The Return of the Wilding Woolly Blog!

...from managing freshly shorn sheep's wool to a blog about the number of rare birds at our farm-and-wild life 'wreserve'

Wilding Woolly Farm 'Wreserve': Today I decided to reinvent and once again, publish our website as https://wildingwoollyfarm.blog. Usually, the way I am known to do things, the blog posts will be spontaneous and contain musings about life on the farm, observations as to the extent of our efforts at 'wilding' or 'rewilding' the farm to enhance both plant and animal life, to protect our pastoral lands and forests, and to preserve the Lost River Headwaters Tributary on the farm.

Everybody and Everything on the farm is retired now--Ha! Not really retired! What was I thinking when I posted this originally 5 days ago. We are simply doing things a bit differently, still active, redirected towards conservation and the concept that "LESS IS MORE"! More about that in a later post! Bev's job is to check the animals in the mornings, see if any trees might have fallen on fence lines and disrupted either electrical connections or taken down wires and posts, and start the process of making food for the two dogs, Annie and Mikey, that remain. They too are getting old and are retired, spending most of their day simply sleeping and guarding the farmhouse and us, and accompanying us on walkabouts. (The fences have all been reinforced with additional paneling to prevent stray dog and coyote attacks.)

All our sheep are retired ewes we either retained or have been retired from the Malik Farm, which we've mentored and advised since 2018. The Highland cattle we've kept are pasture ornaments and family--a 14 year old mother cow and her last two offspring, both of whom were compromised at birth. My horse, "Dog", and her donkey friend, "Eoyore", will probably live long enough to inherit the farm when we're gone! Anyway, my job is to do the thinking and navigate the inside computer ramblings, help with our sheep and wool partners, the Maliks, at https://wildnwoolly.com , and observe and record changes in this journey to wild or rewild the farm.

I thought this morning that I should go back and count the varieties of birds we have been seeing these last three years on a regular basis, note the ones that are either UNCOMMON or RARE, and list them in my NRCS records for 2025. I counted 70+ different species, 20 or so which are RARE and another 10 or so that are UNCOMMON! I use the Merlin Bird ID app on my phone to identify the birds by sound and to record my findings. Our 20 Bluebird houses, erected as part of an NRCS program, have attracted and now house a hundred or more Eastern Bluebirds throughout the year. Indigo Buntings, Scarlet Tanagers, Great Crested Flycatchers, Cedar Waxwings, Gray Catbirds, Red-Eyed Vireos, Oven Birds, Cerulean Warblers, and both Bald and Golden Eagles are actually quite 'common'--all are considered RARE! We have a Carolina Wren and her mate that have taken up residence on our porch this year and have a nest in the hanging basket of a beautiful, bright red trailing begonia.

Whether it's that I notice more because I am retired and have more time to stop and notice, OR whether our efforts to improve habitat for more wildlife to flourish on the farm has led to the number of birds (and other critters), I cannot know. But, then again, does it matter??

...look closely and you will see the male Carolina wren checking on his mate!