This week at the farm I continued my point count bird surveys. Over the past few weeks, as the spring migrants have been coming in, I’ve heard several new species such as Grasshopper sparrows, Scissor-tailed flycatchers, Yellow-headed blackbirds, and Dickcissels.   Below is a picture that I captured of a male Dickcissel mid-call on one of my survey routes. This week I also wrapped up my spring vegetation surveys. This time of year is ideal for surveying vegetation as many of the forbs are flowering and the grasses are producing seed heads. While on my vegetation survey routes on the south end of the property, I had several exciting encounters. I came across this female red-eared slider laying her eggs, heard a Northern bobwhite calling several days in a row from different survey points, and was warned by a few rattlesnakes that I

stepped a little too close as I was walking by.  AnMarie Ulery Wildlife Intern

 

This week I took some time to survey bud-break of mesquites on the south end of the farm. I looked at both mesquites that were sprayed and were not sprayed last year. By recording the date of bud break of the mesquites that didn’t get sprayed last year, we can determine what time will be the most effective to spray this year. By recording the date of bud break of the mesquites that did get sprayed last year, we are able to determine about what percent were killed, and of the plants that aren’t completely dead, what percentage of each is budding.

This week I also checked the memory cards of the game cameras that I deployed a few weeks ago. I placed several cameras in various locations around the farm that have not yet been surveyed with camera trapping. In addition to this broad surveying, I also placed cameras in a few targeted locations where we have been seeing suspected beaver tracks and feeding sign. After checking these cameras, we were able to confirm the presence of beavers as well as add an unsuspected mammal to our species list, the North American river otter!  AnMarie Ulery

Beavers

Otters

The week was kinda slow after the big rain event at Stiles Farm. Planting has slowed while the ground is so wet, but the corn and milo is coming up nicely.

We sorted the cows that have been at head quarters, moving them to different herds as some were replacement heifers and others were second year cows.

At the end of the week we took 13 heifer and bull calves to the Cameron Auction to be sold. Farm Intern Jacob Seggern and Megan Finley

Video of Chicken House Modifications

IMG_0351

Jacob Seggern and Megan Finley Farm Interns

The last few weeks have been busy! Many more acres have been planted, in corn and milo. Bulls were purchased and put out to pasture with the herds of cows. The meat chickens were processed, so the only chickens left are the layer pullets who are now allowed to roam the yard during the day.

The vegetable garden has been planted: tomatoes, peppers, beans, etc. But it hasn’t been all work and no play.

An afternoon was spent on one of the tanks fishing, where a few largemouth bass were hooked and thrown back.

Farm interns Megan Finley and Jacob Seggern

The chickens are growing so fast! The broilers will be ready for slaughter soon. The chicken tractor has worked out well for them and they are thriving. The layer pullets outgrew their small run and have been moved to a larger area, complete with roosts and nest boxes, though it will still be a few months before they start laying eggs. Once they are well established in the new home, they can be turned out to range in the yard, and will be shut up at night to protect them from predators.

Megan Finley Farm Intern

This week was another one for the books! To start the week off we built a water gap, that had been torn down due to some recent bridge work.

Then we got a few pieces of old tillage equipment running again so that we could incorporate compost and chicken litter into our new garden area.

Finally to finish up the week I did some checking of the sweet corn patch to see how far along the seedlings where

 

More planting was done at the beginning of the week, until rain came. While planting couldn’t be done, we took the opportunity to replace the opening discs on the planter and complete other repairs and maintenance tasks on the planter and tractor.

 

 

 

One of the herds of cows was moved to a new pasture, to clean up some of the winter grasses in order to allow the summer grasses to grow.

 

Pulling up fence posts

This week was a good but interesting week. The week started off helping the wildlife intern disc some of the farms land that is being used for a wildlife study. Then the rest of the week consisted mainly of learning how to repair and take down old fence along with making repairs to the planter.

Spring Farm Intern Jacob Seggern

To start off this week, I began preparations to disk our two PUB fields that will eventually be replanted in native grasses. By disking up these fields and disturbing the soil, we are encouraging seed germination of the invasive grasses and weeds that have been growing in these areas. Once the new growth sprouts, we will kill it with herbicides and then repeat the process in an effort to wear out these invasive plants in the seed bank. Once this process is complete, we will replant native grasses in these areas with the hope that they will have a better chance to take hold. Before we could get out to the fields this week, we had to service a disk that had not been used in several years.  To get the disk up and running, we had to replace a few tires and their bearings as well as grease the bearings and several other points on the implement. After several hours spent servicing the disk, I was able to take it out and successfully disk the fields.    Wildlife Intern AnMarie Ulery