Iron Eagle

A twofer today.

Yesterday's thunderstorm and rain was very welcome. The 0.39 inches of rain was sorely needed. Before the storm we were roughly 4.75 inches behind in June and July, now we're only 4.36 inches in arrears.

Neighbor's dryland corn for your viewing pleasure.

Just over knee-high. A bit (lot) more rain and it might make a crop.

One thing the rain did which is rather unpleasant is it generated swarms and swarms of gnats in and around the corrals where I planned to work today. I struggled with them for a couple of hours -- long enough to get a good bit of lifting and carrying done (excellent physical exercise) -- before giving it up in disgust. In the ears and eyes and up the nose and down the throat.

It's a bit cooler today and with an non-predicted overcast, which makes the day a pleasant one for both man and gnat.

I had some other work to do (surprise!) but decided to do some roadwork instead. I put on the sneakers and shorts and did a delightful four-mile jog-walk. Heaven!

Then I called the Rocky Mountain Raptor Project to get an update on the Golden Eagle we rescued last week.

Turns out our bird had a healing fracture in the left wing "wrist area" and also a left eye injury which makes him "mostly" blind on that side. He lost flight feathers in the left wing due to compromised blood flow during the healing of the fracture, but they are starting to grow back in. They moved him to the flight enclosure today to let him regain muscle strength. He's eating well and otherwise healthy.

He's a male and probably just turning four years old. Pretty remarkable that he was able to survive with the fracture but I guess they are good scavengers when injured and often have help from other sub-adults in the area.

Nature is pretty cool, even when she doesn't do everything exactly the way koobecaf says she should.