Friday, May 29, 2015

A walk in the woods, part three

On Wednesday, I went with Diane E., chair of the Grand Island Conservation Advisory Board, and Kathleen M., stewardship director of the Western New York Land Conservancy, to look at two wooded lots in Grand Island. These wooded lots are owned by the town, which placed a conservation easement on them. A conservation easement, which is entered into voluntarily by private or public property owners, is a way of protecting things that need to be protected, such as migration routes of birds species or various plant and animal species. For more information about conservation easements, take a look at: nature conservancy website.
The walk was very interesting and educational. i found out that the Land Conservancy monitors sites all over Western New York, and that it is Kathleen's job to visit each one and make a report on the condition of each site. She is looking for a variety of things, such as the condition of the trees and other vegetation, signs of animal life, and signs of human incursion. She has a map for each site that she visits. To me, it looks like a map for a treasure hunt. We had to follow the map and find each "photo station." These are places that are marked, where new photographs are taken at each visit. If you take pictures of the same location over and over again, you can see how the area has changed over time. At each site, there were approximately ten photo stations.

Kathleen was equipped with a GPS and a compass to make locating the photo stations easier. At the first wooded lot that we visited, the vegetation was very lush. It seemed to confuse the GPS, rendering it virtually nonfunctional. Technology is not always your friend! Fortunately, the compass worked without a problem.

Both of the sites were full of native wildflowers. Above is the flower of the May apple. This apple, Diane explained to me, is not very good as an apple for eating. She said that one of her friends was able to make jelly from the May apple. Plant species that I saw included Solomon seal, trillium, buttercup, wild leek, sedge (a grass), jack in the pulpit, royal fern, Canada mayflower (also known as wild lily of the valley), wild iris, wild geranium, and trout lily. We also observed some invasive species, including barberry, garlic mustard, and periwinkle.

At both sites, I saw a variety of vernal pools. These small bodies of water are also known as ephemeral pools. They are temporary bodies of water that are breeding grounds for various species. Here in Grand Island, the vernal pools are breeding grounds for salamanders. They are not breeding grounds for fish because the vernal pools are completely dry by summertime.

Another thing that I observed (and happily photographed) was the interesting mushrooms that I saw at both sites. Although I enjoy eating mushrooms, I chose to skip the taste test because I don't have to skills to differentiate nutritious, delicious mushrooms from deadly toadstools. I suppose that I'll have to stick to eating mushrooms that I buy at the supermarket!!

There were some extremely large and old trees in the forests. Some were healthy trees, while others were dead or dying. Tree species that we observed included hophorn, maple, hickory, oak (mostly red, but we did find some white oak), and beech. Honeysuckle is an invasive tree species, the tree version of a weed.

The tree that I sat in is huge!

We also encountered some less than friendly species of plants and animals. The first site, especially, was swarming with mosquitoes. They were everywhere, making that distinctive whining noise. To me, it sounds almost unnatural, like a horror movie sound effect. At both sites, there were ticks. So we had to be careful.

Not all animals and insects are evil, scary creatures. We observed a few animals and we also observed signs of animals. These include tadpoles in Gun Creek, a swallowtail butterfly, woodchuck, and deer. There were many birds. Diane is able to recognize birds by their songs. She heard songs from: pilliated woodpecker, great crested flycatcher, Baltimore oriole, chickadee, wood duck, red eye vireo, and catbirds.

The picture above depicts a plant nemesis. Remember the old adage, "Leaves of three, leave it be"? See the plant above and the sets of three leaves. Yep. You've got it. Poison ivy. Look, but don't touch. If you accidentally touch the poison ivy, here is a website that you can go to where you can find ways of handling the website. Click the next word: word.

This is a closeup of one of the very large mushrooms that I saw in both sites.

Signs of human activities in the woods include this tree stand. These are used mainly by hunters during deer season.

This is one of the more beautiful of the native species that I found in the woods. It is called the wild iris. It was delightful to find it in bloom.

This would be a sign of human incursion on protected land. Kathleen explained that this example of trees that had been cut down by humans is not something that is desirable in a forever-wild wooded area. 

Diane, holding book, discusses the condition of forever-wild town land with Kathleen.

The yellow square that was attached to the tree is a sign that indicates that location of a photo station. We did, however note, that some of the photo stations are unmarked. At some point, the identification markings will be returned to the photo stations.

This is an example of an older tree stand.

We saw many wildflowers. This pretty little blossom is just an example of wildflowers in bloom. 

