2006 Correspondents
(This 822nd Buffalo Sunday News column was first published on December 31, 2006.)
A Camouflaged Flower Spider
Photo taken by reader Bonnie Bowen
A poor photographer myself, I am
particularly beholden to those correspondents who send me photos, many of which
have appeared with columns. Among them I cite in particular Bonnie Bowen, Carl
Carbone, Willie D'Anna, Tom LeBlanc and David Ruppert, who have been especially
generous.
But one kind of forwarded photo represents
a challenge. It is accompanied by a request for identification of the species
pictured. I often have difficulty answering these requests and have to turn to
local experts for help. A few days ago, for example, the Padowskis of Grand
Island forwarded a photo of two small birds roosting in the corner of their
porch. I couldn't identify them but Willie D'Anna immediately noticed a
characteristic that I had missed, the birds' tails pressed woodpecker-like
against the wall. That cinched it: they were brown creepers.
Far and away the most reader responses came to my
column on butternut trees. Those messages addressed two major points of that
column. The first was about the rarity and decline of this species nationally.
Clearly, readers indicate that butternuts are doing far better here than
elsewhere. In particular, Jeff Crane showed me dozens along the railroad tracks
behind Crescent Avenue. The other concern I raised in that column was about the
disease that spreads rapidly through a region to cause this decline. Happily,
only one Lockport writer noted even the possibility of this virulent canker.
Other local trees are apparently in good health.
I am, of course, delighted that our butternuts are
healthy. I urge readers, however, to monitor their trees and to have any
diseased tree removed promptly to avoid infecting others. Those of us who
witnessed the ravages of the Dutch elm disease that took out those lovely trees
that formerly lined our neighborhood streets should be especially sensitive to
this kind of possible epidemic. Readers who want more information about the
disease and how to control it should visit the Forest Service website: www.na.fs.fed.us/Spfo/pubs/howtos/ht_but/ht_but.htm.
Another column that drew much reader interest was
about trilliums. Joe Maddi of Orchard Park told me that deer avoided his white
trilliums, but others found deer browsing on their red and painted species.
One kind of reader request has always posed problems
for me. My columns are essays on a single subject and I do not include
announcements unless they tie in with that topic. Normally a request like
Audubon naturalist Adam Kneis's I couldn't answer, but in this column I am
happy to do so. Adam has started a monthly natural history book discussion at
the Beaver Meadow Nature Center in Java. His group meets on the fourth Thursday
each month. At the January 25 meeting they will
discuss Richard Louv's book, Last Child in the Woods.
I continue to receive many notes from
readers who wonder where the birds have gone. Their feeders stand empty. But I
get about as many messages from readers like Gene and Rita Kautz of Attica who
tell how their feeders are overflowing with birds. One suggestion the Kautzes
offer: plant conifers near your feeders to provide cover from hawks.
I end this column with this delightful
tongue-in-cheek response by Mary Ognibene of Grand Island to my curling column:
"If the Scots had any smarts they would keep very quiet about indulging in
a such a sport as curling. They never should have let the news out of the
country. I mean, here's a country that first invents Scotch whiskey and the
next day sees the Loch Ness monster and invents curling and telephone pole
throwing. Doesn't that tell you something?"
Thank you, readers, and best wishes for
the year ahead.-- Gerry Rising