From the looks of today’s (5/11) weather map there may be some thunderstorms coming overnight.
We sure could use the rain as the Fulton Chain of Lakes is down about three feet.
The wildflowers and the trees could also use some moisture.
If I watch closely tomorrow I will probably be able to see the leaves grow on the trees.
The leaves on most of the trees are about the size of a mouse’s ear, which is the time to fish for brooktrout.
The shade bushes and witch hobble are both in bloom… a good time to fish for trout.
It’s supposed to cool down this coming weekend, but let’s hope we don’t get the snow like they did out west.
The clash between cold in the north and heat to the south sure produced lots of tornadoes and violent thunderstorms somewhere in between.
You couldn’t get me to live out in that funnel cloud country for a million dollars.
I’m a little down and out right now and under doctor’s orders so I haven’t been to the Crown Point Banding Station.
I was over one day last week to cut out the net lanes.
The crew there had done some cutting of invasive species buckthorn which had taken over much of the habitat there.
It really opened up the area so maybe some of the hawthorns will fill in the open spaces as they were getting crowded out by the invasives.
I put up some feeders and put some corn down the lanes to fetch in some blackbirds, grackles and jays.
In the first couple of days they have caught some neat birds, the best being a male eastern towhee which we don’t catch every year.
Ellie George spent a couple nights at the station and the woodcock were flying most all night.
She didn’t hear any owls but that doesn’t mean they are not any there.
They can be silent while they hunt but they can also call to stir up some game for supper.
When I was at Crown Point last week the red columbine was just starting to bloom.
The bloodroot was mostly in bloom as was the hoary alyssum which grows in the shallow soils all over the ledges around the fort.
Several wildflowers around here popped out with all this hot weather.
All three colors of trilliums are out, along with trout lilies, coltsfoot, periwinkle, many violets, wild oats, trailing arbutus and spring beauty.
The Spring Peepers and American Toads are calling down at the pond and getting together around the shoreline.
In a couple months there will be lots of little tad poles along the same shoreline.
The state announced that there was a new record bear take of 1,628 statewide.
According to the count, 1,110 were taken in the southern zone, which broke the previous record of 983 in 2011.
The remaining 518 were taken in the northern zone.
The biggest taken bear was recorded in the Town of Wells, Hamilton County.
A 613-pound bear was taken in the Southern Zone in Green County.
Three bears weighing from 500 to 550 pounds were taken in Ulster County.
Eight hunters took two bears during the season.
This was the final year for early and regular season overlap, which allowed for this to occur.
Twenty-four tagged bears were harvested: three from Pennsylvania, two in New Jersey and one in Massachusetts.
The rest were tagged in New York.
I know the one taken in back of Limekiln Campsite had been chased out of the campsite with rubber bullets because it had several under the hide in its butt, but no tags.
There have been several reports of bears in cars and garages already this year.
Keep your garbage under control and don’t leave so much as a candy bar in your car.
Since they have learned to open car doors it is best to lock your car doors and keep the bears from destroying the inside of your car.
Reports from the Crown Point Banding Station…but that’s another story. See ya.