Folks to the south of us in the big city have had more rain than they can handle. It also hit parts of Pennsyl-vania where up until today (8/21) they were still getting blasted by rain.

Eventhough some yellows and reds showed up on the local weather map most of the storms by-passed us.

I went to Moshier Reservoir this afternoon and got in a little over an hour of catching smallmouth bass before the rains came.

After that we had a nice meal at the Stillwater Hotel while watching the Hummers feed at window feeders.

On our way back home we met some idiot in a white pickup headed towards Stillwater.

He just about wiped out at every corner on the dirt road so it’s a good thing we didn’t meet him on one of those curves.

Speaking of Hummers, I’ve had several calls about them in the last couple of weeks.

The young are mostly out of the nest and feeding with the adults so there has been a lot more dive-bombing on th Bee Balm and feeders.

I’ve had as many as six in the Bee Balm patch at the same time. It makes for a nice picture with the Hummers buzzing around all that red.

There is always a boss bird that chases the others away from the feeder and the Bee Balm.

It doesn’t hurt to keep your feeders up, as these birds will go when it’s time for them to leave. Your feeder won’t prevent them from leaving.

The pictures of the Lilies and Three Birds Orchid in last week’s column were taken by Charles Ufford.

Lots of Cardinal and Turtle-head Flowers are now blooming along the rivers and lakes in this area.

This morning I had several fall warblers feeding in the trees outside our windows.

A family of Black-capped Chickadees were being taught how to open a sunflower seed.

A little later a family of seven baby Turkeys showed up with their Mom.

Another family of two babies and two hens came by too. The hen with two babies had three a week ago.

While going to Stillwater we saw a family of four babies and a hen in one of the log landings.

There is a Summer Wild Turkey Sighting Survey being done during the month of August.

You can find the information and report cards on the DEC website.

There are a couple of situations that occurred in our family in the last week that I believe are worth reporting on.

The first thing happened to my son Jason who was here from Rochester with his family on a camping trip.

When we went to set up their tent we discovered that there were no poles in the bag. This is not an uncommon problem for campers.

We ended up borrowing a tent from Chip and Cindy Sauer so the children had their camping experience in a smaller tent.

I have to admit that happened to us once when we went to camp at Eagle Point on Schroon Lake.

We traveled in two cars because Karen and I were going to stay the week. Dad had put all the gear in the boat.

When we unpacked the boat we discovered that we had no poles. Dad drove the two hours back home to pick them up.

It was near dark before we got the camp set up.

The other story is a near-death experience my Brother Bob had while mowing a lawn.

Bob has two large mowers he uses on the several lawns he tends on Willsboro Point. The brake and gas pedals are different on each of the mowers.

While doing a lawn near the lake he mistakenly pressed the gas as he was headed down a steep and rocky embankment.

He said he remembered turning the machine off with the key, but rode it down to the bottom.

He was knocked unconscious. When he woke up he was trapped under the mower at the bottom of the steep slope.

He had to take off his shoes to get out from under it.

He didn’t break any bones but he told me he had plenty of black and blue marks.

It took a few hours of hauling with a four-wheeler to get the mower back to flat ground. He said it wasn’t as damaged as he was and that the mower is back in working condition. Bob, you’re getting too old for this kind of fun and games.

I got another call about the Loon on Fourth Lake hooked with fishing line. It looks like it’s going to have to wear it when it heads, as he is uncatchable.

We made four attempts at releasing the line but the bird wouldn’t hold for our light. He must be eating or else he would be dead by now.

He’s gone from First to Fourth Lake so we know he can fly.

Four others weren’t so lucky. The one in Lake Abanakee with fishing line around its beak has not been found and is presumed dead.

I’ve picked up four other dead Loons from area lakes, three adults and one chick.

All the adults seemed quite emaciated.

They may have died from ingesting a lead sinker as they had no physical marks on their bodies.

The chick from Limekiln Lake probably got hit by a boat or jet ski as it had been seen out in the middle of the lake with another chick a week before it was killed.

Not many Monarch Butterflies this year, but that’s another story. See ya.