Ranch Royalty

Do You Know This Joke?

Ranch King, Indeed

Cupping Wind

Fledgling in the Pine

Ranch Royalty

The Fly-Catcher & The Horse

Normal rhythms feel comforting. But rhythms are dynamic--the same song does not play over and over.

There's always new music to take its place.

It's sunny, pleasant and dry. The basking log holds three companions this morning, aligned across the gray wood. It makes me think of a joke, "So a turtle, merganser and mallard walk into a bar..." Only, I don't know the punchline, so I contend myself with watching.

The king bird is pipping noisily this morning, hawking insects as I sip coffee. Sometimes, on warm days like this, I like to go for a drive with the windows rolled down, arm extended outside and hand cupped so it glides over the moving air.

That is how the king bird flies--like a feathered hand cupped over pockets of air, flapping to make his own speed. He flies past the gate and I notice the brand reads, "Ranch King." How appropriate. For now, he carries the title.

But often, as is the way with me and birds, I'm mistaken. "He" might be "she." Part of the colorful pipping this morning is because there are two king birds. One has stepped out onto the swinging branch of a towering ponderosa by the horse barn. It might be a fledgeling.

Eventually, the second bird in the pine drops down to the hanging electrical wire that crosses the pasture to give light to the barn.

Side by side the two sit as one feeds the other caught insects. that seems like a motherly act, though father's can feed young ones too, but the kids always seem to prefer mama's cooking.

The queen version of the king bird, flits off and lands on the wooden fence posts. She (or he) seems regal as the horses wander by, munching and moving, flipping long tails at flies no doubt this bird would like to eat.

Please do. And eat some mosquitoes while you are at it, my Ranch Royalty.