Agriculture is not far removed from nature. It's all over out here, in fact. I've always been a bit partial to birds, myself.
Yesterday I mentioned that we've been host to Snow Geese passing through. They're on their way to their feeding and nesting grounds in the tundras of Canada. Not every Harvesting gets all of the seeds and the geese are more than happy to pick up any corn kernels that were left behind. Many hunters would like to eat these plump birds, but in this field there is no hunting allowed. They came by the hundreds, if not thousands.
A great many birds stay all winter. Our most native and most common fowl down in the lowlands is the California Quail.
This photo was taken about a month ago when coveying up for protection and warmth was first on the quail's minds. But now the little males are more interested in the little females and are much more busy trying to find out who is toughest.
This little fellow would love to eat one of the quail, but he's much to small to catch one. This is an American Kestrel. He's a minuscule falcon who can often be seen hovering over the fields waiting for a sign of movement from a grasshopper or small rodent. And speaking of rodent lovers...
This is a Burrowing Owl. It's got a home in an old fox den in a drain ditch near here. It loves eating the many voles that live in the hayfield next to it's home, which might have a mate and nest in it.
Of course there are many kinds of perching birds that stay all winter such as sparrows and finches, which thrive off of the grains and insects that farming invariably attract. The migrants (killdeer, blackbirds, robins) have already started to return. Getting to see them all is one of the many benefits of living the agricultural life out here in Owyhee County.
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