Every year we have a pair of kestrels who nest in the eaves of the attic, and the babies are now learning to fly; they are rather clumsy and quite noisy! I was able to snap some pics while this one was stranded in a tree next to the house, and then document his emergency landing onto the lawn after a very brief flight.
truly the sign of a modern farmer, I'm writing this on a laptop in the nursery pen while simultaneously bottle-feeding a late arrival lamb. yes, from the nursery pen that I had finally disassembled just a few days with thankful heart, glad to be done with the time and labor intensive lambing season. we had finally given up on our last ewe, Bebby, as being pregnant, figuring with a sort of begrudging respect that she was either stubborn or sly enough to have consistently evaded the attentions of a ram VERY committed to fulfilling his duties...obviously, not at all a suitable characteristic to have in a ewe. accordingly, she was turned out into the fields with the rest of the flock and marked down as not applicable for the tenure track, in a manner of speaking.* after being noticeably absent from the watering troughs at the barn for almost two days, we set off into the fields, with a sneaking suspicion as to her activities, to find this very recalcitrant sheep. unsurprisingly, we quickly found her behind shut gates in a field that had been closed off for planting. what was more surprising were the two white lambs close at her heels. twin girls. we're guessing they were at least 24 hours old, based on their completely dried coats and their coordination and agility. needless to say, it was a little difficult getting her and the babies down to the barn. and now Bebby, who gave us our first bottle baby last spring, has decided to repeat the routine and reject another of her lambs. since she's not actively hurting her, just pushing her away and not letting her nurse, this time we'll leave her in the stall so that she and her sister can bond with each other, but she'll be entirely bottle-fed. fortunately, she's quite a little fighter and is always happy to eat!
* a brief history of Bebby (Quinn). Quinn acquired her nickname as the solo baby of our first, and accidental, lambing season. whether she is actually the dumbest or smartest animal on the entire farm has often been a subject of heated debate; however, both parties can unequivocally agree that she is without doubt the wildest, orneriest, most troublesome inhabitant here, and accordingly is most frequently referred to as that $@*!-ing sheep...
