A Morning on the River

I fished the Deerfield stretch of the river this morning.

I saw a immature Bald Eagle early in the morning but had no chance for a pic. The fishing was slow but I managed to catch a few smallmouth. I had a "hog" hooked but lost her on a jump. She looked to be in the 18-20 inch range. Later I did land a nice 16 inch smallie.

 

After I released it, it swam between my feet and rested.

 

This chunky 13 incher gave me a nice leaping fight.

 

But the high point of the morning was seeing a family of 5 River Otters. This was the first time I've ever seen Otters in the wild and to see that many together was a real treat. The little point and shoot camera was no match for the active Otters but here's my best pic of 4 of them.

 

 

They could be the reason for my declining catch in the river these last few years, but still neat to see.

RIP Pinecoble Hattie

A sad day yesterday as I buried Hattie. She gave me 14 good years filled with wonderful memories. She was my first setter and showed me that the Ryman-type setters were a perfect match for my hunting style.

 

 

I know she'll be waiting for me across the rainbow bridge with her tail wagging happily.

                                 Come on Hattie lets hunt em up.

Pics from this Week

Dance, my Mountain Cur, found a box turtle and brought it to the yard. She has done this several times over the years.

She seems rather pleased with herself.

 

Milkweed is the only plant that the Monarch caterpillars will eat so it is vital to their survival. I let patches of it grow wherever I can here on my 66 acres. Sadly it's been several years since I've seen Monarch's on my Milkweed.  It doesn't go to waste however for it is used by many different bees and insects.

 

 

Bee Balm is another favorite plant of mine. The Bumble Bees are feeding heavily on it now.

 

 

This morning I come upon this turtle. It's only the second one I've seen this summer in the
Back40.

 

 

I got out fishing this week for only the second time this summer because of the continuous rains that have kept the streams high and muddy.

 

 

In a couple of hours I only caught a half dozen smallmouth with this chunky foot long smallie the nicest one.

 

 

This hot wet summer will make those cool fall days afield with Emma and Thicket all the more special.

As always thanks for looking.

Apple tree pics in the Back40

Some of my young apple trees in the Back40.

This is an Ashmeade Kernel apple tree planted in 2001. It's an English variety known as a superb eating apple.

This a Purdy Apple tree. Found growing wild in the Adirondack Mountains, it's a late season cooking apple.

 

 

This pic shows a limb graft growing nicely.

 

 

This pic show a graft with the tape off healing nicely. The brown "blob" is toilet bowl wax used to keep the graft from drying out until it's healed.

 

1st morning on the River

I chose the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River for my first fishing trip of the year.

 

I saw an eagle and a mink neither of which gave me a chance for a pic. The fishing was slow but I did manage to hook a couple of chunky 13 inch smallmouth.

 

It was a nice morning to be on the water.

 

Just Some New Thicket Pics

Haven't posted any Thicket pics for awhile, so here's some from this morning.

Barn Swallow Mystery

For as long as I can remember in my 61 years there has been dozens of pairs of Barn Swallows call this old barn home every summer. This morning only two pair came to feed off the insects that took to the air as I mowed the pasture. What tragedy could have occurred either on their migratory journey or in their winter nesting site? I can only hope that they will over time rebuild their population and continue to use this old barn for their summer nesting site as they have done for all these years.