The farm that surrounded me on all sides has been divided and sold.
The larger part is combined with the existing hunting club and now approaches my back door bringing the hunts and target practicing even closer. It's not hunting season now, but the target practice never ends. The club did generously offer me the continued use of the land for my birding walks, but I wonder which birds will stick around after all the shots are fired.
The hunts are controlled with birds being released from traps for the shooters. So there's always a fresh supply, and the seasons are long.
The other piece of land is being scraped clear of most trees and vegetation to make pasture for cattle.
The clearing has been ongoing for 3 weeks and has not finished.
It was difficult to watch the brush tangles that the common yellow throats and chats had nested in this summer piled up to be burned, knowing I won't have their songs next year.
Change is constant, but it certainly seems to come larger and faster lately.
There's lots of house-building and road improvements going on around here, but thankfully no hunting clubs or rifle ranges. Change seems to be overtaking us very rapidly these days and I can no longer tell if it's because everyone else is speeding up or I'm slowing down.
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