Just some pictures of the splitting I did today, in the first four pictures the rounds are from three different trees, Sugar and Red Maple, I think the two smaller trees were the Sugar. The last of the pictures is a Sugar Maple that came down in one of the wind events last year. All the trees were bucked up this past winter.
We have a Great - Horned Owl up on the hill that runs the length of the brook, when I would shut the splitter off you could hear the hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo call, pretty neat to hear. http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/spring/OwlDictionary.html
He gets a break tomorrow, we'll be hanging a gate so it blocks the trail that was used for the snowmobile trail this past winter. We have a big yellow birch that's broken off in that area (hung up in a hemlock) just hanging by Once the trail dries up we'll start bringing it out. I hope we get less rain in May so I can get more cutting done on the hills, I would like another 3 or 4 cord by the end of the month.
Nice pile of splits. I love listening to the Owls here - they get in a hoot and bark battle with the dogs. I've got some Whippoorwills migrating through right now as well - they're a nice alarm clock at 4am
Nice pile of maple you have there. I have a little maple to cut this month too. Only about a rick or so, just small stuff that needs to be cleaned up. When I was a kid, my neighbor, who burned wood in his fireplace all the time, told me maple was his favorite wood to burn because it had a really nice flames when it burned. I Always remembered that, and still watch for the great flames when I burn some maple.
Haven't heard whippoorwills since I was a kid. Gone with the hay and cow farms I guess. I miss that. I split into kindling the very last of my dry pine today. If you had told me last Fall my 3/4 cord of pine that no one wanted but me would be gone by May I'd have laughed all day. It's gone. Still getting a fire going suppertime for overnite.
I grew up in Maine and never heard one my entire life until I moved down here -never in my previous work locations NC & VA. I remember reading about the sound in a Roald Dahl book in my early childhood - to hear the little(actually big) guys firsthand is very soothing. They don't nest here so only from mid April through early June do I hear them...by around June 21-22 the Caddydids take over any noise in the tree tops. Too bad you're still burning - but I may have to fire up here by the weekend with company coming in for the Talladega race weekend and lows in the 40's - spring doesn't want to make up it's mind
I saw this guy today when on my ride, (Great - Horned Owl) he was in a tree just down from where I split this Maple but I was looking at a Deer then all of a sudden he flew out of the tree, I was driving the Rhino so the camera was in the back.
I usually only see him in the fall or winter so it was a big surprise. He/She must have been hunting mice or moles.
Must have been a sight to see! I hear them occasionally and more often during the winter, but can never find them.
