May 30, 2011

Hawk Chicks


Emilie and Eddie sitting in a tree . . . Ok, we don’t know their gender but we named the chicks Emilie and Eddie. Yesterday we spotted them, two red-shouldered hawk juveniles sitting in the nest tree. They look beyond “chick” stage as one was sitting on a limb outside the nest and they both have the rusty bands of feathers across their chest like an adult. They looked ready to contemplate learning the fly. Mom and dad were nowhere sight and we didn’t hear them calling so the chicks are old enough to stay in the nest alone. We had not been out to Dogwood Ranch for a month, since the “rat incident” of which I will spare this blog the details. Because we were gone so long, we missed the downy “chick” stage. The biggest surprise was not how much the chicks had grown, but that for the first time since we’ve been watching the hawks starting in 2003 the mating pair produced two offspring that survived to this stage. In the past we only have seen or heard one offspring per year. We take this change as sign that the mating pair are healthy and that Dogwood Ranch is primo red-shouldered hawk real estate for raising a family. I just wish the adults would eat more rodents!

April 10, 2011

Hawks are Back

Nesting again on Dogwood Ranch, the red-shouldered hawk pair built its nest high in a tree by the dogwoods. True to usual form, they piled sticks in the crotch of two large limbs about 60’ from the ground. Also as usual, they make it very difficult for us to see the nest, much less into it, because it is blocked by limbs and leaves of other trees. Using the binoculars or the telescope, we are able to see what we think are adult tail feathers and every now and then, the fuzz of a chick’s head. Two weekends in a row, while drinking our morning coffee on the porch we heard what sounded like a hawk call from the woods across the creek. But this call did not sound good, not like the strong fully-in-command calls we normally hear from the pair. We grew concerned that maybe one of the hawks was not well, desperately calling its mate. Whatever was making the sickly call from the woods, we soon were relieved to hear that it was not one of the mating pair. The sick call seemed to get the nesting pair’s attention, and they began calling to each other in load, strong healthy calls. One flew to the top of a dead limb on a tree we call the “hawk perch” because they seem to land there often. The bird landed, perched and flew off several times, with loud calls. After about five minutes, the weak call from the woods stopped and the mating pair quieted down. Strange. Could it be an intruder trying to invade their terrirory? Is it last year’s junior hawk (who we never actually saw last year) still hanging around mom and dad a year later? We don’t know but we are certainly glad the pair that we have enjoyed watching and listening to for so long seem healthy and are attending a new chick this year. We will keep an eye on the nest and hope to see junior take flight!

March 13, 2011

Lone Duck

Lone Duck arrived at Dogwood’s pond sometime in December along with fellow wood ducks (Aix sponsa). The wood ducks use Dogwood’s pond as a weigh point along their migration path and usually only stay 4 to 6 weeks. Early this year, when his buddies flew off to continue their migration, Lone Duck stayed behind on Dogwood Pond. He was the lone duck on the pond, gently swimming to and fro keeping at least ¾ of the pond between him and us. I guess he decided hanging out at Dogwood was the good life, so he decided to stay as while. He seems to like swimming close to the bubbles from the diffuser in the pond, maybe the bubbles tickle his tail feathers.

Lone Duck is a male. He sports crested head of iridescent green and purple with a white stripe from the eye to the end of the crest. The bill is brightly patterned black, white and red. Since female wood ducks have a gray-brown head and neck with a brownish, green, glossed crest we are confident Lone Duck is a male.


First notice of the wood ducks’ arrival at Dogwood occurs pretty much the same way each year. We pull up to the gate at Dogwood, rattle the chain lock and we are startled by a whoosh! The whoosh is the 10-20 wood ducks suddenly flying from the water up to the tree branches of the nearby woods.

After his buddies left this year, at first we thought that Lone Duck might be sick or unable to fly so he stayed behind. We expected to see him wither away left all on his own. Fortunately, he seemed to be healthy and was maybe just a loner. According to Wood Duck Society, some wood ducks don’t migrate with the rest, are loners and very picky about choosing a mate, as they should be.

Yesterday, Lone Duck was gone. Hopefully, he found a girlfriend who shook her tail at him enough that she lured him north. There are no ducks on the pond now.

February 10, 2011

Cedar Bridge – Part 3

Complete at last! After three years of planning, designing and building, the cedar bridge now spans the creek at Dogwood and is ready for traffic. Last weekend we inserted the top parts of the trusses. We did this by slipping them into to place. I can’t say it was an easy fit but certainly it was less difficult than expected. We had to drill out a few of the holes for the bolts but other than that, it fit together nicely. After placing each truss, we hammered in the bolts, tightened with washers and nuts and the job was done. We are pleased with the result and particularly with leaving the planks rough by not cutting them to the same width. They were installed with knot holes and all. The result is a nice rustic look perfect for the setting.




Although we initially had some help with cutting down the large trees and planning some of the trunks, for the most part, it was the work of just the two of us. We did the measuring, marking, re-measuring, re-marking, cutting, sawing, clamping, gluing, pushing, slamming, dragging, fitting, lifting, hammering, drilling, cussing, swearing and cursing ourselves.
We hope in the spring when dogwood trees around the bridge are in bloom we will have an official unveiling of the bridge and some nice photo-ops.


I have concluded that every couple should build a bridge together: literally and figuratively. If they are still speaking to each other when the project is done, it’s a good strong relationship. We are still on speaking terms.


