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The Geese Are Here: It Must Be Spring!

By JIM NIGRO

It was only last Sunday when Claudia and I saw our first flock of geese. By Wednesday the skies were filled with myriad waterfowl, a good sign that spring is almost here.

Spring offically arrives at 1:32 pm Saturday, March 20th, but thousands of geese can't be wrong. If their arrival signals an early spring, it's okay with me. 

While the larger ponds and marshes are still covered with ice, throngs of Canadas have been congregating in open fields and small patches of open water.

Some geese took advantage of the open water....

  while others waddled in slushy snow.

A lone goose glides over the phragmites.

Preparing to touch down.

The respite is over...

once again heading for an unknown destination.

All photos were taken off Roberts Road along the southern perimeter of the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. Special thanks to my grandson, Sammy, for his assistance!  

Conversations with Calliope- What Nature Teaches Us About Waste

By Joseph Langen


 



Sliding Otter News
January 16, 2010
Volume 2, Issue 2


What Nature Teaches Us About Waste

Garbage is simply useful stuff in the wrong place~ Alex Steffen.

David Hertz reminds us that “as Americans we consume approximately thirty-five percent of the world’s resources and create over fifty percent of its solid waste.” There may be others more wasteful than we are but not many. Maybe it’s time to consider our lifestyle and its impact on the rest of the world.

Happily, our collective conscience shows signs of stirring lately. Recycling efforts are commonplace. Government agencies monitor the quality of our water supply. Alternative energy, more respectful of our environment than reliance on fossil fuels, is starting to attract some serious attention.

Yet we remain one of the most wasteful countries in the world. The number of people poo-pooing concern about our environment seems to rival the number of those serious about making changes. Yet we barrel along creating more and more trash in our wake.

What’s important in our culture? Most of us make some effort toward conservation and recycling. But being responsible isn’t easy. Our national anthem and political speeches subscribe to lofty ideals. But what about our daily lives? More telling than what we espouse as our priorities are how we act, how we spend our time and what we eat, wear and drive. It’s easy to say what sounds good and then do what we like regardless of the consequences.

Our rubbish says that speed and convenience appeal to the fast pace of our lives. The remnants of packaging remain as one byproduct of our lifestyle. Similar waste clogs our transportation, entertainment, communication and commerce. It seems clear to me that our technology is often designed to become obsolete in order to insure more sales.

If we did want to change these destructive wasteful habits, where would we turn for example? It occurred to me that we might consider nature. Most of the time we take for granted the cycles of nature and hardly notice them.

At first glance nature seems extravagant. A single maple tree drops many thousands more seed pods than are required to insure a sufficient crop of maple trees. Looking closer, we see that the excess feeds wildlife.

So what’s the difference between nature and human society? Nature provides an abundance sometimes favoring one group of beings and sometimes another. Our human society often does not accept the flow of nature but tries to bend it to our own desires. In the process we often destroy or diminish our own natural environment in our quest for immediate rewards.

There are no easy answers and it’s hard not to put ourselves first. Maybe part of the answer is to consider ourselves as part of nature rather than its owners.

Life Lab Lessons

  • Take some time to learn how nature respects the overall community of life rather than playing favorites.

  • Rethink the importance of your immediate needs and wants.

  • Consider your place in nature.

  • Consider how you might be more in tune with nature.

  • Balance your needs with those of the world community and of nature.

 

Winter Solstice Signals End of Autumn

By JIM NIGRO

Monday is the Winter Solstice, officially the first day of winter and  the shortest day of the year. With three months (at least) of snow, wind and ice in the offing, I'd like to take one last look at autumn, and some of the locales Claudia and I canoed, hiked and cruised along the back roads. 

West Bethany woodlot

A grove of maple and hickory trees

Rather than build up their winter food cache with tender shoots of osier and black willow, the occupants of this beaver lodge raided a farmer's corn lot.

October moon

Black willows along Tonawanda Creek

A stop over for waterfowl, a home to aquatic fur bearers.

A layover between flights.

A placid backwater.

Late autumn on the Tonawanda.

Winter offically arrives with a crescent moon.

December 1st On Celery Brook

By JIM NIGRO

Though I once fished the little stream in my early years, I never knew it had a name. Not long after we moved to Creek Road, a former neighbor, the late Anthony Torcello, told me it was called Celery Brook. It seems that back in the day, the White Swamp – where the stream originates- was once drained and used to grow celery.

Flowing out of the swamp, the little creek meanders through woods, fields and through another small woodlot before emptying into Tonawanda Creek. It seemed like a good place to capture the season’s first snowfall.

