Oberlin College Psychology Dept.

Latest news from ChaosFarm

Life at ChaosFarm continues to be delightfully disconnected from the COVID-19 world beyond the end of its lane. With all the sunshine that goes with the solar transit point having passed 64 degrees, the world seems to be only a little mixed up.

Spring has been fighting its way to the fore with a series of violent windstorms. Sure, the robins are fat and out in force despite the unseasonably cold weather. The same is true for cardinals and blue jays. Fortunately, that disgusting invasive pestilence, the English sparrow, has remained out of sight. After having wiped out most native songbirds, Britain’s most despicable export has been inconspicuous recently. Don’t worry. They are far too tenacious to go away.

A much more respectable invasive bird is the Canada goose. They are intelligent and quite stately to look at. These creatures appear to be avoiding ChaosFarm, much-preferring golf courses, and the town hospital. These once reclusive birds have almost become pets, or pests, depending on your point of view. Some people believe that Canadian geese are now congregating at the hospital because they all left Canada seeking better veterinary care.

When JD was a child, the idea of ever seeing a Canadian goose was unthinkable. Interestingly, these birds do not migrate instinctively but learn migration from their parents. They are happy to stay near home, regardless of the weather, if that is what their parents are doing.

Squirrel appearances and behavior have been pretty consistent over the years, including their penchant for intentionally running into the paths of oncoming cars. They are not doing that right now, as that behavior appears in the Fall. When they sense Winter is coming, they become frantic and careless as they scurry to stockpile Winter food.

This morning while JD was still in bed, he looked out the farmhouse window and saw a lone squirrel sitting on a limb next to its nest. It is a frigid but sunny morning, so the squirrel appeared to be taking advantage of the warmth. The squirrel stayed in the same place for a half-hour, continuously scratching itself for the entire time. Perhaps the creature was in bad health since squirrels usually never stay in one place very long.

Buzzards, buzzards everywhere

Buzzards were never seen around ChaosFarm years ago, but well over a dozen of them have set up residence in the woods beside the south pasture. They fly in strange ways that take advantage of their five-foot wingspans.

Sometimes they climb to higher altitudes and glide effortlessly over the land in disorganized groups. At other times they drop down to the treetop level and fly in bigger, tighter groups. Under these flying conditions, they have to flap their wings constantly to avoid hitting the treetops.

When a buzzard decides to land in a tree, he “puts his flaps down” and glides to the desired branch. On final approach, the underside of the buzzard’s wing changes from black to light gray and almost glows in the sunlight. The photo shows the top and bottom of a more than foot-long buzzard wing feather found in the south pasture. This is only a piece of one wing of one of these large birds.