Barn Swallows and Bats

In and out of the barn they go, one during the day the other at night.  Both feed on the wing, one is a bird the other a mammal.  They occupy some of the same beams in the barn, one builds a nest of mud and grass, the other roosts in crevices.  They share the same world in such close proximity yet their worlds are vastly different.  This is my hope for the Casey Farm, that it become a place where beings from different pasts and different worlds can, in their comings and goings, discover a place to call home.  I also want Casey Farm to stay much as it is, a place that attracts life and affirms it.  How do we strike this balance of becoming and staying the same.  This is the challenge of bringing new life to an old barn.

Nests seem to be everywhere today.  We have an owl nest high in the black cherry where fruit trees once grew, and a blue jay nest on a scrubby low branch of a box elder. The nuthatch occupies a whole in the old oak and the phoebe has once again built its nest above the back door on top of the floodlights. We have witnessed Turkey Vultures that seem very interested in a small platform at the top of the silo.  Bird life is everywhere, filling every niche.

The Witching Hour

Twilight, its my favorite hour of the day.  The farm is buzzing with activity.  Barn swallow and bat, bird and mammal pass each other in flight, circling - one graceful the other awkward.  This is all they know of each other, this daily transition, this brief encounter.

There is a special alchemy in the air.  Deepening blue above the bright horizon.  Sharp silhouettes replace soft shapes.  The barn beams its whiteness and looms larger on the landscape.  Colors slip away into the night.  Activity settles.  The first bright star appears through the branches of the oak.  Coolness descends. The grass becomes wet. A robin's alarm briefly breaks the silence.  I like this place.  Its an oasis.

Bert & Ernie, Caitlin & Emily

(This post was written on April 26)  It was confirmed Friday that the Great-horned owl nest has two babies. Up till now we had only seen one at a time. Caitlin and Emily, two 8th grade students Prairie Crossing Charter School, are monitoring the nest every Friday. They were the first to see the second baby. Caitlin and Emily have learned a lot through their weekly observations and were very excited to see baby number two.

I’ve named the owlets Bert and Ernie because their awkward movements and fuzziness reminds me of the infamous Muppet duo. No sign of the parents today, but I sensed that they were nearby. The trees are leafing out so it is getting harder by the day to see through the woods to the nest. The owls have occupied the Red-tailed hawk nest that produced two Red-tailed hawk offspring last spring/summer. Great Horned owls do not build their own nests - they typically use hawk or crow nests.

Six Turkey Vultures circled very low for several minutes before landing on the peak of the barn roof. They seemed interested in the silo and hopped back and forth from the edge of the silo to the roof. Could the silo be a potential nest site? Turkey Vultures were a rare sighting 20 years ago. They have steadily expanded their zone northward and are now common spring through fall.

Still haven’t seen any snakes. Old farms are typically good snake habitat. I’m hoping to find a fox snake or a milk snake soon. Maybe we should have Rob Carmichael out to help us do a reptile inventory.

My walk through the woods today raised my concern over the garlic mustard. I’m worried about the rampant spread of this invasive plant – it has several strongholds. I pulled several hundred plants from the areas where it is just starting to establish itself. We need to get a crew out there in the next few weeks to eradicate it from the sensitive areas around the house and oak tree.

Mike and Patrick cleaned and swept the barn this morning. It’s looking the best I’ve seen it yet. There is hope for reviving this old barn!

Owls, grapes, bats & woodland flowers - Spring is here!

(This post was written April 21st)  As we approached the nest viewing spot, a large dark owl silently flew to a nearby tree - for the first time, the mother Great Horned Owl was off the nest.  Binoculars up we could see one, white fuzzy head peering over the edge of the nest.  Are we the first humans it’s seen? Sarah, Patrick and I were silent, so was the owl.

Patrick, one of the tenants in the Casey Farm house, took us over to the grape arbor to show us the trimming he had done to the vines.  He proudly showed us the cuttings he is trying to root, too.  Based on conversations he has had with Mrs. Casey (now 97) he thinks these vines may be from an old variety of German Concord grapes that were nearly wiped out from a disease that ravaged the crop in the 1920’s in Germany.  How cool.  Just  one more story of this old farm to dig deeper into.  I’m glad Patrick and his mother, who love horticulture, have taken an interest in caring for the grapes.  The grapes, like most other things on this old farm, are in need of some TLC.

Sarah (our conservation and outreach manager) asked Patrick if the bats had returned in the barn.  He said he had seen a few just in the last few days.  With binoculars we searched the 30 foot high rafters inside the barn where they usually roost.  I thought I spotted two, Sarah and Patrick weren’t convinced.  Sarah recently contacted Bats International to find out how we can successfully relocate the bats once we start renovating the barn into a learning center.  What a important and interesting project.  I’m glad Sarah has taken an interest.

We showed Patrick how to ID some of the spring wildflowers in the wooded area near the house.  Bloodroot is nearly done blooming, so are the trout lilies.  Virginia waterleaf, wild ginger and Virginia bluebells are all beginning to flower.  Jack in the pulpit and Solomon seal are both just emerging from their winter slumber.  We asked him if he could help pull the invasive Garlic mustard in the coming weeks, especially from the more sensitive areas.  He seemed excited to help out.

Thanks to the Forest Preserve District, the long awaited sign is up along Milwaukee Road.  Joe, a life-long resident of Lake County and a nearly 30-year employee of the District installed it today.  He reminisced about how much the county has changed in the past three decades.  We’re both glad that the Casey Farm has been preserved and he seemed encouraged by our restoration work.  I took him in the 1880’s dairy barn.  He marveled at the post and beam structure, the hand-hewn timbers and the rock foundation.  “Think of the hand labor and hard work it took to construct it,” Joe said.

 I’m thinking the same thing about the daunting task to restore and give life to the Casey barn again.