Workplace Dream

Fort Peck, MT - In a previous post I mentioned a bit about my idea for a place of my own and I would like to expand on that a bit.
I have always been fascinated by artist’s studios and writer’s libraries. I am not sure why but it must have something to do with being surrounded by inspiration. I think of western and wildlife artist studios that have detritus of their work and passion scattered throughout. Old hackamores and saddles, ropes and branding irons. A skull of a Cape buffalo and clay models of a flying pipit. Feathers and bones. Tools and trinkets. Markers of places and their inhabitants.

As I noted in my earlier post, I have this vision of moving an old one room school that sits along the highway on my way to Billings to my backyard and converting into my own studio library. I like the idea of old wood and recycling a building that is on it’s way to decay and uselessness; particularly one that had been so useful in its heyday. Noble buildings, those old one room schools. In my space I would like an open area with a large window and good workbench to begin working on sculptures. Something I have wanted to do for a long time. An easel for the paintings currently occupying a corner of my mind sits opposite the workbench. The windows would look upon the backyard and the pond I have already built and would be low enough that I could take photos or make field sketches (even better) of the birds out the window. One end would have a small kitchen: sink, stove top, small fridge, some counter space. Above it would be a small loft. Sort of a guest room or oh-my-god-look-what-time-it-is place to crash. Another section would be bookshelves. Nice bookshelves. Even a few lawyers’ bookshelves with the glass fronts. All filled with my books with many of the shelves pulling double duty and holding animal skulls or bar coasters or gifts from traveling friends. What remained of the wall space would be filled with artwork. Some of it mine, both photos and drawings. Also a rotating selection of framed antique lithographs from old British journals and bird books.
I envision a nice leather chair to sink into to read and research with a nice antique lamp (I am working on getting the wiring of this piece replaced so I have one of the items already!). Oh yeah, and the plants. I would like to have a few orchids (see here) as well as a number of other plants scattered around the place. I guess it a way of bringing the living outdoors in, which I find particularly enjoyable during prairie Januarys.
What brought this on? Laura is expanding her grant writing work and needs a full time office so the office that we shared is becoming hers alone. It really didn’t function well for me anyway. I needed some space where I could be alone to work and since it is her workspace, asker her to leave so I could have some alone time just wasn’t an option for me. I am moving to a corner of the basement between the kids play area and the laundry area but it is dark and there are no walls to keep prying little boys away. But it will have to do for now.
I was also inspired a bit by a contest I saw in the paper a couple of weeks ago. If I win I get a large garden shed to turn into my own place in the backyard and a bit of cash to outfit it. It got me dreaming and I just couldn’t limit myself to thinking of a gardens shed. Especially with that school house sitting there on the side of the road in my mind.

Dog question

For Peck, MT - I have a question concerning my Flatcoated Retriever. She has this annoying and potentially fatal habit of eating socks (and an even more annoying but less lethal habit of barfing them back up in the living room). Any thoughts on how to cure her of this? We have been working hard at limiting her access to socks but in our house with 2 young boys, the socks seem to wind up all over the place. She seems to particularly like the boys sock but it may be just a matter of size. Thanks.

This is the sock-eater. Pretty darn good dog otherwise.

A day in the Field

Fort Peck, MT - Yesterday I spent the day looking for Greater Sage-grouse feathers. I am collecting feathers for DNA work being done by a colleague in Alberta. On the way to my first lek I flushed a young Golden Eagle perched on a rock along the dirt road I was traveling on. It had a hard time getting off the ground and it's distended crop suggested that it had been eating something nearby. I stepped out of the truck and found the remains of a Cottontail Rabbit that the bird had eaten. It must have been pretty hungry - there was nothing left of the rabbit except hair, the backbone, leg bones and feet. Even the skull was picked clean with only the jaws and teeth left.

The first two leks I visited were easy to find. I had surveyed both of them earlier and they were fairly close to the road so even with the birds gone I was able to find the lek pretty easily. The last lek I had surveyed earlier too but it was nearly a half mile away from my vantage point and in the middle of a large flat area. I spent about a half an hour wandering around playing the hotter/colder game with the density of green worms of grouse poop and grouse tracks in the mud. I finally made my way to the main area of the lek and gathered my last pile of feathers.

The weather has finally gotten back to April normal here. It happened about 5:00 Thursday evening. Today was the best so far and the boys and I spent the better part of this morning wandering around the yard doing spring chores. The birds in the backyard haven't changed much lately. Red-winged Blackbirds, House Sparrows, House Finches, Robins, and Blue Jays are about it. One of the Blue Jays coming into the yard is a bird that I banded here last fall. I do still have about 5 or 6 Common Redpolls at the thistle feeder and there were even about 20 here on Wednesday when it was fairly cold here.
I haven't had a chance to go to a Sharp-tailed Grouse lek in many years but I recently found this web site that has some great photos of Sharp-tails dancing. Makes me want to get out to a Sharp-tail lek this spring!

Funny Story of the Day

This evening I was visiting with my folks and Mom was telling me that both she and my Dad had been hearing an ad on the radio advertising a "Ladies Clinic" at the local fire hall on Saturday. They heard it a couple of times and Mom was getting a bit annoyed that no one had told her that there was a "Ladies Clinic" in town (we live in a very small town and Mom usually knows of these sort of things). Not to mention that she wasn't really sure what kind of clinic would be held at the Fire Hall. So she called the town office and talked to Bobbie the town clerk to find out about the clinic. Turns out it was a "Rabies" clinic.
We will still be bringing our two ladies to the clinic but Mom probably will not be going.

Unidentified Flying Bird

Any guesses on this one? (I do know what it is). Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Added on 4-13 - I should have told you where this was taken. I don't like the random photo bird guess without knowing where it was taken since that really limits your ID tools. This picture was taken in Montana in April.

Wednesday Afternoon Birding

I had finally had enough sitting at my computer this week and used a couple hours of comp time to get out and go birding. We have had a fair amount of rain and snow over the last few days and with the soils around here I am unable to get anywhere close to a sage-grouse lek without tearing up the roads pretty bad (if I could get there at all). Not a neighborly thing to do. Being stuck in the office isn't so bad when it is 2o below and the wind is blowing but when field season comes around and I am really looking forward to getting out and this happens it makes it even worse to sit at my desk.

I took some back roads to get home from work and about half way home found my Dad coming down the same road so I pulled over and waited for him to catch up. As we visited a bit I noticed a Short-eared Owl foraging over a nearby CRP field. We sat and watched him for a while and pretty soon noticed that there were at least 4 more individuals in the area and possibly 6 more. We watched them foraging over the field with their necks stuck out and faces pointing down when things looked interesting below them. There were also a number of aggressive interactions between the owls and we watched one wing clap display. Dad and I had a good visit sitting there in the middle of the road watching the birds flying back and forth. There were a number of Red-tailed Hawks of all morphs stacked up in the area waiting to head north along with large flocks of American Robins. It is a bit depressing hearing of the migrants to the east and west of us - White-throated Swift this week and a few species of swallows west of us and Yellow-rumped Warblers in North Dakota. Nothing that eats insects here yet, which is probably good considering what has happened to a number of insect eating birds in the mid-west with the arrival of this blast of cold weather. See here.

Mongolian Birding Blog

I found this blog today via Birdingonthe.net. It is an interesting blog on the birds and birding in Mongolia by Axel Bräunlich. I have added it to my blogroll. Axel is a friend of a friend and it was nice to find his blog.