Site Discussions

I’m as Canadian as it gets. Every fall we head to Quebec and fly far north into boreal forests to hunt moose. We are dropped off and left with only what we brought to survive. Whiskey jack/ grey jay/ Canada bird. Whatever you will call it is the most impressive creature in my books. I like to think every time I reach that area it is always the same whiskey jack that Greets me. Although most people say they’re small, when you’re that far north they are much larger than a blue jay! His trickery. His thievery is very much true as legend speaks. Also noted he will be a very good companion in the vast forests up here. They alert you to movement. Predators. And possible weather. I enjoy his surprises while fluttering on your shoulder out of nowhere and reward him with bits of my sandwich I packed that day. When camp is set up the first day I will agree!!!  As you walk miles out of the bush they flutter ahead of you leading ultimately to their goal of the spoils of free camp food and I also have pictures of canucks who had too many beers only to have a whiskey jack on either shoulder perched to clean up the mess!

Thanks for the article Tim. I lived in Turners Falls and have visited the fish ladder many times, and can tell you may have never been to this funky little village. I’ve explored the area in and around the dam/falls numerous times. I’m a bit confused by the mention of three fish ladders – I’ve only seen one at TF, and it allowed mostly shad and lampreys to navigate from the natural channel below the dam to above the dam, circumnavigating the power canal. When the ladder is running, it is quite an interesting engineering feat. Unless I’m totally missing something, this ladder allows aquatic fish to continue upstream, not into the canal. Maybe the three ladders you’re referring to include all fish ladders/bucket lifts on the Connecticut (Holyoke/Turners/Vernon?)?

I’m not sure of the number of tributaries between Holyoke and Vernon, but one major river that intersects with the Connecticut is the Deerfield river. I have canoed up the Deerfield during migration, and the Deerfield is full of shad and lamprey. Another tributary is at French King Bridge. Would be interesting to find out what percentage of shad go to tributaries before Vernon.

The Northfield Mountain regeneration plant actually causes the Connecticut to REVERSE during night time hours, as it sucks river water up to the mountaintop reservoir. Of all the concerns I’ve heard about the migratory fish and Turners Dam/Power Canal/Northfield Mountain, this is the one that is constantly discussed. The fish get confused, as upstream is now downstream. If you travel the Connecticut above the dam, you see logs set in the banks all the way to Northfield MA. The erosion from reversing the flow has a detrimental effect on this slow moving part of the Connecticut. What should be a nice rest for the fish must turn into a confusing nightmare at night. I can’t comment on the pump filters, if they are sucking up fish along with the water, something to explore. The discharge of water occurs during the day when electricity demand is highest. The fish ladder is open every day during migration, and the fish have no issues with the flow because the dam regulates how much goes over the Falls and power canal. The fish ladder flow is greatly increased after a rainstorm, and the water is muddied enough that the viewing station is hardly worth a visit. The daily release from Northfield is minute compared to a good rainstorm near Turners or from up your way in Vermont.

I can understand the low-flow issue, although the article’s description can be confusing for someone who has never seen the power canal, dam and fish ladder. If the Connecticut hasn’t had rain to keep flow going over the dam, all water is diverted to the power canal. (This doesn’t happen often, as most days one or more of the dam’s “locks” are down and allowing water to flow over the dam). Remember, this is downstream flow. Shad and other fish are coming up the natural channel, which now has little to no flow because of the complete diversion to the power canal. And who knows what happens at night during low flow and Northfield Mountain sucking even more out above the dam. Thank you for this, as I hadn’t thought about how this may have affected migration. And again, the fish are always in the natural channel, unless of course they take a wrong turn after the fish ladder and end up in the power canal.

I would suggest a trip to Turners Falls to see how this all works. The fish ladder opens soon, and is a beautiful facility. Walk across a bridge that looks like it’s about to fall into the canal (right by the Great Falls Discovery Center) over to where the fish ladder comes up from just below the falls. You’ll see the fish do not go into the power canal. Bring along a canoe or kayak and paddle both upstream from the dam (launch just off Rt. 2 past the Wagon Wheel) and downstream from the power canal (drop in where the Deerfield and Connecticut converge). Here you’ll see how the fish could be affected by flow. And if you paddle far enough up from the dam, you’ll see the intake gates for Northfield Mountain, and all the ugly erosion logs, just before a really neat leanto.

I am with you on your last sentence, and hope we both live long enough to see that many shad in another funky cool town, Bellows Falls.

Thanks for great article,

Almost stepped on one once. It flew at the last minute. The least bittern is one of my dream birds. That and the black rail.

The Doves set up their nest on the fence next to my a/c unit, laid 2 eggs, hatched, fed them and just before they were ready to leave them to fend for themselves a larger bird scared the father away and took one of the chicks. The other one got away it was forced out of the nest to the ground where the mother is now sitting on it. I hope it can make it. I know that only about a third of the chicks survive. It’s a shame as these birds are so nice and friendly.

