Hindostan Indiana

There are several places around the Dodson Family Camp that we try and visit each year that we are in the area. Most of them are places that my Dad and Mom also liked to visit often and when there were living, we all went together each visit to see if everything still looked the same from year to year and to think back about days long gone. It is interesting to think about how important nature was to those frontier people when they were settling America. And back then the “highways” toward progress always were connected with rivers.

One of those places has always been fascinating to me. I have often thought that the story of Hindostan, Indiana could form the foundation for a great novel. I know that there have been many booklets written about the place, but as far as I know, there has never been an actual novel about the place or the people who lived there.

Hindostan was founded at the falls of the East Fork of the White River in 1816. The settlement sat along the original stagecoach route between New Albany and Vincennes and was one of the only roads in the new state of Indiana, which had been a territory until 1816. By 1820, it was the largest community in what was then still Daviess County and the most promising town on the White River. The town was named “Hindostan” by a soldier, Captain Caleb Fellows, an English immigrant who had served with the British East India Company in India before he came to the United States and invested in land along the still raw Indiana frontier.

When Hindostan was “booming” there was a large mill located directly on a rock outcropping in the river. And when the water is low one can still see where the posts that supported the mill were located. Over the years this stretch of the river has always been a popular fishing spot too.

However, by 1820, about 1,200 people lived in the new town, making it one of the largest settlements in frontier Indiana. Many lived on houseboats on the White River. The surge of the population toward new land on the Indiana and Illinois frontiers, as well as Hindostan’s location along the stagecoach route, meant that it was constantly open to carriers of the disease. The disease eventually destroyed the town.

An epidemic of yellow fever or cholera broke out in Hindostan in 1820. Water- and insect-borne illnesses were the bane of many towns on the Midwestern frontier. Situated along rivers for the purpose of easy transportation, towns were often built on flood plains that bred insects in huge numbers. The ferocity of the epidemic that struck Hindostan, however, caused the population to succumb to disease or abandon the area. By 1824, less than half the population remained in Hindostan, though many seem to have stayed in the county.

An economic depression around 1820 worked alongside the epidemic to drive people away. Some families who had bought land on credit defaulted and fled the area. Hindostan may have lost as many residents to the economic depression as to sickness. Residents who remained were unable to pay their taxes and county and local creditors foreclosed on their property.

According to rumor, a county tax collector had several thousand dollars of revenue in his possession when he fell ill during the epidemic. He was thought to have buried the money (gold and silver coins) in an iron pot for safekeeping until the illness passed. When he died, the money’s location was lost forever.

Faced with the gradual desertion of the town, the post office, which was established in 1819, was discontinued on December 29, 1830. The site of the prosperous town eventually became farmland.

In 1828, the county seat was relocated to Mt. Pleasant, several miles away. The townsite was then abandoned by most of its residents in 1853 for a nearby site, now called Loogootee, four miles from Hindostan. The county seat, however, was moved to Trinity Springs, a health spa, then to Shoals in 1871. Shoals today has a population of around 800 which puts it at about 400 people less than Hindostan before it vanished.

Fishing near Hindostan Falls has always been a popular pastime. And the State of Indiana has created a boat launch above the falls so that boaters and people who enjoy fishing can easily access the water.

 

 

I think the video below that someone did a few years back gives a pretty good overview of Hindostan Falls and the general area around the falls today.

 

 

 

Dinky’s Auction Center

Most of the posts on this blog are about nature and nature-oriented places. This post is a bit different in that it is focused on more of a human nature-oriented place. Just a few miles from the Dodson Family Camp in Loogootee, Indiana is a remarkably interesting and entertaining place. Every Friday night hundreds and sometimes even thousands of people descend on a large gravel parking lot that surrounds a couple of large metal pole buildings. The first thing that a person notices upon arrival is the fact that there are a huge number of horses and buggies tied up around one side and the back of the parking lot. Yep…we have arrived at Dinky’s Auction Center.

During our annual visit back home again in Indiana, we usually try and make it to Dinky’s at least one time. We very seldom buy anything, but it is a real hoot to see what they are auctioning off on any given Friday night.

The wind blows hard over the corn and soybean fields of southern Indiana where straight dusty roads lead to Dinky’s Auction Center. The Montgomery institution sells everything from steel-wheeled farm machinery to LED lights for buggies. Each spring Dinky’s puts on a massive three-day event selling draft horses, carriages, and antiques.

