Sunday, October 15, 2023

Tricks of the Trail

bobcat on a trail cam

 

Trail camera technology is not just for hunters. Folks might be surprised who they can find living right in their own back yards! For some tips & techniques on integrating trail camera technology into your personal “wilderness experience,” plus some of my own trail cam wildlife photography, click the link & read on: https://adirondackoutlaw.com/tricks-of-the-trail/.


Saturday, October 14, 2023

Can’t rain on their parade: Inlet’s Adirondack Kids Day fishing derby a success

Kids fish in the rain during Inlet's Adirondack Kids Day.

My rain gauge [read] three inches this morning (Monday, October 9) so since, Friday night [October 6] until this morning, it had rained…and I was out in it several times over the weekend. We had a few dry [Inlet’s Adirondack] Kids Day Fishing [Derbys] [in the past], but not many…so why start this weekend? It was wet (in fact – pouring rain) when we went out [on] October 7 with the first group of kids and some parents. You soon find out kids don’t care [about the rain,] they just want to catch a fish…so give them a pole and bait their hook, and they are fishing.

A few were dressed for the weather, [and] others were just getting wet…and catching fish. The fishing platform in Fifth Lake was a hot spot that morning. Fish were flopping on the deck all morning, [but] some got away. Sunfish of all sizes seemed to be the catch of the day. Some [kids also] caught fall fish, golden shiners, a small largemouth bass, and one rock bass. Most made it to the measuring board to get recorded for length. Some were fat and healthy, [and] others were short and skinny. [However,] they all counted in different age groups. Did I say it was wet? The worms were even swimming in the worm boxes before they went swimming in the water attached to a hook.

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, October 14, 2023

DEC announces photography contest featuring NY moose

Moose

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) has recently announced a brand new photo contest for everyone to participate in. The theme—Moose. Specifically, NY Moose. So, if you have any photos of moose that you’d like to submit for the contest, continue reading.

How to enter: You can start submitting your photos of NYS moose now through November 10. The submission process for this contest is relatively simple. Follow this link: https://arcg.is/1KLyiX1 and fill out the form, along with uploading your photo to the form. We will be selecting our top 5 favorite photos, with 1 winner and 4 runners-up.
What do I win?: Our first place winner will have their photo included in an upcoming issue of the Conservationist, along with a free year subscription to the Conservationist, and copy of our New York State Wildlife Guide. Our four runners-up will also receive a free year subscription to the Conservationist, along with a copy of the wildlife guide.
Disclaimer: No small print. The NYS DEC is in no way taking ownership of your photos. Submitted images may be used for social media outreach and DEC agency materials, with credit attributed to the photographer.
Photo at top by Steve Spudie, provided by the NYS DEC.

Sunday, October 8, 2023

Loon pics and moon shots

Loon on a lake

The sun provides illumination. The author has used it to capture these photos.

The loons often cry out under the moon. Their haunting songs travel well across the water at nighttime when the only other birds who give a hoot are owls.

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, October 7, 2023

Shooting fall foliage, visiting Buttermilk Falls with grandson Nathan

Butter Milk Falls-Raquette River

If anyone came to the Adirondacks this weekend, they wouldn’t be disappointed in seeing the fall color (unless they had their eyes closed) as it was spectacular. My grandson, Nathan, and I got out for an afternoon of shooting some of the hot spots in the area, and there were shutter bugs at all of them taking in the view and getting shots of their own. We started out at [the] Limekiln Campsite boat launch, where there is a super red maple in full color and the shoreline across the lake was in full color. One of the pairs of Loons came by to say hello, with a few fall hoots. Then we went to the Seventh Lake Lookout which was full of [folks with] cameras in hand shooting across the lake and the nearby shoreline.

» Continue Reading.


Friday, October 6, 2023

Larceny on the Lake

A beautiful September fall weekend, a special military/veteran’s duck hunt, quiet time to myself on my favorite lake…what could possibly go wrong?

Click the link & read on to find out: https://adirondackoutlaw.com/larceny-on-the-lake/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo provided by Dick Monroe.

 


Saturday, September 30, 2023

Recording birds in two counties while away for Grandson Jacob’s wedding

Great Granddaughter Milly picking roses

Fall weather has finally hit here in the North Country, with the first frost on Thursday, [September] 21, but it was light enough that my wide leaf plants didn’t get hit. My bed of nasturtiums, which have very big leaves and hundreds of flowers, wasn’t touched. Not too many bees (or other bugs) doing any pollinating this time of the year to make seeds for next year. I did see my last hummingbird on Friday morning [September 22] which gave us a new record for Eight Acre Wood by seven days longer than ever before. We were down Rochester way [on] Saturday and Sunday, [September 23 and 24,] so that record will have to stand for now. Maybe they have adapted to global warming faster than we know, staying this late.

