Eclectic travelers

Going Full Circle in retrospect   1.         Thinking back to five years ago it seems so logical now, in retrospect, that we walked in a circle and that each day was an unknown - that is we were not on a trail, a path, a road - we were not going to something, we were going around, encircling, encompassing, coming to know where we were - here on earth, on this planet, in this north country. We were moved my majesty that was apparent, but also hidden. I always felt that when people asked h ow far we walked they asked the wrong question - it should be - "what did you see?" I was always a meanderer. At the Audubon Center I resisted trails for many year saying that trails led through, between, but not in. When I went off trail I was someplace, on trail I would be going someplace. Of course, I value trails, the North Country trail, the App, the Muir, Santiago, etc. Great trails, great adventures and I have followed trails in parks, wil...

Ruffed Grouse POSTED ON  MARCH 10, 2015   Blog for Prd.seed.com Last Thursday I cross-country skied on our trails thinking it might be the last time this year.  It was below zero and there was still a nice amount of snow on the ground, but the forecast was calling for temperatures to rise into the high 40s or even 50s the next week.  I’m glad I went out that day, because four days later the snow was melting rapidly with a daytime high of 55F. One of the pleasures of cross-country skiing on our trails is trying to decipher the messages in the snow.  The longer the snow has been on the ground, the more messages you will find.  What I’m ‘reading’ are the tracks made by birds and animals as they meander and crisscross our property.  While most of the tracks belong to mammals, large and small, occasionally I find bird tracks. In our woods there are some wonderful three toed bird tracks that wander in and out of the thick forest and parallel to the s...

WINGIN’ IT By Kate Crowley Photos by Mike Link Cooper's Hawk Ever since human beings have become cognizant of their place as terrestrial beings, I believe we have envied birds; to be free of gravity, to soar above the troubles of the land below, to lift up and be able to move three dimensionally in the same way creatures of the sea are able is something we’ve only been able to imagine.  And imagination has pushed us so hard that we have gone from ancient fables (Icarus and Daedalus) into rocket powered vehicles that lift us into outer space.  It is such a brief period of time in human history that we have been able to imitate birds with our flying machines, yet it has become almost ordinary for the millions who fly across the planet daily. My first airplane flight happened almost 60 years ago.  My mom, who had gotten her private pilot license a decade earlier, wanted my younger brother and I to experience flight, but since my dad had insisted she give up...

GOING NATURE’S WAY By Kate Crowley photos by Mike Link Bird migration is something I have talked about more than once in this column, but we know that insects (Monarch butterflies) and mammals migrate too and the ones I have wanted longest to see are the Gray Whales.  Every year these magnificent marine mammals make a journey from the Arctic regions to the Baja California coast of the Pacific Ocean and then back again, following the seasons.  It is a journey they have been following since time immemorial. There are distinct reasons for this annual 10,000 mile round trip migration and like the birds it relates to abundance of food and more importantly, the reproductive cycle.  It is in the far northern waters that the whales find the most abundant food – amphipods – which are small crustaceans and tube worms in the bottom sediments.  As a baleen whale, instead of teeth, they have long, fringed plates hanging from either side of the mouth.  While ...

GOING NATURE’S WAY By Kate Crowley Fifty Shades of Grey is how I’d describe our weather over the past two months.  That is why I had to get outside on Saturday when the sun was actually visible in a blue, blue sky.  There isn’t enough snow to ski on, but I grabbed my poles anyway and used them to add some aerobic energy to the walk.  I was also hoping to find some inspiration for this column and as usual on any walk in the woods, I was not disappointed.  What I was looking for was some color; preferably red or yellow, something bright and cheerful.  I didn’t find anything like that. Instead, my eyes wandered over the crusty snow and into the shrubby woods and I found what I was looking for - inspiration and mystery.  The myriad tracks worn into the old snow caused me to stop often.  I studied where they came from and where they went, trying to interpret their stories.  Were they mice or shrews scurrying across the trail and diving into th...

WINGIN’ IT By Kate Crowley On Tuesday the snowstorm blew in, carrying with it a flurry of finches. We were happy for both.  I was tired of looking at brown ground and the action around our feeders had become lackluster; the same old, same old.  But a combination of snow and wind was the alchemy needed for the transformation at our feeders.  The action was fast and constant and we walked from window to window trying to count the different species.  We had decided this would be a good day to do a bird count for Feederwatch.  The mix included black-capped chickadees, blue jays, red-breasted nuthatches, dark-eyed juncos, purple finches, pine siskins, and common redpolls, the last two being iconic irruptive species.  What this means is that every couple years or so, siskins and redpolls move south in large numbers from their normal winter range.   Scientists believe the reason for this migration is a shortage of cones (and their seeds) from ...

WINGIN’ IT By Kate Crowley I stood on the deck under a somber, colorless sky and watched the chickadees and juncos hop around and flit back and forth to the feeders.  When I first walked out the door they all scattered, but it doesn’t take long for these little birds to return to the business of feeding.  One of these days I’m going to find a place to sit near the feeders and see just how long it takes for them to overcome their natural wariness and begin to feed around me.  I also noticed a couple chickadees sitting within the tangled branches of the mock orange shrubs next to the sidewalk.  I was only 3 feet away from one of them, but it continued to industriously peck at the sunflower seed held in its foot.  There is an easy comfort standing so close to a small bird like this.  Beneath this shrub there is a spray of shells indicating the popularity of this dining area. The same can be seen beneath the other mock orange and beneath the lilac sh...