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Thursday, April 12, 2018

Buzzards Are Master Flyers

I live near a hillside often used by buzzards and other birds.  They spread their wings, look for an updraft off the hill, and soar toward the top of the hill.

When any breeze blows in from the west, it runs into the hill behind my house. The moving air follows the slope of the hill upward creating an updraft for the birds to ride.  Watching them search for, find, and ride these currents is fascinating.

Buzzards are capable of riding air current for hours, never flapping their wings, but extending them. The have feathers on the tips of their wings that act similar to fingers, and they adjust these feathers to bank and turn, chasing every last bit of updraft they can capture under their outstretched wings.

They swing out over the house, bank and turn back for the face of the hill,  Sometimes if they are low enough to the ground, they will even use the upwelling for air hitting the garage roof.  

But they never use that one very long, for the intent is to climb the surface of the hill to the top, which is roughly 1,600 feet higher than the house.  They may swing over the house a couple of times, but then return near the face of the hill and ride a gust blowing along the slope.  I've seen them nearly drag their wings on the grass, they get so close, trying to catch every bit of rise available.

One morning, I saw a buzzard fly with inches of the garage. Knowing there was a good breeze blowing, this bird would be climbing very quickly.  Even though the bird was at least 1,600 feet below the top of the hill, I called to my wife, Sharon, to hurry out and watch how quickly it would climb the hill to the top.  There were other buzzards soaring above the top, and I assumed this one wanted to join the others.

Busy with something, Sharon came to the back door within a minute.  By the time she walked out to join me the buzzard was disappearing behind the top of the hill.  This big black scavenger had gained over 1,600 feet in a minute of swinging back and forth across the face of the hill, rising the air currents. 

Monday, April 9, 2018

Spring Water All Year

My home on a hilltop in the Sierra Nevada foothills has been provided with drinking water from a spring on the hillside above the house. When my father bought this property on December 29, 1929, one of the compelling features was a strong spring.

For a spring to be a good domestic source of water, it has to run all day, every day. That kind of   springs in the Sierra Nevada foothills, is not found in every canyon.  In fact, it isn't unusual to find a good strong spring, that will slow to a trickle in the late summer.

In the past few years we've seen some very dry years.  Fortunately, we also had a couple of good wet winters, which have helped resupply the aquifer. This year is beginning to look as if it is going to be another very dry year.

During the summer of 2015, we went into the late months with a rainfall of only 7.99 inches the winter before, which came hard on the heels of only 8.13 inches in the winter of 2014.

During the late summer of 2015 I was concerned about my spring being able to provide domestic water all year.  If the spring dried up, or slowed down enough, we would have no water in our home, for there is no backup.

Unlike many of the wells in the nearby valley, our spring continued to run all summer. The picture below was taken on September 14, 2017, and this amount of water flowing all day, every day, is really a significant amount of water. We are very fortunate to have this spring.

The outflow from my spring on the hill back of my home.
During September of 2015, following two dry years, the flow was this strong or better. Of course,during the spring, it looks like this.

This is a very strong spring flow.