Amish travel from all over the country to attend and bid against each other. Six auctioneers warble their way through rows of antique plows, hand crank washing machines, saddlery, and maybe even a few lobster traps.

It all started nearly 25 years ago when John Lengacher had a vision. Lengacher, the owner of Daviess County Metal Sales, noticed that his employees would disappear on certain afternoons. The story goes that Lengacher found out they were going to an auction barn in Mitchell, Indiana. They sold everything, calves, goats, antiques, etc. There was no auction house in the Montgomery area, and he thought it would be nice if we had an auction in Daviess County too.

What I have been told is that the “place” all started with a fellow by the name of Jake ‘Dinky’ Stoll, a Mennonite man with two daughters (his nickname came from a creek that ran through his property). The girls got married and “Dinky” died. His 40 acres were dead center in the middle of the Amish community, but not for sale. Lengacher made arrangements to meet with the girls. They showed interest in the auction idea and it was not long before the daughters sold Lengacher the acreage. When we put the word Dinky’s on the building, and it was instantly a household name and they did not even have to put an ad in the paper. A few years ago, Lengacher sold the auction business to Raber Auctions.

And from a simple idea, a global enterprise has grown. It is not unusual to have people from over 30 states and from the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia attend the Friday night auctions. Economically it has been quite a boon for the local community. Some area hotel rooms book up six months in advance, particularly for the horse auctions.

Dinky’s takes consignments Thursday and Friday, with hundreds of owners selling their horses, antiques, and tractors, hoping some of the thousands of people that show up to the auction house on any given Friday night will bid on their items.

Starting at 6 p.m., on Friday the auction goes until everything is sold, which might be midnight. In an era of Amazon and online shopping, the auction center in the middle of Daviess County makes its name off what it has continued to do for decades: entertain the community and beyond with merchandise, animals, and old-fashioned socialization.

This year has been a strange year indeed. We decided to drive over to Dinky’s one Friday night this year and walk around the parking lots. We took a quick peek into one of the metal buildings where the auction was already taking place. However, we did not see anyone in the building who was wearing a face mask. We have been taking the Corona Virus very seriously, so we decided to not go into the building this year and just enjoy the horses for a change. And now I do not even know if the Friday night auctions are even taking place or not.

Under non-pandemic conditions and for those looking for something to do on a Friday night, in the middle of Daviess County, Indiana, Dinky’s might be a good place to start.

I think the video below which was created in 2016 is interesting.

 

 

 

Birdhouse Paradise of Bill Larkin

August 2020 – Loogootee, Indiana

Bill’s “yard”

Just a short drive down the road from the Dodson Family Camp in Loogootee is quite an interesting place and person to visit. Bill Larkin lives in a geodesic dome house and absolutely loves to build birdhouses, and I mean LOVES to build birdhouses.

The yard around Bills home is literally covered with birdhouses of all shapes and sizes and those are accentuated by loads and loads of brilliantly painted rocks and various sorts of statues. It is an annual field trip for us when we are back home again in Indiana. This year, Eric, Jody, Jude, and Brody went along with us. I think the grandboys were overwhelmed, to say the least.

In addition to the huge display around the outside of Bill’s house, the inside is also festooned with birdhouses and thousands of twinkling Christmas lights. Bill always gets a kick out of watching the kid’s eyes light up when he claps his hands loudly and the house is filled with the sounds of chirping birds coming from hundreds of mechanical birds spread throughout his house.

Bill hosts visitors to his small home on a nearly daily basis, including busloads of tourists who have heard about his display somehow. He not only does not charge a penny to visit, but he also gives all his visitors a small hand-painted birdhouse to take with them as a memento of their visit.

I would say that Bill Larkin is certainly a “one of a kind” fellow. At least I do not know of anyone else who is so steeped in a similar life mission and he seems happy about life in general.

(I enjoyed this video that someone put together a couple of years back and posted on YouTube.)

Back Home Again in Indiana

Sunset over Boggs Lake at the Dock

Since we (along with most everyone else) have been “holed up” due to the ongoing pandemic, we have been visiting local parks and preserves and trying to keep our distance from everyone. So, I have been saving pictures that I have taken in dated file folders with the plan of making a series of blog posts about the places we have visited and things we have done over the past several months. As the weather turns colder our walking and hiking will be somewhat more of a challenge over the winter months. So, now seems like a good time to get started.