That is not just water under the bridge!


February 4, 2011

Cedar Bridge – Part 2


Board cut from cedar
Cutting cedar and plywood to length and width per the final design was the task for the Fall of 2010. Using a portable generator to provide juice for the power tools, we constructed the trusses in the dogwood area holding the pieces together with “liquid nails” (glue), plywood plates and galvanized bolts, washers and nuts. Finding the necessary quantity of hardware required multiple trips to various hardware stores in Brenham: Home Depot, Lowes and McCoys. Checking out during an emergency run to Brenham’s Home Depot for more 6” long galvanized bolts, the young gal running the register was sure the $3 per bolt price was wrong. After verifying the price was correct she said, “Honey, those are some expensive screws-they better hold your stuff together good!” Of course they were bolts, not screws, but I let her slide on that as I certainly shared her sentiment on the price.  However, I’m not so sure my “stuff” is held together "good" with or without expensive bolts.

Piers and center cross beams

After building both trusses, we partially dismantled them for transport to the bridge location. Before beginning construction, we installed two concrete piers in the creek bed (the creek is seasonal so it only contains water after a heavy rain, which we have not seen much of lately). We dug two holes in the creek bed about two feet deep and parallel to the bank. We then put a 12” diameter cardboard tube in each hole so that about a foot stuck out above the hole. We filled the tubes with cement mix, added water and mixed well to make slurry. Rebar was inserted, metal brackets placed on the top of the wet cement and cement hardened. Using the metal brackets, on each cement pier we installed wooden posts and two large cross beams across the posts. The trusses and the other beams traversing the creek will rest on the cross beams for support in the center of the bridge and on the banks.

Beams and bottom trusses spanning the creek
Next, we constructed center beams to span the creek and set them in place from bank to bank. We also transported the bottom parts of the two trusses, in two parts each, to the bridge location. Each piece of the truss, was transported one at a time with the ATV and a little trailer.  The trusses still dragged on the ground behind the trailer. We then installed the bottom portions of both trusses and attached them together with those expensive bolts, nuts and washers.

The following weekend, braces were placed between the beams at approximate 3 foot intervals. We cut the cedar planks into six foot lengths and carried those six at a time on the Ranger to the site and placed them across the beams and trusses. It was starting to look like a bridge so we were spurred on to finish the planking. When all the planks were placed, we trimmed them to fit and screwed them down. We were Goldilocks on the planks as we had not one too few, not one too many, but just the right number for the job. Was it pure luck or precision planning?  Either way, we have a functional cedar bridge.

Next time we will install the top pieces of the trusses.  Also ramps on the banks are needed so that a vehicle can drive onto the bridge. 


Fully planked,  functional cedar bridge


January 30, 2011

The Cedar Bridge- Part 1

Enjoying use of the rainbow bridge over the creek in the front of the properly since December 2003 (see Speaking from the Ranch post of October 24, 2010); the cedar bridge will complete the loop over the creek in the back of the property. The genesis of the cedar bridge was twofold: 1) we needed a bridge over the creek in the back of the property to both walk and to drive across on the ATV, the John Deere and, now, the Ranger; and, 2) we needed a use for the large trunks of the huge juniper trees we planned to clear from the land (see Speaking from the Ranch post of September 29, 2010). Putting those two needs together, the cedar bridge plan was born.


In 2006 we cut down four very large cedar trees (with help from son-in-law Michael and his friend Tommy) in the area in front of the dogwood trees along the creek. Very little grass grew in this area due to the dense shade of the cedar trees. Once the trees were down, we chopped off all of the limbs and burned them in the usual brush burning pit. Four large cedar trunks were left. Rather than cutting those trunks into logs by cutting perpendicular through the trunk, using a special attachment on the chainsaw, we cut parallel to the trunk to create lumber. We cut both boards to use as beams to span the creek and thin wide planks for the decking on the bridge. Both Marcus and friend Larry assisted with the planking, but Ronnie and I did most of it.

Marcus and the planking


This was hard, dusty work requiring helmets with face shields and ear muffs. I also wore a face mask over my nose and mouth to reduce allergic reaction to cedar sawdust – that is potent stuff!
The bridge was designed on paper with the help of architect son Marcus. Although not a civil or structural engineer, as an architect he has an understanding of structure, stress, support and design. Over the last three years, the bridge was designed, re-designed, design-enhanced, design-modified, design-improved and ultimately, probably, over-designed. Although we initially wanted to only use cedar from the property, the new and improved design required adding plywood and other boards to ensure proper strength to support the equipment that we plan to drive over the cedar bridge.


Boards cut out of cedar to be used as beams

The span of the bridge is 32’ from bank to bank over a creek bed six feet below. The bridge will be six feet wide with two trusses on each side and two strong center beams all resting on large cedar logs as footers embedded in each bank.  We dug the holes for the footers with my father's old heavy pickaxe that is so heavy after a few "swings" I was out of breath and had to rest.  It's a heavy duty tool and did the trick with Ronnie and me switching-off using the pickaxe. 

One of the cedar trunks to be buried in the creek bank

Christy digging the hole into which the cedar trunk was later rolled-I'm not digging a grave!



Cedar trunk buried in the bank to be used as footer for the bridge. We flattened the
top with the same tool used to cut the beams and planks.