May 17: Driving north

[neverspent]

I'm on a road trip a few hundred miles north of home base. I love going north because I get to compare growing seasons and native plants and wildlife in different regions. We're not that far away, and most of the trip is through the same plateau/mountain range, so most of the wildflowers are the same. (Lots of oxeye daisies, coreopsis, beardtongue, and the occasional blue flag.) I did see a scissortail flycatcher and a pair of redwing blackbirds, which occur occasionally around the farm but not often.

I started a wildlife count. Well, more of a roadkill count. So far, 4 armadillos (whose range has clearly spread as far north as Missouri), 5 possums, 1 raccoon, and 2 whitetail deer. Also, in cheerier news, 3 live box turtles. It's their season to be on the move.

Comments

[neverspent]

It is a lot of roadkill, though not unusual, unfortunately. The only unusual thing, I think, was the number of deer, and the fact that one of them was way out in the open with no woods nearby. I've even seen roadkilled coyotes. :(

I think redwing blackbirds must like cooler weather and more open spaces than we have around the farm. They're so distinctive! You're lucky to have them. :) Scissortail flycatchers are spectacular, too -- my dad says there were a lot where he grew up in Kansas. I think they're more of a plains bird. You see them sitting on wires and fences above fields often.