Playing Hooky

I think the first really nice day of every spring should be declared a paid holiday in the State of Minnesota. Unfortunately, there is no such legislation pending, so I just had to play hooky today. After getting to work and finding out there were no projects needing my undivided attention, I decided to take a half-day off (for me that means I can leave at 9:30) and spend some time birding--all by myself.

Because I was anxious to see some warblers and other migrating spring birds, I headed down to my favorite birding spot: Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park (sorry, Mom, I didn't have any extra time to stop by for a visit!)

I started over at the Mystery Cave section of the park because there's a nice little stream running right through the park. I sat for a while along the stream bank, but didn't see a huge number of warblers, other than plenty of yellow-rumped. I did however, capture one good photo of a black & white warbler.

I also watched a couple of eastern phoebes flying around (and managed to catch this one sitting still).

The other good sighting I had down at Mystery Cave were several Northern Rough-Winged Swallows. There's an old entrance to the cave that's been closed off, but the rough limestone wall right next to the stream makes it an ideal place for these swallows looking for a nesting spot.

I'll have to check back later in the summer to see if I can find out whether the swallows nested here.

I then drove over the Historic Forestville section of the park. The Root River flows through this heavily wooded park and I've seen oodles of warblers here in some previous spring migrations. I had my lunch packed for work and decided to have a picnic at one of the tables placed conveniently close to the river's edge. The first thing I noticed again was the absence of warblers (except for the yellow-rumped). However, the abundance of Ruby-Crowned Kinglets kept me entertained during this time. I managed to get a picture of this one in some shrubs very close to my table.

Then I was fortunate enough to have this little kinglet land on a branch close to my table. I hope you enjoy his little concert.

What a splendid "dining room." It was so nice to be outside in the sun on such a beautiful day and hear only the sound of birds singing and the river flowing by (no cars, trucks, or planes to drown out the sounds of nature).

As I was picking up some of the trash left by previous visitors, I noticed something floating in the water--kind of a reddish-brown color. I wondered whether it was some old leaves but something didn't look quite right. As I watched, whatever it was floated over to the other bank. I grabbed my camera and binocs and walked a little farther down on my side trying to see what had happened to this object. Finally, there it was--a small Beaver!

Oh man, this was so exciting for me!! (made up for not seeing many warblers) While eating my lunch, I had noticed some signs of beavers along the river's edge (I couldn't remember seeing anything like this on previous visits to the park, so the beavers must be recent arrivals).

I was able to watch the little beaver for quite a long time -- I think he was eating some vegetation (at least that's what it looked like). I was amazed that even right after coming out of the water, his fur never appeared wet.

He didn't seem at all disturbed by my presence, even though he had to be able to see me right across the river from him (a distance of about 14 yards).

I spent so much extra time watching that beaver, that I was running late starting back to Rochester to pick up Mr. Johnson at work. I set the cruise control for 8 miles over the speed limit--because I've always heard the cops don't usually ticket if you're less than 10 miles over the speed limit.......

Oh yeah, I got pulled over! I knew I was busted as soon as I met that Highway Patrol car and watched him turn around in the gas station. I was hoping he had turned in for a fill-up, but when I saw those flashing red lights in the rearview mirror....well, I don't have to tell you what I said. So I just pulled over, rolled down my window and handed the nice officer my driver's license. Fortunately, I have a spotless driving record because I was worrying the whole time how much a fine was going to cut into my birding festival savings! The worst thing was having to call Mr. Johnson and tell him I was going to be late because I got pulled over for speeding!

So except for the State Patrol, it was a pretty fun day and here's my list of birds seen (or heard) during my 3 hours of playing hooky.

Eastern Bluebird
House Wren
Red-Tailed Hawk
Crow
Robin
Barn Swallow
Chipping Sparrow
House Sparrow
Eastern Wild Turkey
Yellow-Rumped Warbler
Goldfinch
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet
Eastern Phoebe
Common Grackle
Canada Goose
Northern Shoveler
Black-Capped Chickadee
Pileated Woodpecker (heard)
Red-Winged Blackbird
Field Sparrow (heard)
Song Sparrow
Bluejay
Eastern Meadowlark
Black & White Warbler
Turkey Vulture
Rose-Breasted Grosbeak
Northern Cardinal
White-Throated Sparrow
Northern Rough-Winged Swallow
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker (heard)
European Starling

Sophie the Kitchen Assistant

It turned out to be a pretty nice day. After a rainy start, the sun finally came out and even though it was windy and not too warm, the sun shining and birds singing made it feel like spring. I even got the chance to mow the lawn for the first time this year. Since I figured I might be outside most of the day, I pulled a beef roast out of the freezer this morning to put in the crock pot so supper would be ready when I came in.