I was diagnosed in July 2012. I did not have any rash that I know of. I was bit by a tick when I was on vacation in Gettysburg, PA. I became very lethargic and my joints, especially my neck was hurting, some flu-like symptoms. My doctor checked EBV, Mono and Lyme. Lyme was positive. Tried 21-days of Doxy. Felt a little better, but then the bottom dropped out. Retested by PCR and positive. I was on 30-days of IV Rocephin. I felt better, but still had bad days, so I decided to start on a Natural Lyme Formula treatment protocol from Organic Herbal Clinic (www. organicherbalclinic. com), the treatment effectively treated my Lyme disease condition. The stiffness, fatigue and joint/muscle/body pains has subsided, I feel better overall than I have felt in years. 3 months after the treatment, I made an appointment with a rheumatologist in Houston, after examining me, she looked at me and told me I did not have Lyme disease because all the usual Lyme symptoms had stopped. Its almost like a miracle!

David, we still have golden eagles migrating through in small numbers - Todd Katzner with USGS and his team have done some fascinating work mapping the birds’ paths and behaviors. In terms of resident birds in the US Northeast, I’m not aware of any current efforts to restore a breeding population.

I had no idea that the golden eagles were once in this area.  Is there, or will there be, an effort to restore them?

Meghan wrote a wonderful article that captures the skill and beauty of these incredible raptors. However there are a couple statistics that aren’t quite right. In 2018, NH tallied 25 territorial pairs of peregrines, with 23 pairs documented incubating eggs, and 17 pairs that were successful, producing a total of 43 young.

My family and I just moved to a new home in a wooded area, and we want to hang up a bird feeder on our porch. Your article had great tips for taking care of a feeder like this, and I liked how you said to get a feeder with screens place around it as this keeps out squirrels and large birds such as blue jays that make a mess. Thanks; we’ll keep this in mind when getting a bird feeder.

In early May 2019 I spotted a fox with red and black (mostly black) coat in Kingston, NH.  I had never seen one like that before.  I had to look it up and learned that it is a rare color variation.

I was diagnosed with Lyme disease by a Lyme aware doctor in November 2018 and also have a co-infection. I have trouble walking and use a walker but walk slowly! More research definitely needs to be done pertaining to Lyme. I worked in the out of doors as an interpretive naturalist since 1983. I have always been a healthy person.

Why isn’t there a salt block that could have meds in it like we put on dogs or cats.

What is the primary diet of the shad or do they stop eating once they begin their journey up river to spawn?

The winter tick life cycle has nothing to do with mice.  It lives entirely on moose.

Possums don’t live that far north, or if they do, they’re just getting there.
I’d go with turkeys…

I read about mange and then lo and behold, the neighborhood fox showed up looking terrible. This was fall of 2018. Fast forward to spring 2019. He is still alive. I made a batch of meatballs (no spices). He/she walks through my yard every morning between 10 and 11. He gets four meatballs every day, today was the third day. Right now I am being aggresive withe the Ivermectin. He took off with one meatball today. Maybe he took it to his mate. I just want him feeling better.

Maybe it’s time to bring in the opossums? Big tick eaters…

Are we making the connection with mice & other small rodents, ticks, and the invasive Japanese barberry plant?

I have lived in Maine my whole life (I’m 17 but that’s besides the point) and I am an avid bear baiter. It’s not quite as simple as everyone is so quick to make it.

For 7 years I’ve been hunting bear over bait and have never even had one come while I was hunting. Granted, I usually only hunt on Friday and/or Saturday but still. And the food doesn’t affect their diet like a lot of people claims it does. Bears would much rather eat fruit or a decomposing carcass over the bait but every now and then it’s a good way to get a few extra calories in before Winter hits, especially for smaller or older bears who can’t compete with bears in their prime.

Morality aside, bear baiting counts for roughly 70% of the annual bear harvest after hunting season. In 2014, the number of bears estimated to be in the State of Maine was 36,000 and all indications point to that number slowly increasing each year. In places such as Caribou or Presque Isle, the bear population has reached it’s maximum. So, baiting is extremely important to maintain bear populations and honestly, we should be considering making the limit 2-3 bear per year at least in some of the northern hunting zones where bears are more abundant.

I apologize for being 5 years late to this conversation but I felt I needed to share a few more facts with people so that maybe we can be a little more open minded about baiting if another poll ever does come back, which is likely to occur in another decade or so. It’s a lot less unethical than some people may think but I do agree stalking bears would be ideal. However, of the dozens and dozens of people I know, only 1 has ever had the opportunity to shoot a bear under natural circumstances.

I also wanted to say that yes, bears are not as violent as we tend to think. In fact, I’ve been within inches of a wild bear before it ran past me while I carried 2 buckets of bait. It didn’t attack even though I had roughly 10 pounds of food with me. But, bears are still dangerous and we need to respect that fact. Bears, especially sows with their cubs, could charge or attack in an instant and I think we all know how bad that usually turns out. No one wants to be mauled in their backyard which is why baiting, trapping, and hunting with dogs needs to remain prominent methods of hunting in Maine.

If you’d like to discuss this with me personally, my email is .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Please consult with veterinarians to add information as to the incidence of tick prevalence in the NE as thy are the tip of the iceberg.  They’ve been screaming about this for the past 10 years.

I remember back in 1973,delivering mink,rabbit,and deer hides to an old tannery in Gloversville.Inside were huge wooden vessels and machinery that looked like it was from the 1800’s.The smell was of hides and chemicals was unbearable.This in January or February.I couldn’t imagine how rough it must have been in the summer.It was not for the faint of heart!