![Raspberries!]()
by elizabeth5047 | Oct 17, 2010 | Flora, Uncategorized |
This afternoon I went with some friends and family to harvest sweet potatoes at Harvest Hill Farm, Mike and Laurie Davis’s farm in Willsboro. On the way we were waylaid by the sight of late season raspberries that we could not resist. Seeing them at this time of year, and seeing my almost-5-year-old friend Arden eating them with such joy, made me wonder why they are not planted in every school yard in the North Country. Eating raspberries right off the cane can make a farmer (or a fresh food, farmers’ market consumer) out of anyone. There’s also the benefit of seeing berries as the fruit of a plant, not an expensive commodity paid for with money at the grocery store. The juicy red sensation that melts over your tongue and colors your lips could not be a more affordable and healthy luxury for children who have access to fresh raspberries in...
![Moose tracks, finally]()
by elizabeth5047 | Oct 11, 2010 | Uncategorized, Wildlife |
Today I went to Tupper Lake to see Yvon’s hunting camp. It’s a long ride out through an area southwest of Follensby Pond. Old lumber cuts and recent rain made for lots of nice wet, early succession habitat. As we made our way through the gates toward camp he spotted a long straight row of tracks, right between the tire tracks left by a 4-wheeler. The last time I saw tracks was on Van Hoevenburg two years ago with the Westport Youth Commission hiking group. I was glad to see tracks again but would have been even happier to see the big bull himself, although not up quite as close as I got to the tracks. The track size was around 5″ x 6″ with a stride of about...
![Finding the right playthings]()
by elizabeth5047 | Oct 10, 2010 | Uncategorized |
I spent four hours today hiking at Split Rock Wildway with wildlife biologist Molly Hale and her friend Bick Corsa. It was a fungi extravaganza, but then again Molly was specifically looking for mushrooms so we had our radar up for unusual species. The forest was full of clear, bright sunlight but the previous week’s rain had made perfect, moist conditions. We saw countless varietes, including a Bear’s Head Tooth that I brought home to cook. On our way out I came across this perfect puffball, looking for all the world like a golf ball. For me, the game of mushroom I.D. was as much fun as the 18 holes being played by autumn golfers elsewhere that day. It’s just a question of where you go to connect with the playthings of your...
by elizabeth5047 | Oct 7, 2010 | Uncategorized, Wildlife |
Last night in Floral Hall I was extremely happy to see over 200 people attending the Wildlife Event brought by Sue Morse, Phil Sharpsteen, Bobbie Summers and Kit Emery of Keeping Track in Jericho, VT. I sponsored the event with CATS, Northeast Wilderness Trust, Adirondack Council and Champlain National Bank. Dogwood Bread Company graciously donated the amazing pizzas we had on hand for volunteers. Chris Maron, Kathy Kelly and I headed a crew that included several other excellent volunteeers. Sue’s collection of wildlife pelts and parts is an amazing educational resource. Her photography is profoundly intimate at times, making me feel that I am almost in the woods at the same time she is. I am looking forward to coordinating a training program that I hope will lead to a 2011 Champlain Valley Keeping Track Monitoring Program. Long live the Champlain Valley, full of people and animals and plants that live on and work the land...
by elizabeth5047 | Sep 29, 2010 | Uncategorized |
This morning I walked to the boat launch for the first time in several weeks. There was a lone merganser drake near the shoreline in one direction and a group of 30 or so mixed ducks in the other direction. It’s interesting to watch the ducks grouping up. They seem to act on one of two concepts: “strength in numbers” whereby predators might find a group more intimidating to attack than an individual, or “hidden in the crowd” whereby each individual is safer if there is a group from which a predator will select one prey. As I watched the ducks, a stream of ring-billed gulls came over my shoulder. They passed me in a long steady flow, following the brook bed that empties into the lake. They flew in a tube-like formation about 20 feet above the treeline until they reached the open parking area and then the water, where they dropped to around 4-6 feet above the surface. As a group they truly flowed like water flowing into the lake until they had all gone around the far point, over a quarter mile away. I have often seen bald eagles at this location hunting for ducks. A cousin of mine took an amazing, once in a lifetime shot of an eagle dropping down and snatching a duck that was preening at the edge of the shore. Ducks seem too heavy to lift and take back to a nest but apparently not. I will be looking for an opportunity to catch a...
by elizabeth5047 | Sep 25, 2010 | Uncategorized |
Today I volunteered at Field, Forest and Stream. I took tickets for two hours and thought is was interesting that about 60 % of the people attending were seniors. About 10% were students or children under age 15. After my shift I attended Beth Bidwell’s program on rehabilitated animals. Beth runs Wildlife Institute of Eastern New York. Today she had a wood turtle, milk snake, peregrine falcon, cooper’s hawk, saw whet owl and barred owl. I learned a number of new facts about the birds. She described raptors as having “extreme focus.” When they are hunting they are so focused on their prey that they don’t even respond to the cars and trucks which hit and injure them. All the birds she brought to Field, Forest and Stream had been hit hunting near roads. Her birds will never be released into the wild because they are unable to fly. Now they are...