When supper was finished and all the leftover meat cut up and mixed with the broth for soup one night next week, Sophie (my faithful kitchen assistant) was ready to go to work.

She usually stands right next to me with her head smashed between my leg and the cupboards (just in case something falls off the counter top).

I was able to get my camera out and took this little movie (sorry it's kind of dark). There's nothing (well, maybe the doorbell....) that can pull this dog away from licking out a pan.

People have asked us whether Sophie missed Daisy or had a hard time getting used to Daisy being gone, but we haven't really noticed any changes in her behavior. I think she enjoys being the only dog now and getting to lick off ALL of the dirty dishes.

P.S. For those of your who are interested in the peanut wreath, I purchased mine at Wild Birds Unlimited so if you have a WBU nearby, you may be able to find one there, or most certainly they could order one for you. If you don't have a WBU nearby, here's a link to order one directly from Wild Birds Unlimited. It's truly one of my favorite bird feeders--especially if you enjoy watching bluejays because they just can't resist those peanuts!

Unusual Bird Behavior

I saw a couple of different birds this afternoon doing some things that aren't normally associated with their particular species, so I thought that I would share them with you (since I had no new migrants to photograph).

Here's a little goldfinch in my crabapple tree. Can you tell what he's doing? (look closely at his left foot)

I had to get the binoculars to confirm, but he's eating one of the remaining dried up crabapple fruits from last fall! I had no idea that goldfinches would eat fruit, did you? Apparently he hasn't noticed the 3 feeders I have filled with nyjer seed.

The other day, I moved my peanut wreath to the crabapple tree right outside the dining room window. Here's what I saw this afternoon:

Did you know cardinals like peanuts? Did this cardinal even know what was inside the shell?

I managed to capture this short video of the cardinal trying to get a peanut out of the wreath. That short, stout beak is useful for cracking seeds, but sure isn't very handy when trying to reach inside the ring and grasp something as big as a peanut.

Hey Mary, it looks like I've got an extra RB Grosbeak, so I'll be sending one of these guys your way this weekend!

Just Birds Today

All kinds of cool bird sightings the last couple days.....it's almost like some sort of migration gate was opened and all of a sudden, they're here!

Yesterday I spotted my first Baltimore Oriole early in the afternoon. Since 2002, when I started keeping a bird/nature diary, this was the earliest I've ever seen the Baltimore Oriole in my yard. I quickly put a couple dishes of grape jelly out in the backyard, and even though I haven't seen him since, I know he'll be back. (2 pictures, just because I love the color of this bird!)

Today I was even more surprised to see this Orchard Oriole at the grape jelly dish when I got home from work. wow, Wow, WOW!! I haven't seen an Orchard Oriole in my yard for many years. He loved the grape jelly and it would be awesome if he decided to stay for the summer (and maybe find a mate). I took a couple pictures so you could appreciate his handsomeness from the front:

and from the back:

While I was watching the oriole, I noticed another large bird fly into the oak tree nearby -- Rose Breasted Grosbeak! Holy moly! Again, he was earliest recorded in my yard--May 6th was the earliest recorded date previously (2007).

I also noticed some different looking sparrows out by the tray feeder. I guess it's pretty obvious why this little guy is called White Crowned Sparrow.

Our weatherman is predicting some heavy rain and storms for the next couple of days, so I hope all these migrating birds are able to deal with the weather issues OK. I do know one thing for sure.....as soon as it stops raining, I have a date with John Deere in the backyard!

P.S. While I was writing this post, my sissy called me to report that she also spotted Indigo Buntings, a House Wren and a Hummingbird in her yard this afternoon, so I've got to whip up a batch of hummingbird nectar this evening.

Turkeys 2, Johnsons 0

We gave up on our turkey hunt this morning. Our change of tactics involved each of us going to a different location (where we've heard turkeys every day this season) and sitting on the ground in full camouflage with a shotgun (the way we used to hunt turkeys before we used a blind). We were really optimistic this was the morning that we'd get our birds -- and I was thankful it was above freezing since I would be sitting outside on the ground.