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, September 23, 2023

Moose on the Loose in the ADKs, Moose Fest happening this weekend

Star cactus

Hurricane Lee hit mainland, but it was in the Canadian Maritimes (still as a hurricane) with 80 MPH winds. The coastal areas of Massachusetts and Maine suffered some damage from the wind and waves putting out power and flooding water to the areas near the ocean. This area has been hit with every storm coming up the coast and storms coming across the nation, so they didn’t need any more water. It is still raining there today, September 18.

» Continue Reading.


Friday, September 22, 2023

Animal House

Humans take pride in their unique, perhaps exalted, place among creatures. We’re the only animal that can point to triumphs like space travel, nerve gas, for-profit prisons, and plastic- filled oceans. Until recent times, we also thought we stood alone in our taste for addling our brains with drugs. Alas, we can no longer claim that distinction: Dolphins, dogs, wallabies,waxwings, and loads of other species like to get loaded. » Continue Reading.


Friday, September 22, 2023

Paul Smith’s VIC to host Circular Jazz Trio concert, Leave No Trace training course

Paul Smith's College VIC.

Paul Smiths, NY- Paul Smith’s College VIC has announced a slew of upcoming events to suit a wide variety of interests, including a free jazz concert featuring The Circular Jazz Trio set for tomorrow, Saturday, September 23, as well as an informative and interactive training course focused on the seven principles of Leave No Trace. This two-day event is slated for Saturday, September 30 and Sunday, October 1.

Please see below for more details on these events and a link to keep tabs on other upcoming VIC events, such as a Mushroom Foray event set for tomorrow, and several opportunities to take a beginner-level canoe paddle on Barnum Pond with VIC staff.

» Continue Reading.


Sunday, September 17, 2023

About Grasshoppers 

Migratory Grasshopper

I haven’t seen very many grasshoppers, this year. But people have been asking me about them recently. Evidently, they’ve been observing them for several weeks. And they’re seeing a lot of them, lately.

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, September 16, 2023

The Adirondack Canoe Classic, local plant sale, and roaming moose

90-Miler racers

The 6.8-magnitude earthquake in Morocco has killed over 2,100 people so far, with 2,500 more people injured. It has been hard for many of the mountain villages to get help with recoveries, buried in the rubble. Aftershocks have been happening, which is keeping people out on the streets and in open parks (away from buildings.) Then closer to home, the southern United States ducked a bullet when Category 5 Hurricane Lee turned north. [It stayed] out over the ocean, when it could have slammed the coast a terrible blow. It went from a tropical storm to a Category 5 [hurricane] in less than 24 hours, then swerved north. The wind from this storm will batter the east coastline all the way up into the Canadian Maritime provinces all week, with high waves and strong undertow currents.

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, September 16, 2023

Old Forge Library to host Autumn Equinox celebration, Meet-the-Candidates event

Old Forge, NY- Old Forge Library staff has recently announced that they will host a casual Meet-the-Town of Webb-Candidates event on the evening of Tuesday, September 19 to celebrate National Voter Registration Day, and an Autumn Equinox Celebration which is slated for Thursday, September 21. See below for more details about these events.

» Continue Reading.


Thursday, September 14, 2023

Public invited to naming ceremony for John Thomas Brook in Onchiota, Sept.16

a stream on a cloudy day

Onchiota, NY — At noon on Saturday, September 16, there will be a public unveiling of a historic roadside marker to celebrate the recent naming of John Thomas Brook. The new name pays homage to 19th-century Black settler John Thomas, who escaped enslavement in Maryland and established a successful farm near the small stream in Vermontville, NY that was formerly known pejoratively as “N-word Brook” then as “Negro Brook.” Mr. Thomas, his wife Mary, and their son Richard are buried in Union Cemetery in Vermontville.

» Continue Reading.


Monday, September 11, 2023

Poetry: Heat Lightning

Lightning

Heat Lightning:

All day, meteorologists promised extreme storms.
Tonight, the atmosphere is grumbling,
clearing its throat, and posturing,
like a featherweight boxer
feinting,
trying to seem larger and tougher
than he is.

» Continue Reading.



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