 Skim Ice

Cattails mirrored on a placid surface

Snow-capped Queen Anne's Lace

Autumn remnants

Time to head  home

Late October on Oak Orchard Creek

By JIM NIGRO

The above photo depicts Oak Orchard Creek little more than a quarter-mile upstream of Lake Ontario. From the creek mouth to Waterport dam, this is a much wider stretch of stream with a more diverse fishery than found upstream. But on this day, with the exception of few bumps at the end of the line, neither the trout nor salmon were willing to cooperate.

Having moved upstream in search of warm water species, Mike Draper works a rubber worm in hopes of enticing a bass or pike.

The creek bank along a stretch of stream known as "Fiddler's Elbow."

Drake mallards and a lone hen soaking up the sun.

Doug Harloff plying the waters of Marsh Creek, a feeder stream spilling into the Oak Orchard at Twin Bridges.

On the return trip empty boat slips signify the close of the boating season.

 

 

 

Random Photos From Late September

By JIM NIGRO

Snow geese mingling with Canadas

A closer look at the "snows"

Vultures take flight

Get ready...

Here they come

Calling 'em in

Fetch 'em up!

 

Raptors On Roost

By JIM NIGRO

Turkey vultures are normally seen gliding high overhead, soaring on thermal currents, those columns of rising warm air that enable them to cover miles while conserving energy at the same time. Last Wednesday I took these photos along the edge of an evergreen forest. Seven were roosting in a dead hardwood with several more situated in a splintered pine.

While a few birds flew back and forth between the edge of the pines and the dead tree, for the most part they were unalarmed, staying put for several photos.    

Above photo depicts one turkey vulture spreading its wings while another preens its feathers. There is much speculation as to the reason for this practice. Some believe the wings are used as solar panels to generate body warmth while others tend to think they are utilizing the suns ultraviolet rays to kill bacteria picked up from diseased carcasses.

They are ominous-looking creatures, and with their featherless heads, turkey vultures may not be much in terms of appearance, yet they perform a valuable service by cleaning up carrion. Even from high overhead, the turkey vulture employs its keen sense of smell to locate food, one of the few birds of prey able to do so. 

Indian Falls

By Bea McManis

Had lunch at the Log Cabin at Indian Falls.

Huge fish fry...way too much, had to bring half home.

Off The Beaten Path: Still Life Photos

By JIM NIGRO

Mirror image on Oak Orchard Creek

More photos after the jump:

Purple Loosestrife

Musk Mallow

Chickory

Woodland Sunflower

Timothy & Oxeye Daisies

Where Needled Giants Nod

Fur bearer's wake in a swampy backwater

On the way home - the calm before the storm

Conversations with Calliope- Time with Nature

By Joseph Langen

 

 

(Into the Woods)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. Did you take a break as promised?
JOE: I did. I took a walk down a country road and communed with nature's beauty on the best day I have seen all summer.
CALLIOPE: Good timing.
JOE: I can't agree more.
CALLIOPE: What did you discover?
JOE: Birds, cornflowers, Queen Anne's lace, fields, woods and wild black raspberries.
CALLIOPE: Did you take along your camera?
JOE: Not this time. I had to choose between just being with nature or capturing it. I chose the former.
CALLIOPE: Not a bad choice. What did the experience do for you?
JOE: Helped gain me some perspective on life. It's the journey which matters, not the goal.
CALLIOPE: Others might disagree.
JOE: Let them. We all have to choose our own paths and make of them what we will. I'm happy with the choices I have made.
CALLIOPE: Glad to hear it.
JOE: Thanks. Talk with you tomorrow.

 

 

Marsh Monitoring Program Volunteers Help Evaluate Wetlands

By JIM NIGRO

Because wetlands are an important part of the environment, the Canadian-based Marsh Monitoring Program has been studying the effects of outside disturbances on the swamps, marshes, mini-wetlands and adjoining woodlands throughout the entire Great Lakes Basin.

 In their quest to determine the health of these wetlands as well as surrounding woodlands - the MMP enlists the help of volunteers who take a census of the amphibian and feathered inhabitants at selected locales.  A number of these volunteers work at collecting data for both birds and amphibians, others concentrate on birds alone while others focus on the frog population.

 Batavian Bill Moon is a local MMP volunteer who focuses on the amphibian population.  Waiting for a minimum air temperature of 60 degrees, he will select an evening during the months of April, May and June to visit nearby wetlands as dusk approaches. He waits for night to fall, then for a given time period, listens for spring peepers, green frogs and bull frogs, carefully charting the results. The nocturnal chorus, or lack thereof, speaks volumes for the Marsh Monitoring Program.

Due to the work of the program volunteers throughout the Great Lakes Basin, the MMP has established a ranking system, or report card so to speak, to evaluate the state of various wetlands stretching from Wisconsin to the St. Lawrence River. These wetlands range in size from vast swamps and cattail marshes to microcosmic wetland tracts.