As it started getting lighter and lighter, we still weren't hearing any gobbling. What's up with that? I wondered, since I was sitting practically right underneath the trees they had flown down from on Sunday morning. I checked in with Mr. Johnson on the radio to ask if he was hearing anything where he was sitting and he confirmed that nothing was going on over there either. It was as if someone had just come in overnight and taken every single turkey out of that area!

I did hear one turkey gobbling from probably a half-mile away and across the river, but there was no way he could hear my calls and was going to come to me. Finally about 9 AM, we just decided to hang it up for this disappointing turkey season. It was such a nice day we decided to pack up all our stuff and go home and see if we could get my motorcycle in for an oil change this afternoon. So at least we'll get to take advantage of the nice weather with a motorocycle ride.

Here are a couple pictures from our turkey hunting adventure:

Mr. Johnson next to our hunting blind. This is the Double Bull Blind; it was kind of pricey, but we really like it. Lots of room inside for 2 people and all our gear and we can actually stand up inside too. It's pretty easy to get set up and take down too, plus the fabric is very heavy and stands up well to windy and rainy conditions.

Here's a picture of me looking like a camouflage Michelin man! I'm truly amazed how much fatter these multiple layers of warm clothing make me look!

However, the morning wasn't totally disappointing for me.....I got to see several yellow-rumped warblers (my first for 2008) and also got this great little video of a Brown Thrasher singing from the treetop (he's a little hard to see, but look right in the center of the video). Can you recognize any of his imitations?

Knitting Projects

I haven't shown any knitting projects lately, so since I have nothing nature-related to report today (except that I saw a single junco in my yard this afternoon), this will be a post about a couple of knitting projects.

I finished these socks last weekend. It's nice that in Minnesota some of us are still wearing wool socks (and they felt pretty darn good this past week). I've been working on this pair since sometime in December, I think, and now they are finally done. They're a little stiff yet because it's a really tight knit, but I'm hoping once they get washed and dried the yarn will soften up a little bit. I really like these bright colors.

Here's a little project I started last week. You can probably guess that it's going to be a hat. I can see that my color choices for the llama are not ideal with that greenish color in the middle blending in too much with the turquoise main color, so I'm going to have to rip out a few rows and re-knit that section with a different color.

Do you like this design? You may have noticed a hat similar to this in one of Mel's posts a few weeks ago. I sent her an e-mail and she graciously located the hat in her closet and also one of Tommy's and sent me some great photographs.

Aren't they a cute couple? Here's what Melissa says about these hats: "Over here, that kind of hat (that covers the ears) is called 'CHULLO', http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chullo."

All I had to do was chart the patterns on graph paper, do a little math, grab some yarn and knitting needles and this is what happens when you're a knitting addict. I'll post another picture once I've completed the hat. Thanks Mel, for the inspiration.

It's back to turkey hunting tomorrow morning (our last day). We're changing our tactics and hopefully by this time tomorrow we'll have at least one free-range, antibiotic-free, organic wild turkey in the freezer.

Sunday in the Turkey Blind

The wind died down overnight and there were clear skies and a half-moon as we hiked to our turkey blind at 5 AM today. It was still cold (around 30 degrees) but I had my blanket to wrap up in and we knew once the sun was up the day would be warmer.

We heard at least 3 turkeys gobbling right across the ridge from us, but were unable to call them over, so it was another long day of waiting for turkeys that never showed up. However, I had plenty of time for reading. Yesterday I finished "The Friday Night Knitting Club" and today I read "Tell Me Where It Hurts."

I still managed to work in a couple naps and by afternoon the sun had warmed up our blind enough that I was able to finally take off my gloves and knit a few rows.

For most of the day, we heard a woodpecker "sounding off" on the trees near our blind. I finally located who was making all the racket--it was a Hairy Woodpecker. I was able to capture this short video from the front window of our blind.

Before we left to come home, I walked over to the edge of the bluff to photograph the eagle's nest across the valley. The nest is in the top of a big white pine. I bet that nest was blowing at least 15 feet back and forth in yesterday's high winds.

When the adult eagle is not in the nest I can see something white sticking up that I think might be a chick, but I can't tell with just binoculars.

