where do they live all summer? And how do they know it’s time to feast? One of life’s little mysteries to ponder by the fire over the winter….You can visit the “Animals” category in The Common-Tater for more pictures and videos of some of the animals that live with us here at the farm.
If our tractors could talk…what a tale their thoughts could tell (to borrow a line from a famous Canadian songwriter.) Fortunately there’s someone driving the tractor that has eyes and opposable thumbs to take pictures to show us what sights are out there! It’s not easy to grab a phone to snap a quick picture while towing an implement down a bumpy farm lane while you’re in a hurry to get to the fields. This slideshow is a compilation of snapshots RJ took while he was out and about over the last few months. From unexpected encounters with wildlife to beautiful pictures of the potato fields, it’s easy to see how much he appreciates the scenery around him. And I think you will agree that the artistic side of the farmer shines through with his stunning sunset and trillium photos. If you would like to see more pictures of some of the animals that live here at the farm with us you can visit “Pond Life Part II.”
I was holding off posting this collection of predators until I was able to include photos of a hawk and a snake. Even better would have been a hawk catching a snake! However, the hawks won’t cooperate by pausing their flights long enough for me to capture them with my camera and I have never seen a snake here (which some people would say is a good thing!) So here is my “hawkless” and “snakeless” presentation of predators found around the farm. In order of appearance on the slide show, I present a coywolf in our sweet corn field, a turkey vulture, a murder of crows that landed in our winter wheat, a Nursery Web Spider and a Bold Jumping Spider. (As if regular spiders aren’t creepy enough, we have to have both one of the biggest spiders in the arachnid family AND a jumping one…that’s bold….yuck.) If you prefer seeing adorable animals at the farm, you can visit Tater Tales July 25 to see the likes of bunny rabbits and ducklings.
These adorable pictures are guaranteed to start your Tuesday morning by generating a warm and fuzzy feeling! I sometimes stumble across the most endearing animals as I travel around the farm collecting images for the website. Here are a few of my favourite photos of the cutest little animals that live here with us, from the family of ducklings that has taken up residence in our irrigation pond to the baby hummingbird that flew into our garage. For more pictures of animals you can visit “Pond Life Part II.”
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