We plan on revisiting these two sites sometime in the autumn.


Sunday, May 10, 2015

Celebrating the earth mother (pachamama)

Today is mothers' day so I decided to celebrate Mother Earth. Four years ago, when I went to Ecuador, I spent a few weekends in an indigenous community, where I learned about medicinal plants and where I experienced the celebration of the vernal equinox.

I celebrated Mother Earth by walking in nature and by picking up litter and discarding it in trash receptacles.

It is finally spring here in western New York, and the trees are blossoming in a variety of beautiful colors. It was truly delightful to see, touch, and photograph these beautiful blossoms. It was also nice to see the buds bursting with baby leaves, so translucent and delicate and soft. I can never get tired of spring, my favorite season.

In western New York, we have many different types of apple trees. We have larger apples, such as red delicious, northern spy, empire, and others. We also have various types of crab apples. In fact, I found out a few years ago that it is a tradition to plant flowering crab apple trees in Grand Island. These trees are generally called "flowering crab trees." Some of the crab apples look like smaller versions of regular sized apples, while others are very tiny and bright red.

We also have a fair number of pear trees. Wild grape vines can be seen all over the place. These are invasive and they tend to take over. The fruit is edible but it produces so many seeds, which are spread everywhere because of the birds that eat the wild grapes. Well, I eat wild grapes, too, but I don't think that I spread the seeds with as much gusto as the birds!

Another sure sign of spring are the lovely lilac bushes. They are flowering late this year. Today, I noticed lilacs just partially opened. They have a delightful aroma and I can't help but stop and sniff them as I walk past.

I walked to the bike path to take a look at the springtime joys.

The trees are now clothed in baby leaves...

People and their dogs are out, enjoying the glorious day.

The one down side in the magnificent day that I experienced was the sight of the creek. This is Woods Creek. Notice how low the water level is. This indicates that there has been far too little rainfall. The earth is starting to crack from thirst. The sunny days have been delightful but we need rain. The earth mother needs a nourishing drink of water.

Here is another view of Woods Creek.

More apple blossoms...

Another type of apple blossom...


Saturday, May 9, 2015

Cobblestone buildings

At last, spring has sprung, and I got to go to River Lea during daylight hours, instead of in utter darkness. It is wonderful to see the gardens that are filled with spring flowers around River Lea.

The presentation at the meeting on May 7th featured Frank Gallagher, town historian of Wilson, New York, who spoke about cobblestone buildings. His interest in cobblestone structures is quite personal. He lives in a cobblestone house. He said that his house was built in 1843-1844 of lake washed cobbles. His house is known as the "James Morse house." It is listed on both the national and New York State's register of historic places.

There was no uniformity in construction of these buildings, Frank said. Each house was unique to the personality of the building's owner and/or designer. 

The biggest downfall to these houses is that they are "hard to heat," Frank said.

The topic of cobblestone buildings was quite fascinating. These buildings were the last to be built entirely by hand before the industrial revolution. Ninety percent of all cobblestone structures were built within 70 miles of Rochester, New York.

Approximately 700 cobblestone buildings were constructed between the years of 1825 and 1860. The era of cobblestone buildings ended abruptly with the start of the Civil War. By then, there were fewer cobbles available. Also, the economy was in dire straits with inflation and other economic issues. The majority of the houses were built in the Greek revival style.

A few of these houses were built in Wisconsin and Illinois, mostly by people who moved west from New York State. There are other cobblestone structures in Paris, Ontario. These structures were built, mainly by Levi Boughton, who was a master mason, and by masons whom he trained. The structures included houses, churches, garden walls, basements, and a smoke house. For more information about the cobblestone buildings in Paris, Ontario, take a look at this website.

Glaciated fieldstones were used as building materials for the first cobblestone structures. The fieldstones were rough stones. These houses were considered to be very primitive. In fact, a few structures still exist that were built before 1830. Later, smoother stones from Lake Iroquois were used. The walls that were built with the lake stones were known as "rubble walls." 

Lake Iroquois later became known as Lake Ontario. Lake Iroquois, however, was a larger lake. It was formed after the end of the last ice age, about 13,000 years ago. There are remnant shorelines both in New York State and in Ontario, Canada. The smooth stones were also remnants of Lake Iroquois.

Frank Gallagher found things, such as this china above, that are reminders of an earlier time. The china depicted above, which was found in pieces, was manufactured in England.

The treat after the meeting was the sight of the reflection of all of those lights on the Niagara River.