I'm so glad I finally found the location of this nest and have been able to get some photos and the chance to watch the eagles come and go.

Tomorrow's weather report sounds similar to what we had on Saturday (snow/rain mix, windy and cold) so I'm going back to work and will take Wednesday off instead when the weather is supposed to be warmer.

P.S. I just checked my stats and this is Blog Post #300!! Another reason for a celebration cake!

Happy to be Warm Again

I've got my furnace cranked up and I'm sitting in the sunny dining room window posting this blog. Most of me is finally warm again except for my toes and a hot shower should take care of that once I'm done here.

When we got to our turkey blind this morning, the temp was about 32 degrees and it was SNOWING! The winds were howling out of the N-NW at around 25-30 MPH (gusting to 45 MPH) with a wind chill of 19 degrees. I like to think I'm a reasonably sensible and sane woman, but this morning, I couldn't help wonder what the heck I was doing out in these conditions freezing my buns (and all other body parts) when I could have been back home cuddled up in bed with Sophie and Penny while Mr. Johnson (the die-hard hunter) froze all by himself. I guess some people will do anything for a blog posting!

Here's a little video I took from inside the blind around 6:15 AM. Those are our 2 turkey decoys you see out in front and you can tell from the audio and from watching the decoys how windy it was. If you turn up your volume and listen real close at about 21 seconds you will hear the turkey gobble.

We heard him gobbling for about half an hour but could also hear a hen with him. Shortly after 6:30, all became quiet and we never heard or saw another turkey the rest of the day. We left the blind to come home a little after 3 PM.

The day wasn't a total bust though. We were entertained by a group of fat gray squirrels running and playing near our blind. We did also spot this handsome fox squirrel all by itself. There are mostly gray squirrels in these woods so I was happy to see this fox squirrel and also capture his image.

On our way home, we saw a group of young deer out in a hayfield. In this short video you will see them come to a fence and then jump over to head across the road. Watch closely at the end and listen to Mr. Johnson's narrative!


Hope you all stayed warm today. Tomorrow's forecast is still for "unseasonably cold," but hopefully it won't be quite as windy. One thing I know for sure is that I won't forget my blanket tomorrow!

Just Miscellaneous Stuff

Because our turkey hunting season starts early tomorrow morning, Mr. Johnson and I decided to leave work early today so we could get our weekend errands taken care of and get our turkey blind set up so that all we have to do tomorrow morning is set out the decoys and wait for the turkeys to arrive.

While we were out in the woods this afternoon, I finally saw a few spring wildflowers starting to bloom. I didn't think to take my camera along and boy was that a big mistake! In addition to the wildflowers, there was a pair of bald eagles flying around and calling back and forth to each other the whole time. That would have made a really neat little video. My only consolation is that I'll be spending the next 3 days down in these woods, and I'm packing my camera tonight, so I don't miss out on any other photo ops.

While walking back to the car, I found some newly sprouted catnip and picked a little handful to take home for Miss Penny. Was that ever some potent stuff!

First Penny rolled all over it on her right side (note expression of "kitty bliss!")

Then she rolled to her left side to rub in this super smelly catnip.

Look at her messy face--all wet from drooling on the catnip and then rubbing on it. I finally took it away from her after about 90 minutes, but she's still laying on the carpet where it had been. I'll have to pick some more for her tomorrow before we come home.

Here's a ID question for the 'egg'-sperts: Do you know what bird laid this egg?

I found it on the front lawn this afternoon. I know it's not grackle or robin and I'm thinking maybe mourning dove? I can't think of any other bird in my backyard that might already be nesting and also lay an egg this size.

How much is that doggy in the window?

"uh-oh, I'm busted!" (she even looks guilty, doesn't she?)

This is one of Sophie's favorite places to lay in the afternoon sun. I was surprised the first time I saw her up in this bay window and immediately shooed her down. Now she sometimes hops up and lays on the little rug when she can't find a sunny spot anywhere else. As soon as she heard the camera turn on though, she was ready to take off (she's terrified by the camera). Goofy hound!

I'm Festival Bound

This afternoon I finalized my plans to attend the "6th Annual Potholes & Prairies Birding Festival" in June (as a member of the "Birdchick Posse!") Thanks Sharon!

Just so you know, I'm not a person who normally makes plans this far in advance, but I'm sure glad I did because I was able to snag one of the 3 remaining spots in the "Birds & Blossoms" tour with Julie Zickefoose.

