2024-04-08 12:46
Black-capped Chickadee collecting cattail fluffOr lack thereof.My only concern about this massively-hyped event is whether the children in my life, both mature and otherwise, have sense enou… Read More
Blog Directory > Life Blogs > My Life Blogs > Northview Diary my-life Blog >
2024-03-20 17:21
On the way home from a particularly stressful morning...if you know, you know...we stopped to get the mail in town.Included was a small, utterly unexpected, out-of-the-clear-blue-sky envelop… Read More
2024-03-17 11:50
Thick muscular wings. Tall, gawky bodies, awkward, gangly, long, stilty legs, with fluffy brown and silver bodies like unshorn lambs. Look like loaves of bread sunning on the levee in… Read More
2024-03-08 10:27
Because you know it's going to get us all after the time distortion that will come on Sunday. I set the bedroom clock an hour ahead earlier this week, to start getting ready for the mi… Read More
2024-03-01 14:08
The sky was threatening. Gloomy, hung over with bulging yellow and grey clouds, pregnant with the promise of fear. She was alone with a grandkid and the dogs in the big gothic spo… Read More
2024-02-08 11:48
Are rearranging the furniture again.I don't know how they do it...or whyBut you can hear them at it.Early morning pills and billsDogs for walkingWrens are talking.Just another winter d… Read More
2024-01-31 23:16
While not much else is going right, birding has been awesome lately. Finding Short-eared Owls has been one great treat, but today it was Bald Eagles.Short-eared OwlThere was one sitting on a… Read More
2024-01-30 15:39
Some weeks ago, on a section of road we call "Raptor Row" because it is a great spot to find several species of hawks and owls, we passed a road-killed White-tailed Deer.It was a big o… Read More
2024-01-13 11:01
Yesterday I found myself browning chopped up sweet Italian sausage, ground venison, celery, and homegrown garlic on the small burner on the stove, in a bath of butter and herbs.In the… Read More
2024-01-10 12:59
But....It might help ease the grim January weather Read More
2024-01-08 19:01
We saw a Bald Eagle carrying a big stick to the Sprakers nest today. It was the first time Ralph had ever seen that and perhaps the third for me. It almost felt like Spring despite the foot… Read More
2024-01-01 01:21
Take two, they're small! Read More
2023-12-26 12:38
I guess a Christmas goose is traditional, but Becky made us chicken, which was excellent. Nice having a chef in the house and home on vacation. I don't think I've cooked in days, and no lie… Read More
2023-12-21 13:11
Twas the Eve of the Solstice.When inside the house...."You almost had to drive me to the hospital."Said by a man in outdoor boots and clothes, steaming and huffing at the edge of the d… Read More
2023-12-19 22:33
Peaceful PuppersI think this guy would have come right in the window, if he could fit.These ladies were munching at a hay feeder whenwe encountered them while counting birds.As soon as… Read More
2023-12-19 18:55
The Internet has given us a lot of things, some of them horrible, but it has also supplied us access to an incredible wealth of information.I can remember not so many years ago having… Read More
2023-12-18 16:54
Northern MockingbirdEighteen hours of birding, spread over two days and two Christmas Bird Counts. What an adventure! For the Schenectady count the weather was ridiculously nice… Read More
2023-12-10 12:26
Three-o-Nine AM.The loudest, longest crack of thunder you could imagine. It rolled and tolled long enough for me to awaken from deep sleep, wonder what was going on, and realize that it was… Read More
2023-12-08 14:59
And the Western NY Wild Wendigo. I walk them both, or most days each, every morning, as well as four or five times a day later on.However, it's the early walk that makes the magic… Read More
2023-11-21 11:30
Keeping farmer's hours, a lifelong habit that started when I was walking hots at Saratoga Race Track when I was 20, means we spend a lot of time in the dark. This morning the boss and… Read More
2023-11-20 21:17
Amish Smart Car Read More
2023-11-17 20:27
The three of us, having chored and cleaned for hours, sat down the other day to have a few minutes peace and quiet (and maybe a snack). We were all engaged with our electronic devices… Read More
2023-11-17 20:08
Happy Heavenly Birthday! I miss you Read More
2023-10-30 11:30
Not long ago Becky started using it in her cooking. Turns out we liked the result. She read up on producing your own and decided that we should give it a try. I was willing to attempt t… Read More
2023-10-05 10:34
To sit in the yard on these damp Fall mornings is to rest in a shell at the bottom of a deep grey sea. Sounds are muffled, air is dripping, the view is dimly muted, aswirl with suspended dro… Read More