Being among nature’s delicate species, the songbirds and amphibians serve as natural barometers, providing insight as to the health of the outdoors environment. As good indicators of air and water quality and other earth resources, such species are the first to be affected by various disturbances on the landscape such as Great Lakes water levels, housing or developmental sprawl, etc.   

A Morning On Black Creek

By JIM NIGRO

Originally the intent of the morning’s paddle was to get a photo or two of the otters known to inhabit Black Creek. Unfortunately, the semi-aquatic mammals were nowhere in sight. Perhaps they had moved farther upstream, into the Bergen Swamp.   There were numerous Canada geese on hand, adults, adolescents and goslings – and willing to have their picture taken.  

Conversations with Calliope- Nature and God's Mystery

By Joseph Langen

(Central Park Lake)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. It sounds like you had a busy week.
JOE: I did. I finally sent in the final draft of Meeting God in Nature yesterday for publication in Christian Schaal's book, Meeting the God of America.
CALLIOPE: How was it received?
JOE: Enthusiastically. He posted it as a sample from the forthcoming book.
CALLIOPE: Can I read it?
JOE: Sure. It's posted at
http://www.meetingthegodofamerica.com/finding_god_in_nature.pdf .
CALLIOPE: Thanks. I'll take a look. What else are you up to.
JOE: I planned to organize my desk last Saturday but didn't get to it. Today it's time for another go at it.
CALLIOPE: Sounds ambitious. How's the floor coming?
JOE: Just about finished. Other laborers were called to the vineyard so I didn't have to work on it last night. I'm on call today if needed.
CALLIOPE: Anything else on the agenda?
JOE: Church in the morning and then a graduation party in the afternoon.
CALLIOPE: I hope you have some time to relax.
JOE: I do and have some reading planned. Talk with you on Monday.

Conversations with Calliope- Nature's Mysteries

By Joseph Langen
(Lagoon in San Juan)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Just barely.
JOE: Now, now. It's Saturday and I'm taking my time getting going today.
CALLIOPE: Okay. What's this about nature's mysteries?
JOE: Another part of the topic from yesterday.
CALLIOPE: Explain please.
JOE: I told you that I eventually learned to connect with God through nature. Specifically the mysteries I found in nature led me to God.
CALLIOPE: I see. How did that happen?
JOE: After wrestling with thoughts for years, I finally let myself go in the magnificence of nature. For a while I just enjoyed communing with it and finally realized it was a manifestation of the glory of God. Then I appreciated it even more.
CALLIOPE: Very interesting. So now whenever you need to connect with God all you have to do is be alone with nature and its glory.
JOE: Correct. But it took me a long time to find such a simple approach.
CALLIOPE: Sometimes the most obvious things lie right in front of us.
JOE: No question.
CALLIOPE: Thanks for the explanation.
JOE: My pleasure. Talk with you on Monday.

Conversations with Calliope- Finding God in Nature

By Joseph Langen
(God in Nature)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. I understand there are people waiting to hear our conversation today.
JOE: That's what I heard too. I think they want to know about God in America.
CALLIOPE: So tell me already.
JOE: Yesterday I finished my piece, Finding God in Nature. It's about my path to discovering God.
CALLIOPE: I'd like to know more.
JOE: I started by wrestling with institutional church teachings, prescriptions and proscriptions dating back to childhood through my early twenties.
CALLIOPE: And?
JOE: I finally realized I could find God in the mysteries of nature and relate on that level with a God who reached out to me in ways to which I could respond.
CALLIOPE: Can you share the whole piece with me?
JOE: It's rather long for a blog. Also I wrote it for inclusion in a book. I'm not sure the author would appreciate my unveiling it before publication.
CALLIOPE: I understand. Where will your piece be published?
JOE: I wrote it for Christian Schall's book in progress, Meeting the God of America.
CALLIOPE: I assume there will be other contributors.
JOE: There will. He has some but from what I understand is still looking for more. He describes his project at
http://www.meetingthegodofamerica.com.

Conversations with Calliope- Juggling Projects

By Joseph Langen
(Sunrise in Leroy)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: I feel like a juggler.
CALLIOPE: What are you juggling?
JOE: Several projects.
CALLIOPE: Anything we haven't discussed yet?
JOE: I have agreed to write a piece for a new book, Finding God in America.
CALLIOPE: How's it coming?
JOE: I'm doing better with it than I thought I would. It's quite a topic.
CALLIOPE: I agree. How are you approaching it?
JOE: I started with how I see God these days and where.
CALLIOPE: Which is?
JOE:In nature. I have concluded that most religions become stultified and moralistic with age. Keeping in touch with God through official channels becomes more of an obligation than a joy.
CALLIOPE: So how do you find God?
JOE: That's what my piece is about. I'll tell you more about it tomorrow. See you then.

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