Site Discussions

I love every product Harvey has made for me. He is an amazing, fastidious, creative and knowledgeable artist with wonderful ideas. You will love working with him. One visit to his workshop and you will know you are in for a treat!! 
Say hello to Winston when you get there!!

I discovered a preying mantis in my driveway perched on a pigweed. I pulled the weed and relocated the mantis to another plant without injuring the mantis. I understand mantis were introduced to this area a few years ago.

I live in southern Westchester County and have 5 large beech trees on my property.  I noticed the problem for the first time this year in late spring when the full tree foliage canopy never developed properly. My neighthood has many of these large beeches that are obviously affected. I’m surprised it’s not “bigger” news as the loss of these old trees will greatly affect the landscape of the area and it’s dependent wildlife. It’s truly sad.

We raise chickens and turkeys in a small flock. One of our heritage chocolate turkeys disappeared recently and then made surprise visits to our coop to feed after which she vanished again. My husband figured she was on a nest in the field so he was on the look out for her return. A few days later she showed up and he followed her to her nest. Next time she made a special guest appearance we went to the nest site and saw about 12 eggs. We waited again for her to make an appearance and I went to the nest only to find most of the eggs hatched and some birds present. Over the last few days, we have seen mom and her flock of about 9 poults working the paths we cut in the field so we can walk our dog. This has been our excitement for the summer. We are wondering if she will eventually return to the existing flock of birds near our house which is only 100 yards away from the nesting site and paths.

Thank you, Declan!  Fascinating article on a species I knew nothing about.  Your information on these creatures re-affirms my belief that nature really knows how to take care of itself.  What amazing parenting skills these insects have!

I once picked up a handful of duckweed from a beaver pond, and received a very painful bite on my finger.  Never saw the creature that did it, but I figured it might be a giant water bug. Many years ago we (my ex and I) had one in an aquarium. She had her hand in the aquarium and it bit her. Extremely painful bite.

And another delight of jewelweed. Capture the green seeds as the pod ejects them. Peel the outer green coating off the tiny jewel. Inside, at the right stage of maturity, is a white seed the turns a heavenly blue as it oxidizes.

Thanks for the article. I am just beginning to think about the forest, how different people use it, and how each group of people depends on another group to get what they want. Your article is very helpful and inspirational to us beginners.

Thanks for a great read. I live in the South now, but I am from the northeast and your writing evoked memories of the forests I grew up with. I am familiar with that ecosystem and miss it! I remember an old-growth forest near Ithaca, NY (Smith Woods) I used to enjoy. Another one at Windsor Jambs in MA. Precious remnants of the once-great temperate forests. Thank you!

How likely it is to find Liverworts on a sandy barrier island in New York? Different shoreline than Maine. Our town’s Historical Society has a garden and in an shady are where we exhibit a laundry yard covered in shells we have spotted liverworts, which are taking over one side.

I have had the humble experience of befriending a crow I’ve named Charlie.  He loves to come every morning VERY early and caws until I go out and feed him.  The longer I take the more different his cawing gets.  About 3 weeks ago I heard some funny sounding caws and looked out to see Charlie, another adult and 2 youngsters.  He (or she) had brought the entire family by. Now they all come every day at least twice.  The young ones will come alone and cry til the parents come.  I know Charlie knows me and has passed onto his family that I’m ok.  They all look up at me while they’re eating. It’s quite the experience I must say. What an honour to have these amazing birds trust me like this.  When I hear Charlie I’ll say to my cat “is that Charlie” and he perks his ears up and runs to the window.  Now he knows the sound of “Charlie’s babies” too.  So cute.  I just love them.

You mention “In a year with alarmingly few insects” and I have noticed that, too. Last year, there were lots of swallowtail butterflies in my yard. This year I think I saw one. And there seemed to be more bees last year.
We had that oppressively high heat earlier than usual. Did that kill off a lot of insects?
Or is it the neonectisides (can’t remember if that is the correct spelling)?
Probably it is a combination of factors. But it is alarming.
Thank you for your very interesting and educational observations of nature.

There were maybe one or two seasons when they were everywhere around where I lived on the south shore of Montreal. That was around the late sixties or early seventies. I’ve seen very few since then. Maybe not even one in decades. I wonder what changed.

I never before realised that thistle was edible, nor that artichoke was a variety of thistle.  Apparently, breaded and fried, it’s a common and traditional dish in Sicily - though I don’t know which variety of thistle they cook with.

I have Black Capped chickadees and Mountain chickadees and Nuthatches as well as quite a few others. They all definitely have me trained. The black capped chickadee parents have been taking their youngsters around showing them how to collect bugs and eat nuts from my feeder, and drink out of the hanging water dish. But if the water is low and if there are no nuts I will hear about it from them. They will chatter at my window when I’m in the kitchen very loudly until I come out and refill for them.

Good information here. I’m going to try and rough shape a few handles from some green mulberry.  The stuff stays wet forever and I don’t have 2 yrs to dry each blank. So, I’m hoping this method proves useful.  I’m a little worried about warp and twist, so I may modify just a bit and cut larger, rougher staves or blanks. That way if they twist over the next couple weeks, I can somewhat compensate for it. Thanks so much for the detailed info that you’ve made work for you. 

- John

24 hours after I received this article they removed the word gypsy from the gypsy moth. My apologies for using that word.

It started at the top of a older beech tree. The tree died over time, about 3 years. Now it has spread to about a dozen young trees. What a shock when I read the reason they all look so wilted and dying leaves.

I think I spotted a Ilex verticillata in the wild with red berries. Does that mean there’d be a male close by? If so, how would I identify it? I would like to try and take a cutting of each to propagate. This land is to be developed so I consider the cuttings as an attempt at rescuing it.

We have a Harrier I have been following for several years.