Roosters at the Lens

From first light to dusk the birds worked the camera. Nearly every frame the day produced has a chicken staring straight down the lens — a black rooster at the fence at 06:22, a white one alert at 07:01, a speckled hen at 08:00, and on through the afternoon: reddish-brown, black-and-white, brown, one last white bird at 18:05. 22,726 frames came in across the farm's cameras. Two portraits were kept as the day's best: a reddish-brown rooster at 11:16 and a white rooster at 13:08, both combs bright red, both looking dead ahead.

Morning brought the flock piling up on the waterer with a turkey angling for scraps; by late afternoon the whole group was free-ranging and picking through the clippings.

On the records side, the roster now stands at 11 active roosters, with Chonkers and Birdthazar still logged only as "probable cockerel." Malt Liquor was confirmed by his Black-Breasted Red Old English Game coloring, and Quasibirdo's portrait went live on the site.

In the garden, powdery mildew on the squash leaves and Choanephora blossom rot in the fruit — both fed by dew that never burns off in the shade.

-Bubba