Wetlands come in all shapes and sizes, but there are three characteristics they all possess: Covered with water at least part of the year Support wetland vegetation Have hydric soil We’ll delve into those more deeply (pun intended!) another time. Right now, I want to discuss what are probably the smallest wetlands that meet those three criteria: vernal pools. A vernal pool is [...]
The annual National Junior Duck Stamp Contest attracts participants from students in K-12 from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories. It is a great opportunity for young artists to hone their skills and possibly begin a path to the ultimate prize – a win in the Federal Migratory Bird Stamp contest. Paintings from New York students are forwarded [...]
The early colonists depended on wild plants and animals for their food until land could be cleared and crops established. Even after our early agrarian society was well underway, crops sometimes failed, forcing people to find wild alternatives. In frontier areas, as well, people still utilized what was growing wild around them to survive. Fast forward to the 20th century, and society quickly [...]
I was cleaning up the yard and found an elongated oval object that at first looked like something the neighbor’s dog deposited under the maple tree. Closer examination revealed that it was an owl pellet. These are fascinating objects, especially if you’ve never found one. Owls typically swallow their prey whole. Later, while roosting, they regurgitate feathers, fur and bones from whatever they’ve been [...]
Saturday, November 20th was the opener of the regular gun season for deer here in New York. There have been a lot of firsts on our property here in the Finger Lakes region, and this year added to the growing list. My grandson, James, shot his first buck, a nice six pointer. My brother-in-law from Pennsylvania and his son normally join us. This [...]
Well, like a good part of the country, we’ve had a LOT of rain here in the Finger Lakes Region of NY. So much so that there is flooding everywhere. The lower portion of my property, where I’ve restored about 8 acres of wetland and 12 acres of grassland, is bounded by the Clyde River and the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, so you [...]
Waterfowl seasons are underway across the country, and thousands of hunters are taking their harvested birds home to clean and eat. Puddle ducks like mallards, teal and wood ducks can provide delicious meals if prepared properly. Most people consider diving ducks a bit less tasty, but still worth the time to prepare with a favorite recipe. What I want to discuss is what [...]
Hunters, hikers and anyone who spends time in the outdoors will inevitably encounters ticks. Ticks are arachnids (like spiders) that are external parasites living off the blood of animals. There are many kinds of ticks, but the dog tick and black-legged tick (aka deer tick) are carriers of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) and Lyme disease, respectively. As RMSF is quite rare, most [...]
The Eastern Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is a survivor. Pretty much the only thing it can’t survive is extensive habitat loss, as witnessed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the eastern deciduous forest was essentially gone from near total deforestation. When farming in marginal areas was abandoned and allowed to revert to forest, populations of wild turkeys rebounded. With help [...]
Warning: Some of the images below may be a bit graphic and contain visuals of animal carcasses. Earlier this Fall, a friend of mine arrowed a nice doe with his bow on my property in upstate New York with about 10 minutes of daylight left. He tracked it for about a hundred yards before he lost the trail in the darkness. We went [...]