(My registration form and check will go in the mail tomorrow morning)

I briefly thought about flying out there, but after checking on airfares with my local AAA advisor, we decided it would be more economical for me to rent a car (<$200 vs. >$300 for airfare and still having to rent a car in Fargo).

I guess driving will give me a better chance to do a little birding along the way if there's something interesting to see, right?

The festival is also going to have silent and live auctions at their Saturday night Birders Banquet and I'm donating one of my hand-knitted shawls as an auction item for this festival. Now I just have the difficult choice of deciding which shawl to donate!

June seems like a long time away now, but I'm sure the days will go by very fast (and hopefully gas will still be under $4 per gallon by the time I'm ready to make the trip).

If any of you are still interested in signing up for this festival, be sure to mention that you're part of the birding bloggers "Birdchick Posse" to be eligible for the group discount and remember to sign up before the early bird deadline of May 14th. Hope to see you there!

Turkey Scouting Morning

Our turkey hunting season starts next Saturday. We have been fortunate to obtain permission once again to hunt private land in the same area where we deer hunt in the fall. We are both hoping to get a turkey with bow & arrow this spring, but that will depend entirely on the weather and the turkeys. We spent some time out in the woods this morning trying to get a look at some turkeys and where they're roosting and also locating a nice level spot to place our blind. Mr. Johnson thinks he's got it pretty well figured out and here's the view we'll be seeing out of our blind next weekend.

The turkeys roost in the large white pines above this ravine. We heard a couple fly down this morning, but it seems they always head towards the river bottom and some pasture land before heading back up this hill and then out to unplowed cornfield that's behind this spot. We both agreed this morning that turkeys are so much harder to hunt than deer. Deer have pretty nice, predictable habits that they follow almost every day. Turkeys don't--especially in the spring when it's mating season. We'll just have to wait and see how things go, I guess. At least for now, the weather report sounds good for next weekend (no rain and temps in the upper 50's).

It was really foggy early this morning (as you can see from the picture above). Here's what it looked like walking across the cornfield towards the woods where our turkey blind will be.

Here's another foggy picture (just because I thought this little white pine has a beautiful shape and provided a little spot of green in a gray/brown landscape!)

At the edge of the woods, I just happened to catch some movement of a little bird low to the ground. I was able to focus my binocs and camera on this Song Sparrow. Isn't its camouflage wonderful?

We took the long way home by way of Mom & Dad's to pick up the milk cartons Dad's schoolkids had saved for me last week (for my veggie seedling transplants). Part of this route runs along a river and that's where I spotted a pair of kingfishers. Here's the one who was sitting on a fencepost closest to the road. I really enjoy seeing these birds.

Also on the power lines above the river, there was a small flock of Cliff Swallows. There is a concrete bridge over this river where they have nested in the past. The next time I'm down this way, I'll try to get some pictures of the neat little mud nests the swallows have built along the underside of this bridge. I'm sure they would have been much more active on a warm, sunny day than this cool, foggy morning.

On our way home, we finally spotted some turkeys: a big group of toms displaying for the hens. Mr. Johnson quickly turned the car around so we could go back and take a look at this show. I was able to capture this short video before the group dispersed.

There are two large toms in the foreground--they have the long beards showing. In the background, together are two "jakes" (the first year toms). You can tell a jake from a tom most easily by their tails. Look closely at those two birds in the background and you will see the center (8 or so) tail feathers stick up farther in the center of their tail "fan". On a mature tom, their tail looks just like a "fan" where all the feathers are the same length. When we're out hunting, what we're looking for is the "beard" that comes out of the center of the turkey's chest (only birds with a visible beard are legal for shooting in the spring). Ideally we'd like to get a big old, heavy tom with a long beard and big tail (and more meat for eating), but seeing as how we have the challenge of going with bow & arrow this year, we will be happy to take any legal bird. And maybe if the turkeys don't cooperate, I'll have a little time to check out the forest edges for migrating spring warblers and sparrows.

Staying Closer to Home

Here's a shocking sight we saw on our way home from work today:

I can already tell that other than a trip to St. Paul in May and a trip to North Dakota in June, most of my birding adventures will take place much closer to home this summer.