It was an enjoyable meeting. I am now retired as recording secretary of the Grand Island Historical Society, but I will continue to share stories about these events.

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Writing in alphabetical order

Last Thursday, I completed my first A to Z challenge. It was an adventure and an... um... challenge. I never did come up with a theme, but, then again, my mind works in random ways so I might have felt stifled by a theme.

The challenge was made even more challenging by the fact that I forgot about it until day number three! Then I wrote one post with three letters, and that post was way too long! But we live and learn! Afterwards, the challenge was made challenging when I went off on the Walk for a Nuclear Free Future and went low tech for six days! I did manage to catch up but... wow, that was a lot of blogging in a short amount of time. Nevertheless, it was fun.

The letter X nearly demolished me. The post made so little sense that I decided that making sense is highly overrated.

My blog went in directions that I had not intended. I did not start out the blog with the intentions of doing online creative writing workshops, yet I did that with several posts. 

I did not write any posts in advance. My posts were spontaneous and, for the most part, I wrote one per day. Toward the end, it became obvious to me that I could keep up with the challenge. I felt very good about that.

I am now thinking about writing a book about my life and my adventures. I've walked for many miles for a variety of causes and I've spent a total of fifteen months in federal prison for protesting at the gates of Fort Benning. In fact, I am briefly mentioned in Piper Kerman's book, Orange is the New Black. My story is dramatically exaggerated in odd ways in that book. It's entertaining but inaccurate. But I wonder... would enough people want to read my story? Is it worthwhile to write it? I really don't know so I hope someone has some words of wisdom for me.

Life is good. I'm glad that I found this challenge, and I will try to do it again next year.

Last but not least. Thank you to everyone who read my stories and who posted comments. They were much appreciated. I visited a variety of blogs and enjoyed them all very much. I can't pick out any as favorites. You're all winners, in my view.

One last note: I never did understand the instructions for grabbing badges, so I had to leave the badges out of my blogs. They are awfully cute, and it would be helpful to have the instructions more user friendly for borderline luddites, such as me!
Bye bye for now.
alice 

A Walk in the Woods, part two

Diane and a 200-year-old oak.

Spicer Creek's water levels are very low.

Bird motel.

Another display of the low water levels of Spicer Creek.
Yesterday, Diane, Roy, Ron, and I went for another walk along Spicer Creek. This time, the weather was cooperative. It was warm and sunny. Last week, it rained so I couldn't take any photographs. Yesterday, I carried a small notebook and a pencil and a camera. 

It is fun to explore with Diane, Roy, and Ron. Each one of them has a different expertise. Roy knows a lot about trees. Ron knows a lot about fish and animals. Diane just finished a class in ornithology, and it was delightful to have her share her new found knowledge of birds.

Here are a few things that we discovered:

  • You can find phragmite in and around the creek. Phragmite is an invasive species and it crowds out native species, such as cat tails. It is a grass species, and it is not native to Western New York. Phragmite will actually grow through blacktop. It is hard to get rid of phragmite.
  • The water level in Spicer Creek is dangerously low. We have not had enough rainfall here lately.
  • The types of fish that can be found in Grand Island's creeks include emerald shiners (generally a small, silvery fish), chubs (freshwater fish of the carp family), and northern pike. Also crawfish can be found in the creeks. It appears that these crawfish may not be such an awesome delicacy, even if they are related to lobsters. I was told that eating these little crawfish was "way too much work." Since I believe that eating should be pleasure and not work, I would be unlikely to do a taste test on the crawfish.
  • Trees that we found near the creek included wild cherry, crab apple, beech, shagbark hickory, white oak, pin oak, ash, and black cherry. We found one elm tree which had, unfortunately, passed away. We found one very majestic oak tree that Roy guessed was about two hundred years old. 
  •  Ron pointed out evidence of animals in the area: deer, coyotes, and raccoons. We found a deceased deer while we were walking. Ron figured, from looking at the animal's skeleton, that it was a female under three years of age. It was killed, either by humans or by a coyote.
  • Common birds include mallard ducks, song sparrows, green herons, night herons. Diane commented on the songs that the birds were producing. She also pointed out the footprints that the birds made in the mud along the very low creek.
  • Last but not least. Foreign objects near the creek... I found 42 golf balls. Apparently, people are having fun practicing their golf shots. Since golf balls are ending up in the woods, it appears that the golfers need more practice.

trout lilies, a common wild flower near the creek.
More later...