The Birds Have Left the Prairie

Across the Fence #564


First of all, I’d like to update you on my health condition. People have been wondering how I'm doing, so I thought I’d briefly update you before I begin my story about the birds. I'm doing okay. I made it through the first two months of treatments that included combined radiation and chemotherapy that went on for six weeks. We spent every morning traveling back and forth to Gundersen Health System Radiation and Oncology Clinics in La Crosse. Now I'm into the second phase of treatment that will be a double chemotherapy treatment that will go on for the next six months. Outside of two and a half weeks, I did pretty good through the first round of treatments. I won't lie and say that it was any fun, but it certainly was tolerable. The radiation and chemo really knocked the energy out of me and I sleep a lot. 

Now we start the second phase and we’ll see how that goes. I appreciate all of your correspondence with notes of encouragement. It’s been unbelievable how so many people have, written, called, and visited.

I'm not allowed to drive anymore so Linda does all the driving. That’s different for me, having been the person who always had to be behind the wheel. Now I can sit back in the passenger seat and take it easy. I get to look around and enjoy the scenery. I'm not allowed to operate machinery of any kind, including my lawnmower. I really appreciate my brothers, David and Arden, taking care of our lawn mowing.

At this point we don’t know if all the treatments have reduced the size of the tumor and if they’ve been kicking the crap out of the cancer cells. I have an MRI on September 8 and I hope to get some good news at that time. Thank you again for all your good wishes. It’s much appreciated.

While I’ve been sitting around, resting in our sunroom since May, I’ve been observing the birds and wildlife in our backyard. The bird population, or lack of birds, around our place this week has seen a drastic change. Where have the birds gone? They’ve been around the feeders for months, but this week they seem to have abandoned the feeders. All the ground feeders are missing too. We always have huge amounts of grackles, red-wing blackbird's, starlings, and cowbirds. Most of those birds disappeared this week. They must know something we don't. 

We had many Orioles this summer, but they also abandoned us this week. I haven’t seen a robin for a couple of weeks now. The humming birds also left. They all seem to know that a change is in the air and it’s time to pack their bags and start flocking up for the journey south. They seem to travel better in large flocks. I’ve seen a lot of flocks darkening the sky this week.

Barn swallows have been very active as they swoop around the lawn snatching flying insects out of the air. Whenever somebody's mowing the lawn they circle the lawnmower as it kicks insects out of the grass. They really have a feast when the mower is busy. The killdeers are still around. I love to hear the call of the killdeers in the evening.

Mourning doves are still here picking up seed on the ground. They stay around all winter. There are 18 mourning doves eating under the feeder at this time. Along with the doves, we have all types of sparrows that stay around all year. A rabbit just joined them. Along with the birds and rabbits, sometimes a chipmunk stops by to fill its cheeks and take a load of seeds back to its hole in the yard.

The Cardinals showed up on the feeder this afternoon. The sun was shining and when it hit their feathers it produced a brilliant red color. They stay around all winter, just like the blue jays. we have all types of sparrows that stay around all year. We also have several types of woodpeckers.  

             

It’s great to sit in our sunroom and watch the comings and goings of the birds all year long. 

Its now a day later, and still very quiet around the birdfeeders. This morning a family of pheasants emerged from the hay field and strutted across our backyard. I’ve heard them calling from the fields and the grove of trees next to our house. It’s always nice to see them. As you can see, we have quite a variety of birds around our house. I’ve seen a few geese passing over, but they usually just pass by and don’t stop to visit. That will change later in the fall when there is corn on the ground for them to munch on.

We had a brief visit from a bald eagle one day when it dropped out of the sky and grabbed a chipmunk that was sitting beside the entrance to its home in the back yard. The eagle took off with the chipmunk hanging from its talons. That chipmunk won’t be dining under our bird feeders any more. Let that be a lesson to all of us while dining in the wild. Always be aware of your surroundings, lest you end up as part of the food chain.

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