Advocacy

,

The Eyes (and Ears) Have It

,

A couple of weeks ago I was walking into a trout stream (here I go again) when I spotted an odd splotch of brown, white, and black on the opposite bank. I could not make it out — a dead raccoon? a sleeping badger? Neither seemed quite right and the latter sort of ridiculous. Later as I had worked back to that bank, I had my answer when a goose erupted off her nest. I had not known that geese flatten themselves on a nest when they feel threatened. Within the next week or so on two different streams I saw the same phenomena. In both cases, though, I instantly recognized what I was seeing.

Photo by Arlene Koziol

,

Wild Moms Who Mostly Don't Need Our Help (and Some Who Do)

,

On May 6 of this year, I was approaching a most gorgeous run and riffle on Gordon Creek with thoughts of trout dancing in my head when a flapping dervish burst out from the bank. A hen wood duck was doing her best "Oh I'm wounded! Chase me, fiendish predator! And leave my babies alone" routine. On she flapped through the riffle, the run, and the nice section upstream for good measure. Is she crazy, I thought, it's way too early for wood ducklings to have hatched. Someone had not explained the calendar to the 6 or 7 tiny ducklings that stuck their heads out of the bank. I left the water to her and the babes and retreated downstream. Goose Pond's Mark Martin confirmed this is indeed an early hatching of wood ducks.

Photo by Kelly Colgan Azar

,

Dead Birds That Didn't Have to Die

,

For over 30 years, my wife Sally and I have been regulars at the Downtown Farmers' Market. We're in the group of early birds, who enjoy an uncrowded walk around the Square, a chance to talk to the vendors, some of whom are now friends, before they get too busy, and buy some great food before it sells out. Last fall, Sally and I discovered that other early birds were not so fortunate. On multiple Saturdays, we found a freshly dead warbler that had collided with one of the tall, newer glass buildings on the corners of the Square. That made for a somber walk to the car.

Birds hit windows. That comes as no surprise to most of us. This happens because bird vision is not evolved to see glass — really, no one’s vision is evolved that way, which is why there are slews of YouTube videos of people running into glass doors. Birds don’t have the benefit of communication and warning, and when approaching a large pane of glass, often see the reflection of sky or habitat. Even worse, birds fly quickly and are small-bodied, meaning that most of the time when they collide with a window, it is fatal.

Photo by Beth Workmaster

,

Celebrating and Mourning Earth Day

,

Although the timing was fortuitous, Madison Audubon celebrated Earth Day in an especially wonderful way. We agreed to buy land that will dramatically improve one of our smaller sanctuaries.

Otsego Marsh is a mostly wonderful 80 acres that Madison Audubon owns in Columbia County, about 15 minutes north and east of Goose Pond. It contains a nice marsh and upland woods. Madison Audubon has worked to improve the woods, most recently with some tree-planting last year. A path runs through the woods, enabling you to see some nice spring ephemerals right about now.

Photo by Graham Steinhauer

,

Kids and the Curiosity Seed

,

Harry and his family moved on to another air base and many years passed. Thirty or so years later, I asked Mom whatever happened to Harry Greene. Funny you should ask, she said, I'll send you the latest copy of the Smithsonian magazine and you'll see for yourself. That issue announced a series of lectures by Professor Harry Greene coinciding with the publication of his evolutionary study of snakes (like all the snakes in the world). Harry has become one of the world's most prominent herpetologists and is now an advocate for re-wilding parts of the West. He is now a Professor Emeritus at Cornell. His massive and beautifully illustrated evolutionary study of snakes is entitled Snakes (simple enough).

Photo by Dave Thomas FCC