2023-10-01 09:54
I trailed our boy up in the field yesterday, but decided discretion should be the better part of valor as far as slogging through the overgrown fields to his eventual destination… Read More
2023-09-30 23:22
BFFF (Big fat fluffy fellow) I'm a sucker for odd plants. Big plants. Hard to grow plants. Almost all plants. I found this one over at Sunny Crest early this past summer. it was al… Read More
2023-09-13 15:23
And failure of the forecast.You could read three weather forecasts daily...from three different sources...and they would all diverge wildly.And they would all be wrong.They might promi… Read More
2023-09-09 21:47
Yesterday I planted the third, and probably last, crop of leaf lettuce for the year. We have enjoyed many salads and sammiches with it and I will miss it come winter. I grow it in old water… Read More
2023-09-01 13:43
I'll bet you are still together Read More
2023-08-30 11:19
On the first day of the fair...or so Ralph has frequently said. It is certainly raining today. It rained all night and then between 3 and 4 AM it began to thunder continuously. It… Read More
2023-08-29 15:37
Cute little Nashville Warblerright in the backyardOf this poor blog, and I'm sorry. It is just too easy to throw a couple of pictures on Facebook and go back outdoors or get back to ta… Read More
2023-08-14 17:29
Blue JayRalph has not been feeling well so I finally convinced him to go to Urgent Care about a week and a half ago. Eastern KingbirdGreat EgretFledgling Carolina WrenGood thing… Read More
2023-08-02 10:18
That Stan Rogers died before I discovered...or perhaps grew into...his music.It speaks to me these days.Mom and Dad always listened to him, but I never paid any attention until I was r… Read More
2023-07-31 11:07
Wrote this last week, but was too busy to edit. Spent the week packing for camp. We haven't been since 2019 so a lot of camp things had melted away into household use or been spoiled by… Read More
2023-07-14 14:14
Liz and Peg 2015In the Cellar I can't recall any recent years where every single ten-day forecast shows thunder storms every day but maybe one or two. Not that this isn't the time for t… Read More
2023-07-12 16:42
Anyone know what this plant is?It grows at the edge of a swamp we know and it seems really pretty.I am not sure if that makes me special in some way or not. However, it does drive me n… Read More
2023-07-06 15:38
Get up at five and be out soon after.Make your bed. (The fact that he made his doesn't mean that I made mine....not that there is much making to do in this weather....just smooth out o… Read More
2023-07-02 12:46
Grandpa Lachmayer. He would drop whatever he was doing to do anything for anybody. Worked every day that he could doing horrible jobs in the tanneries. I'm sure it killed him in the end… Read More
2023-06-24 19:17
Disheveled and downright soggy,this poor Red-tailed Hawk was being mobbedby Blue Jays as well as getting wet.Did I mention it was raining?Several state breeding bird atlases are having a lat… Read More
2023-06-22 18:24
Hey, I'm too darned old to jump....Last night we visited Rankan Grove Rd. Ext. where there is a little beaver pool with adjacent swamp and a larger, although shallow, beaver pond. We stumble… Read More
2023-06-19 22:26
Actually I believe that these are flies, not bugs, but I would love to know what they are beyond that generality.We found them a couple of days ago near the Sara Lib Road quarry.Also, here a… Read More
2023-06-05 09:53
...is a demanding mistress.Yesterday I....Transplanted watermelon seedlings outside. Two years ago we saved seeds from the best melons we ever tasted, purchased from an Amish fami… Read More
2023-05-29 18:03
... than to lay down one’s life for his friends. Read More
2023-05-28 18:51
When birders seek, either in teams or individually, to find 100 species of birds...or more...within a 24 hour period within a predesignated area.Our team started at 4:22 last Satu… Read More
2023-05-15 10:47
Swamp Sparrow, giving me a good lookI have always wanted to experience a warbler fallout, when multiple species of migrating warblers land to forage together before moving on to wherev… Read More
2023-05-09 10:12
Nevermore.....please, nevermore.I was sitting right here in this very chair, yesterday morning pretty early. I hadn't done a bird list yet, and I make at least one every day to keep my strea… Read More
2023-05-08 11:45
Pileated WoodpeckerAccording to the calendar the first day of Spring came late last month. Here in the real world though, it was yesterday. They just don't make weather like that any m… Read More
2023-04-23 17:05
