Change Of Scenery

A note for the Ecotone Wiki topic on Plants In Place.

They’ve started to cut the corn. When I returned home in the evening, the edge of the field near the road was down and the harvester had just started cutting a swath into the interior. Before we settled in to listening to baseball for the evening, Pica and I walked up the road to the levee. Pica mentioned that it would be time for the coyotes, and on cue, they started howling. Several of them. Two trains were passing, and as is their wont, the coyotes howled at the trains. Walking back to the house, we saw one of them trit-trotting out into the alfalfa field to the south, looking in fine fettle. They know there’s feasting to be had once the corn is down. The crows meanwhile will get their own surprise. Two of Pica’s coworkers brought down a fancy new live trap to catch crows as part of ongoing research on West Nile Virus. The trap is right now near the English walnut tree in our yard, but will be moved out into the field once the corn is down.

And soon we’ll have our view back.