Deer-resistant barberry bushes classified as invasive plant

Mother Nature sure put on a show of colors this fall which lasted through several wind and rainstorms. Now, the gray treetops of winter are pretty much all that remains.

But if you want to brighten your eyes with colors that will dazzle you as much as the fall leaves did, you need to visit the Quilts Unlimited show at View.

Just yesterday (10/13) I watched beech and maple leaves trickle down into my bird net as the sun melted the overnight heavy frost. At 18 degrees, it was the coldest morning yet.

On the way home from Old Forge the temperature started at 47 but went down to 38 with many snowflakes in the air by the time we reached Inlet.

Nothing has stuck here yet but I heard Tug Hill and Lowville had some white stuff on the ground last Thursday morning.

That was the day the Garden Club decided to plant bulbs in the Point Park garden and take out the invasive Barberry bushes.

These bushes will grow just about anywhere and no species of wildlife will eat its thorny branches.

Birds eat the fruiting berries and then poop them out down the line. Some of these berries will become bushes wherever they are sown by the birds.

The bushes have become a real problem in Massachusetts as Deer ticks that cause Lime Disease hide in them.

The Garden Club, being the pro active group that we are, decided to remove the bushes from our gardens.

I caught a new bird at Eight Acre Wood last Friday morning, a female Eastern Towhee.

I have photographed these birds moving through in spring and fall but this is the first one that I have caught and was able to band.

Earlier in the week I caught two Blue-headed Vireos. They nest around here but normally stay too high in the treetops to catch in my nets.

Their beaks are made for catching bugs and worms crawling in the treetops and they can bite pretty hard.

You can’t put them in a hat with other Warblers as they will peck them pretty good.

Carrie Osborne, who works for Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) came down from Maine to help us band Loons this July.

She had just come back from the north slope of Alaska where she had been working with Yellow-billed and Arctic Loons.

Since it’s daylight most of the time up there they use different techniques than we do as we catch them in the darkness.

They set up net cages under the surface of the water and place a decoy inside the pen. Then they  play tapes to lure birds inside.

Once inside, they pull up the net sides and go out and net the Loon trapped inside the enclosure.

The process is very labor-intensive but it does work.

The Yellow-billed Loon is larger than our Common Loon but not as aggressive when held.

The Arctic Loon is smaller than the Common Loon and is sometimes trapped with a clam or hoop net right at the nest site.

This hasn’t caused them to abandon the nest and it’s the easiest way to catch them.

Their blood and feathers are also tested for mercury levels in their system.

Carrie said there were many mosquitoes and they even show up in the photographs.

While there she photographed many other Arctic nesting birds including Snowy Owl chicks, several Gulls, Willow Ptarmigan and many other nesting shore birds that live that short nesting season in the tundra.

She also saw herds of Caribou feeding nearby but no big white Polar Bears, which was a good thing.

She photographed many of the pretty tundra plants which grow during the short season.

As I looked through her pictures I could see that here was ice off shore, so it was none too warm while they conducted this project.

To string the trap nets they had to go into the water up to their necks so they wore wet suits to keep dry.

I know they have been doing this study for a few years but I don’t know what kind of mercury levels they are finding in these birds.

Another trip to Colorado for Elk and Mule Deer, but that’s another story. See ya.