Lost at sea on an empty black futon, a sparkly purple pony was sad and alone.Who would save him from sailing the barren carpet seas, unhugged and unloved, just a solitary pony in a fri… Read More
2023-04-10 10:10
I don't like waking up every morning between three and four in the winter. Too many hours must pass before the sun makes its presence known. However, I got in the habit the year Riva R… Read More
2023-04-02 15:34
From back in the day when I was an ag columnist.... What do the Neolithic period and the Bronze Age have in common, and what does that have to do with politics today?Good question. I&rs&hell…Read More
2023-04-02 11:41
Kinda like second brakefust only a lot less fun...Woke up at 2AM and 3AM to the winds of the damned. Impossible to sleep. And then I did for a bit during a lull, to the tune of terribl… Read More
2023-04-01 11:22
Vortex discovered in northern Fulton County.Experts baffled. Rainy Springday, professor of Confounding Hydraulics at Oatnell University in Mythica NY, said Saturday that although there… Read More
2023-03-30 10:36
Lawn Lion AKA Cobra ChickenHere in the Great Northeast, March came in like a lion...not at all unexpected. However, now it is going out like one too. It just doesn't seem fair.Yes… Read More
2023-03-21 11:59
A very Happy Birthday to the guy who can do it all!Love you, Alan, and your wonderful family. Read More
2023-03-20 12:29
American CootsA couple of years ago a nice birder friend let us in on the secret of the American Coots that winter on the end of Otsego Lake where the marina runs bubblers to keep the… Read More
2023-03-17 10:30
2023-03-17 10:16
At the early onset of cabin fever, I was lured into the pages of a seed catalog....oh, those tempting, seductive, cover photos...oh, my, oh, my, oh, my downfall.Now, on the dining room table… Read More
2023-03-16 17:12
2023-03-12 00:06
Voices tinkling like ice cubes, American Tree Sparrows jingle and flare over a suet block with cracked corn. You'd think they were tough guys the way they argue and fight.Sil… Read More
2023-02-25 16:07
Poor, poor pitiful mean ol' jack Russell, sittin' by her knee.On my way to the rabies vaccinationclinicOh, woe is me!See that little dog up there? All, "Butter wouldn't melt in my mouth, poo… Read More
2023-02-23 12:31
Some photos I've been saving to use here that I need to move out of my current photo folder....totally random...However, we are having leftover Italian sausage vegetable soup for suppe… Read More
2023-02-16 18:16
Peregrine Falcon at nest box Please do not pick up dead birds.We've been visiting the Mohawk Valley Gateway Overlook Bridge in Amsterdam pretty regularly lately, hoping to see the nesti… Read More
2023-02-15 17:37
I dragged my backyard office chair off the sitting porch and set up a bare bones version of said office despite the season. It was wonderful to sit in the afternoon sunshine yesterday lookin… Read More
2023-02-14 11:21
2023-01-31 12:20
For my favorite middle kid!Happy Birthday, Becky...just keep channeling Peg and Alice. They were great ladies and so are you!Love you! Read More
2023-01-30 13:47
Come in before light, just when the dawn takes over the nightDark shadows they flutter cleaning up the spilled seedAnd the corn from the feed store as they gobble with greed.Guess the hawk c… Read More
2023-01-23 16:41
2023-01-16 11:41
In the past ten days two iconic area farmers left us. The kind of men you looked up to and admired and loved to run into at the cow show or the coffee shop. You would always learn… Read More
2023-01-14 18:22
Becky and I just did some awesome retail therapy. It was fun, with no crowds or busy roads involved... We sent a seed order to Pinetree Garden Seeds.We bought herbs and papyrus and red… Read More
2023-01-03 15:48
New Year, new Northern HarrierThe past few weeks have been busy ones for all of us. I did two Christmas bird counts, one, Schenectady County, with a friend, and the Fort Plain one with my br… Read More
2022-12-26 13:13
That we could all use a little bit of this! Read More
2022-12-24 17:51
Reminders of Florida BITDRalph made this by attaching a wire to one of his toyswhen he was littleMom made this angel. She creeps a lot of people outbut I don't mind her......muchAs suggested… Read More
2022-12-22 12:17
Has ended for the year. Despite the foul weather coming our way, with no doubt lots more in abeyance, the days will lengthen now... I, for one, am very glad of it. As an early riser sin… Read More
2022-12-20 12:48
These may help you form your own opinion. NYS Press ReleaseNews StoryFarm Bureau StatementI read the whole press release...warning, it's long, and uses a lot of government speak....My p… Read More
2022-12-18 21:16
How about Snooze on a Mooze? Read More
