Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Northern Flicker



12 comments:

  1. Thanks for the links on the last thread! I will have to take a peek at the library article, but not at 2:00am. LOL!

    Today is Nurse Teri's birthday!

    National Nurse Teri is FIRST!!
    Her twin is also First!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BTW, that mottled looking "grass" in the photos is the invasive species Hawkweed. We are digging out the sods, laying down fresh topsoil, and reseeding the grass there. It will take several YEARS.

      Delete
  2. You're welcome. Never heard of hawkweed; will have to look it up. I trust you noticed that Dear Leader, as is his wont, rattled his saber and then chickened out--claims the presumably imaginary threat from Iran had abated, which was yet another of his glorious achievements.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Wikipedia article on hawkweed [Click] is interesting. Do you have a kind that spreads by stolons as well as seeds? One way of sterilizing ground (as in a lawn that needs to be replaced) that works out here is to grub up the grass, cut it super short, spray or otherwise get rid of it, then water the ground well (i.e. deeply) and cover it with plastic. The ground in time gets so hot that it kills all the seeds to a depth of a foot or two (as I recall). I have never done it, but it sounds attractive. Whether it would work as well in your clime as in ours I know not; but local people in the business of renovating lawns ought to know.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Read about soil solarization
      here [Click] (they say June and July are the best time of year and it takes a couple of months.)
      Also here [Click]
      and on YouTube. [Click]
      Root Center Son might be familiar with the technique.

      Delete

    2. It replicates by root and runner. And it kills everything in its path. Leaving anything of the plant behind neans it will just come back. They say it doesn’t like lime, at least. So once we get the deed done, we’ll Be liming regularly.

      Delete
    3. Alan, we’re on a half acre and it’s just about everywhere. I don’t think a plastic back yard is the answer. We rarely hit 100F.

      Delete
  4. On another note, we gave in and had TV/Internet installed by Comcast; the AT&T (DirectTV) satellite service that we changed to after Dish Network lost the ONE TV channel we watch had never worked well, and the DSL internet service from AT&T seems to have become slower and slower and slower. The Comcast connection speed (I measured it) is far greater—like about thirty times as fast.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Alan, glad you still have choices!

    Cooter found a bird skull over the weekend. I have no idea what it is, or how to find out. from the back of the skull to the end of the beak is about three inches, a bit more. It's about half head, and half beak. the beak is impressive, as wide as the skull at the attachment, huge breathing holes, is sharp with a slow down curve. A bit like the flicker's but heavier and more down curved.

    ReplyDelete
  6. No time to hang around the Innertubes and the blog now; just learned they want me in Los Angeles tomorrow; plane leaves at 0720 hrs.

    ReplyDelete