Sunday Morning in the Pasture

I switched lenses this morning to get a different view of What's In The Pasture. The sheep followed me to the horse pasture gate but I didn't let them out there. 

Instead I climbed on the gate to get a photo of the neighbor's alfalfa being cut.

This hawk was flying over the field hopeful that breakfast would be flushed out from the alfalfa harvest.

Western Kingbird on the powerline at the south end of the pasture.

Swainson's hawk over our pasture.

Buckeye butterfly. I read that adults live for a little over a week and that plantain is one of the plants where they lay eggs. There is plenty of that in the pasture right now. I'll have to go inspect those for eggs and caterpillars.

This might be a Forage Looper Moth--that is the closest ID I got from browsing the internet for look-alike moths and butterflies.

Johnson grass. This grass is taller than me and is growing at the south end of the pasture. We try to get rid of it when we find it because it is very competitive and the sheep won't eat the coarse leaves and stems. From the internet: "Under certain conditions, the leaves of johnsongrass (and sorghum) can produce toxic amounts of hydrocyanic acid, which can poison livestock when ingested." 

The medusahead is drying out. 

I moved the fence and the sheep were ready to go out for breakfast.

More Pasture Plants

This is a continuation of What's in the Pasture. I have a lot more plants to go. I changed the fence to move the sheep from the south half of the Horse Pasture (no horses for a long time) to the north half. They came running.

They were ready for fresh feed...

...because this is what they left behind. I have moved the net fence a few inches off the fresh pasture. You can see what it looked like on the other side of the fence.

I think this is orchardgrass, but I'm not 100% sure.

When you identify grasses it helps to look at more than just the seed head. This photo shows the ligule which this publication from the Wisconsin Cooperative Extension (which also has a good diagram of grass parts) describes for orchardgrass as "prominent; cuts or splits on whitish margin".  Yeah, I can see that. This one from UCD is also a good resource.

Lately I have left my 40 mm lens on the camera and get a kick of of looking closely at things that I see better on my computer than through my glasses.This one is Curly Dock.

Here is the not-so-interesting photo of it.

I have made good progress at getting rid of Spiny Cocklebur, but it will never all be gone. I continue to chop any of these that I see. Obviously I haven't dealt with these along the corral fence but need to take a shovel instead of a camera when I walk out here. 

You can see why it is undesirable and the reason it thrives even where everything else has been eaten. Besides the thorns the flowers develop into nasty burs that stick in fleece and hurt fingers.

Speaking of thorns and eating, I'll deal with the thorns when the eating is this good. And I won't complain that the bushes are completely covering the electric fence.  I had my first ripe blackberry this morning.

What's in the Pasture?

The pasture is not a lawn. It is not a monoculture. My brother says it is more of a salad bar for sheep. Unless you walk around out there you don't realize the number of plants that grow there. I am embarrassed that after 16 years of living here I don't know the names of all of them. I have decided to change that. I am going to combine my enjoyment of photography and my recently dredged up college hobby (and class projects) of pressing plants and create a personalized herbarium of sorts. These photos are a start.I irrigated this weekend. The sheep were just moved off the paddock to the right and when it dries up enough they will go on the one to the left. Can you see the difference? It took only two days for them to eat that feed.One of their favorite plants is Birdsfoot Trefoil.  It is a legume which means it is one of the plants that converts nitrogen in the air to a form that can be used by the plant. It is actually not the plant that does that but the bacteria that live in nodules on the roots of legumes.Clovers are also legumes. This is a variety of white clover.This morning I noticed just a few of these flowers.  I can't decide if this is a variant of the white clover or is a different species. The leaves are similar. I'll have to do some more checking.Do you see how most of the other plants have been eaten and this one has not been touched? The sheep avoid plants that are toxic to them. This is Narrow-leaved Milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis). Not only is it a favored species for the monarch butterfly but according to a Plant Guide published by the NRCS "Zuni people utilize the silky seed fibers, which are spun on a hand-held wooden spindle, made into yarn, and woven into fabric (especially for dancers)...Milkweeds supply tough fibers for making cords and ropes, and for weaving a coarse cloth. Milkweeds stems are collected after the stalks dry in late fall to early winter. The dried stalks are split open to release the fibers. Milkweed fibers are sometimes mixed with fibers of Indian hemp, Apocynum cannabinum." Sounds like a good challenge to my fiber-loving friends.These are Narrow-leaved Milkweed flowers in various stages......and a close-up.Field bindweed (Convolvulaceae arvensis), also known as morning glory. It is, according to a  U.C. IPM website, "a perennial broadleaf, is considered one of the most problematic weeds in agricultural fields throughout temperate regions worldwide".Soft Chess or Soft Brome, a non-native annual grass.

Hare Barley. Also from the U.C. IPM site, "It is a useful livestock forage early in the season before the flower spikes develop. However, at maturity the spikelets have stiff, barbed, needle-like awns, and sharp bases that can injure the mouth, eyes, nasal passages, ears, and skin of animals." Those are one of the many grass seeds we call foxtails and spend a fortune getting out of dogs ears and noses and agonize over when we find an otherwise beautiful fleece full of them.Medusahead as it is drying out. Medusahead covers thousands of acres of California foothills. It is not normally found in irrigated pasture, but it is in the easternmost paddock here which sometimes does not irrigate well. I have reclaimed part of that paddock, but I continually fight this plant. I find patches of it in other areas of the pasture and, although this is not an effective control technique, I pull it up by the handfuls as I walk by, coming back to the barn with it stuffed in the pockets of my overalls. It is a nasty plant that is "...among the worst weeds: not only does medusahead compete for resources with more desirable species, but it changes ecosystem function to favor its own survival at the expense of the entire ecosystem...Because grazing animals selectively avoid this plant, and because medusahead thatch tends to suppress desirable forage species, infestations often develop into near-monotypic stands." From the U.C. Davis Medusahead Management Guide.

 I have ID'd this one as Blunt Spikerush (Eleocharis obtusa), not a grass, but a sedge that is  found on poorly drained soil and marshy areas. That's my pasture...poorly drained soil. There is a lot of this sedge in  the middle and south end of three or four of the paddocks. It looks like foot-tall grass, but that is why it is important to actually look at what is out there. This does not make good forage.A rather artsy shot of Buckhorn Plantain, found throughout California......and a photo in which you will probably more easily recognize it.

Well, that's nine species of plants in the pasture. There are dozens more to go.