2022-12-14 13:36
The Logan Beck Farm Christmas display.It is amazing this year. Can been seen on Route 10 out of Nelliston NY.We drove up last night and it was well worth dragging ourselves out of our warm c… Read More
2022-12-03 12:24
Near Lykers. We found a neck-banded Canada Goose near McDonald's the other day. I was able to obtain good enough photos to read the letters and numbers on the band and submitted them t… Read More
2022-12-01 11:37
Are making their annual debut today, December 1, because that is what visiting Christmas elves do. CC spent the past year on the mantel in the front room because a certain someone has been h… Read More
2022-11-20 17:08
2022-11-17 14:48
Dad, as Mom saw him,holding Becky as a baby While moving wrenches and pliers and objects of similar ilk around on the kitchen counter this morning...so as to have room to do the dishes… Read More
2022-11-13 12:33
I knew I saved this pic for something, just read it right to left.To go see what Ruth has today. It won't be fun, but it will sure be eye-opening. Read More
2022-11-12 11:22
I love this shot from Alan's trail cam! Click for detail...that winter can't come until the swamps are full.In recent years this has not been notable. The swamps were full from the fir… Read More
2022-11-11 11:21
All who served Read More
2022-11-05 11:29
Liz needed a ride to work after dropping off her car for some maintenance, so we were already well west in the county. Be a waste of gas not to turn it into a little birding trip, righ… Read More
2022-10-29 10:58
As I sat in my lawn chair on the driveway in the space I make into a "patio" in summer I could hear a nibbling, crunching sound behind me.I don't like to move when I am out there… Read More
2022-10-27 10:57
I first noticed that many of the pumpkins in this field were broken. Then I spotted the sheep.I wonder if they open them by themselves or if the Amish kids go out and smash them f… Read More
2022-10-24 11:52
Last night I played a message on the answering machine, not surprisingly from a politician, inviting me to a town hall.I attempted to delete it and instead deleted my last message from… Read More
2022-10-21 12:12
The moon was sweeping the stars away on this dark and frosty morning.Stars that bright are only seen here, so close to the lights of the towns, when wintery air descends upon us. … Read More
2022-10-09 11:30
Winter WrenWe started out yesterday to hit the river and then see what we felt like doing. Turns out there was a bass tournament at the Crossing, thus nowhere to park. We went straight… Read More
2022-10-07 11:49
Immature White-crowned SparrowEveryone had big plans for this weekend (that didn't involve birds). We were going to have another sale up at the house, trying to get the place empty… Read More
2022-10-03 11:13
Of tender house plants haunt the yard.Mack barks frantically at the last of the Norfolk Island pines, shrouded in rose-studded white sheets and a length of gauzy red fabric. It's kinda… Read More
2022-10-03 10:45
***This was written on the 29th.....This year I felt it coming. In recent years we seem to have been getting our first frost around the 12th of October. Usually I wait until the first… Read More
2022-09-21 10:14
Fledgling Northern Cardinal brought into the feeder by dad yesterdayFall migration is moving forward...and so are the birds...only southward. Because of this I check the Cornell r… Read More
2022-09-19 10:55
This is NOT the bird, I am sparing yoursensibilities. You know how she's been rolling on the lawn under the clothesline? And how she smells worse than...well, I can't come up… Read More
2022-09-17 10:48
It would get better...easier somehow. It hasn't.The gnawing feeling of something missing has instead gone deeper and become so much more complex.Today would have been my mother's… Read More
2022-09-13 22:36
Makes a breeze upon my knees.You hang before my eyesAs if checking me for size.Attack or eatThat is the questionSlow to make up your mind, you come back several times,But in the end ne… Read More
2022-09-08 11:08
Coopers Hawk, spruce tree behind the houseBirding....What with the cost of every single thing being so much higher than it used to be and income not keeping up, we have been forced by… Read More
2022-09-01 11:02
That if drought-breaking rain shall fall, it shall be on the Fonda FairUsually on tractor pull night.The boss went over to enjoy said event last night, but I hear tell they got rained o… Read More
2022-08-31 16:47
Neither did I until I dragged myself up off the ground and looked around to see why I face planted next to the bike path this morning.Crash.I did see the woodchuck that dug it though, scurry… Read More
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