I'm happy to say that the weather cooperated for my big trip to Big Valley, though the birds were a little sparse and shy. We had temps in the upper 30s/lower 40s, but the wind was biting. At least it was sunny. I did see two lifers--a pine siskin (in the backyard at the trip leader's house, not really in Big Valley):
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrd604IIppswC1gKo7BpIZYCF73o-MpdN1y2SnvL3eWNSHsGcB47nfV3t4zHvtsilOtXRWzWiAW0U0lAKl2S5kANym0_NLi4iU3OqfjuGGk9F9c12uK0nxduDVQksqMTc4eyG9wQ/s400/siskin.JPG)
and a horned lark, one of my goal-birds for the trip:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx09Qu_82e_nLnifU6bhHMqqeoPbGeynAw02jwTWuTOF02llxmOMKFIx4Ax6wEU2sQ6iJxlYSe8SiPJla3Tvb7L1TeO5IWSPqoqSFYryRnhS4xQIbSy4CWr5zASYLRAqqbsd64IQ/s400/hola2.JPG)
This was the best picture I got of a horned lark, but we saw a lot of them and I got to study them a bit and see their little horny eyelashes--cool. I just wish the birds out there had been a little more cooperative, like they are for Mary at
Mary's View--they pose out in her yard, and they even come into her house sometimes! Oh well, I guess we can't all be bird-charmers, right, Mary?
We drove all over Big Valley, which is about thirty miles from my little village. I winced at the thought of my commitment to BIGBY, but I'm hoping to take a birding walk tomorrow to cover that. Anyway, we didn't see too many birds, though--only 30 species, and nothing to write home about other than the horned larks. We saw small flocks of them, and sometimes even just a couple of individuals; I'm told they're usually found in big flocks of a hundred or more. We didn't get that lucky, nor were these larks hanging around with any snow buntings (we checked every flock we saw).
To give you a little more local flavor, here's a little photo essay I put together to give you an idea of what I saw pretty much all morning:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPLdBjDyOz3GnfndOM0dpa3FCltm8c6y6yvixqr_PYOcxskeLUD-eDmwP7QpG3d_54HkGaYYIFleXnGkM9q2cpINthsMQhIV5GPN-DNubMVdccrloyGus8a-e1JRmX_TWIBjxMvA/s400/usual+view.JPG)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE3Up0C4FrAtUtJkovZlAY64u95PAE2Y3LDnF9DdIsBesSenJNBQAbZF0tbSLLKLAeLeGFNn0mbyBuZ2-LcIJpxhMgQa1JVF479n9_9pUCrWIwU4s59kgDJtXzo9TDiqC1Bqsxsg/s400/valley+edge.JPG)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_pAMCMfLVuYtGYT8iIWZVEgtG5B1KKyh7cX56AUIePcNSVXGJvDtj2YSaW9sHOjE6UuUn6WyK5kv_bFjLJvcG3wieaXZsZJxd5_B8mapdIs2sArpHNp0jX6g0pbazjULNi2lSw/s320/valleyroad.JPG)
We also drove by a property that our trip leader said was popular with woodpeckers, but what caught my eye was this sign on the property:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiifMrjHwJ43R9VeOyqabVOILSoEpPDpGM92kT04Xuud9acaT0F233RovuZfzfUXBWwu6bC0H9DqrwQHlqUOkUniZzPXtIanQaaW4A6q7LK-O-eJtpxYe8H3S7bt_Wx-GQAA4DcSA/s320/old+prop+sign.JPG)
Wow.
The other highlight of the trip was a stop at the famous Peachey's Market:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFqnVpIYJeco-HoKPRMZTfkKFsfGRPgDS7-jXqpJ1PqvjXlv4mdpHz84q5qSCA6E0BpY2xDuAM26_0DKdZEI5RDzWae_AKDZCVN-oITHgX5m3vcqAVVH36ZmIV2eyFfXYhlDIJ7A/s320/peacheys.JPG)
Note the pig on the sign; does he look a little funny to you? Let's take a closer look:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp0P8HFZVA2_jWblN__iStveW4YPJrFncwAdimhZkz5lfMldIPbyVHqcdBknD7gbOOlIpGw5V5PbhpIrcnJrqoX2wM2hb72Aiu5XNG24wlMnmFKfCNdqIhfNLngFM56bZj1PgKpQ/s320/a+pig+with+hair.JPG)
Look at that happy little guy and his...furry body? I didn't know pigs had coats, like a dog. Must be some weird Amish pig, or a very confused artist. I kept thinking about that line in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, where Ron tells Hermione that her cat Crookshanks "looks like a pig with hair!" when he thinks that Crookshanks has eaten his rat, Scabbers.
Turns out that Peachey's is a lot like my Mennonite store down the road; the store itself is much smaller, but they do have a larger selection of candy and some really. rotten. coffee. (Imagine you re-used your coffee grounds a couple of times, then burned the whole pot for a few hours. Yeah. Mmmmm, right?)
They also had nyjer seed in bulk for only $1.59/lb (Burkholder's doesn't have that!), which is about fifty cents cheaper than it is at Wiscoy, my usual bird and bunny feed store. I got about four pounds, plus a sock feeder. The pine siskin I'd seen earlier was on a nyjer sock, so I'm hoping to attract some out here, though the trip leader's house in nearer to wooded areas than mine. Still--the goldfinches and house finches ought to go insane for it. Who knows? Maybe I'll even get a purple finch; they're still around this area, according to our local birding listserv.
Back to Peachey's. First, I got to see "scrapple" for the first time in my life:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqcUegiFT9OZwHFAiBEinzlYzjcS2u3CdG2bRG-zQtFm7pjpXMjnKHHSDLh42vNpdpH_BJHEaAbQgQiYKy1P9EbvXV7ytDOwMI9kKSWs9iikSBSgxUJdsvaIN-RNSnSekGYMzacQ/s320/scrapple.JPG)
Be glad the ingredients list is blurry, folks. I read it, and believe me:
you don't want to know. Let's just say that if that furry pig knew, he wouldn't be smiling. They also had a (ahem) "vegetarian" version called "mush," which was cornmeal and some other scary ingredients. I didn't think Kat would forgive me if I bought any home, so I passed on that.
Here's some Amish-abilia:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh7YGGQmNrHOknFm5PtxT4rouMEs8aAityE4UfayArt3yn0CkQpbJOOwiQ6G9KATB6VuL25viiyIoWligiviaiN7kenVshB9DTB2wvFHTj06p8vCVznf_60VfclsBzgzpf62ryRg/s320/amishabilia.JPG)
Kinda creepy, no?
The money machine at Peachey's:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkuoaFjfkATz9sqTIqdpBfIc0xWfiwkood3FecJU4OAajvfx_4xwAYSgOUbQt0Cm8dOVX2UPYdeXXNjnio41O2kpDKf3wpkSZRZgh6TnJnwBrilKcLZkgdS27HJKHJ_sMMc7Q7GQ/s320/mennonite+%24.JPG)
Who knew Mennonites had their own bank?
Oh, and in case you're wondering, the answer is
yes:![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNyYRV1NpLn66CcxfGsj4AvrtXXRZ2PW7kDrXFGTL3keGhYtlf0uZWQMID4InJCDjzxG4WnOAa5J4K86a0HSnBlJsLqz-qAXGmK-YeRCBuN1UCFJsi7ycxyBhLytaryAC3kJwkNQ/s320/deerhides.JPG)
They
are buying deer hides now.