Fortunately we have fairly diverse bird and wildlife habitats within 20 miles of my home, so seeing a variety of birds shouldn't be too difficult. Why, just this afternoon after stopping to top off the fuel tank, I spotted a Bufflehead (my first ever!) swimming on a storm sewer retention pond near a major shopping center. Mr. Johnson was kind enough to pull over so I could get out of the car for a better look at this striking black and white duck.

Plus, there's no shortage of good birdwatching opportunities right outside my window. This bright yellow goldfinch caught my eye right away on this gloomy, rainy afternoon.

And look at how popular this little safflower feeder is:

So how about the rest of you: do you think your summer plans will change minimally or drastically based on the fuel prices?

A Nice Wednesday

Well, it turned out to be a very nice day once the wind finally died down. I got home from work and decided I'd better get my garbage can potatoes planted before another day went by. Here's my "potato patch!"

I found these collapsible storage containers at Fleet Farm on clearance for $4 each. They're made of two layers of heavy duty fabric and hopefully they'll work for growing potatoes (I saw something similar in a gardening catalog). I've got them sitting around the cement base of my TV antenna tower. They will get good sun for most of the day and they're far enough away from my garden that any insects attracted to these potatoes won't bother the other vegetables in my garden.

Take a look at this:

OK, the sun was shining on this thermometer a little bit to make it 78 degrees, but our "official" high today was 73 degrees! This is the first time we've had a day over 70 degrees since last October (178 days according to the weatherman). It was so nice to be outside this afternoon wearing a short-sleeved shirt!

After supper, I was sitting at the table watching birds out the dining room window when I spotted this huge cottontail stopping by to feast on some corn. He's a pretty good-looking bunny, don't you think?

While I was watching Mr. Bunny Rabbit, look who else hopped into view....

WOW! Brown Thrasher! That's really big news! (at least for me it is). I had two nesting pairs in my yard last summer. It's nice to see this handsome birdie decided to come back for another summer.

After supper, we went over to the woods to check on whether there were any tenants in the wood duck house I built and put up last spring. No tenants yet, but I took the opportunity to put in fresh wood shavings and hopefully there will be a wood duck moving in soon as I spotted a drake and two hens at the edge of the little man-made pond in the vicinity of this wood duck house.

There were quite a few frogs over by this little pond. Here's a look at one little guy checking me out.

Enjoy the sweet froggy music (and listen for the pileated who lives in these woods too!)

Happy Spring Everyone!

Playing Catch-Up

It seems as though spring has finally arrived in my backyard. After watching snowflurries all day last Saturday, Sunday dawned cold, but clear as a bell. It was a wonderful day even though our high temperature was only 44 degrees. We got a little bit of yard clean-up done, I put up my purple martin gourds and tree swallow gourds, but as always, ran out of day before running out of chores.

Last night I talked Mr. Johnson into taking me out for a little birding drive after supper. We drove over to the flood-control reservoir a couple miles from home and found just a little bit of ice left in the SE corner, but otherwise all open water. We saw common mergansers, lesser scaup, canvasbacks, some gulls (herring or ring-billed, I couldn't tell for sure), but most exciting was a pair of American white pelicans at the far side of the lake. We then drove to my favorite birding place out in rural Olmsted county. There are many acres of CRP grassland here and it's also very quiet (far away from highway noise). We saw a pair of Northern Harriers and also a pair of Common Snipe flying around and making their "winnowing" noise. If you've heard this before, you know what an unusual sound it is. We also saw dozens of Eastern Wild Turkeys and heard a few Ring-Necked Pheasants (in addition to the usual red-winged blackbirds and song sparrows). Unfortunately, I was unable to get photos of any of these sightings.

Today was another sunny and warm day, spoiled only by strong winds from the south: sustained in the 30 mph range and gusts of 49 mph. On days like today, I can certainly understand why pioneer folk on the prairies were said to be driven mad by the wind.

The most annoying thing about the wind is the fact that debris from my disgusting neighbor's "junkyard"......

.......blows into my backyard

I'm going to wait till the wind dies down again and throw all this crap back over there!

And then I'm going to take some more pictures and plan to attend an upcoming township meeting to see what (if anything) can be done to force this guy to clean up his place. His place a total dump and has lowered the property value of our place and also our good neighbor who lives on the other side of this "junkyard." The most pathetic thing about this whole deal is that this neighbor is self-employed, specializing in.........HOME IMPROVEMENT!!