My first series of posts are going to focus on the one long-distance trip that we took this

Jude, Brody, Theresa, Jody, Eric, and Ron chowing down

year to southern Indiana back in August. Our son and daughter-in-law Eric and Jody, Jude, and Brody (2 of our 4 grandkids) decided that they needed to escape Florida for a while and decided to drive to the Dodson Family Camp that is located at the border of Daviess and Martin County Indiana. We had just about decided earlier in the year that this might be the first year that we did not make the long drive to Indiana for what has been our annual trip back home again to Indiana. But we had not seen Eric, Jody, Jude, and Brody for a long time, and this made us really want to go. We had a wonderful time visiting with them and then Theresa and I stayed for another couple of weeks.

So…we made Eric and family essentially “quarantine” for a couple of weeks in Indiana before we drove down for our trip. We all stayed at the camp and had an awesome visit and lots of fun. It has been many weeks since this trip and no bad news on the virus front came from it.

Since this blog is mostly about nature I have included some nature pictures, but mostly “family having fun” pictures while enjoying nature too. Just a bit of background, the Dodson Family Camp borders land that is owned by the West Boggs Park, which is a “bi-county” park located in both Daviess and Martin Counties. The centerpiece of the park is Boggs Lake, which is a

Out boating on Boggs Lake

620-acre lake (along with 400 acres of land and related activities) that was created for flood control measures back in the 1970s. My parents owned the camp for many years and when they both passed,  I inherited the camp. Since then I have deeded the camp to the entire family as a Family Camp. Our 3 boys had loads of fun here with their grandparents and now our hope is that the next generation will also make some memories here. Theresa and I and our 3 boys were all born in the Indiana/Kentucky region. I was born and raised in Daviess County (Washington, Indiana specifically), Theresa was born and raised in Evansville, Indiana as well as our oldest son Kelly. Eric and Travis were born in Kentucky when we were living in Henderson, Kentucky. We moved to the Albany, NY area in 1982 so now we live around 900 miles away from the Dodson Family Camp.

Homemade Persimmon pudding courtesy of the neighbor

Anyway, there is a small woodlot between our camp and Boggs Lake and our next-door neighbors, who live there all year long are nature and outdoor-oriented people and they take care of the birds, trees, and flowers of both of our places and they also “babysit” our camp when we are not there (which is most of the time) including opening up for us when we plan a visit and close it up at the end of the season. We are lucky to have some great neighbors!

So, this first of a series of Indian posts is focused mostly on our Camp and some views of nature and fun between our cabin and the lake. Future posts will be about some of the field trips that we took while based at the Camp but venturing into the area around our “home grounds.” I hope you enjoy it.

Till next time, be safe and all the best,

Ron

 

Ruby-throated hummingbirds are common sites at the camp
Jude lands a whopper

 

My favorite view from the porch swing

 

The camp homesite

 

Eric hauls in a bass
Making Smores

 

The Albany Pine Bush

We moved to Albany County, New York in the autumn of 1982. I hate to admit that it has taken us 38 years to discover the Albany Pine Bush. Discover might be a bit harsh because we knew it was there and had attended numerous meetings in the Pine Bush Discovery Center over the years. We had even taken a couple of short walks in the preserve and one year attended the springtime Lupine Festival held at the Discovery Center.

But it was this year that we really started to explore the Pine Bush. We do not live that far from the Pine Bush Discovery Center and decided to begin our exploration at that location. Since then we have discovered that the Pine Bush Preserve includes over 3,200 acres of land, 20 miles of hiking trails that are organized around 12 different trailhead locations spread across the preserve in various “units.”

So far this summer we have visited 8 of the 12 trailhead locations and hiked on numerous trails and trail sections. Future posts in this blog will highlight each of the trailheads and trails that we visit.

The Albany Pine Bush is referred to locally as the Pine Bush and is one of the largest of the remaining 20 inland pine barrens in the world. It is centrally located in New York’s Capital District within Albany and Schenectady counties, between the cities of Albany and Schenectady. The Albany Pine Bush was formed thousands of years ago, following the drainage of Glacial Lake Albany.

The Albany Pine Bush is the sole remaining undeveloped portion of pine barrens that once covered over 40 square miles and is considered one of the best remaining examples of an inland pine barrens ecosystem in the world. By 2008 it included all parcels of the Albany Pine Bush Preserve (a state nature preserve spanning 3,200 acres, the properties that connect these protected parcels, and some of the surrounding areas that abut the preserve. The 135-acre Woodlawn Preserve and surrounding areas in Schenectady County are the western sections of the Pine Bush but separated geographically by other properties in the Albany Pine Bush Preserve in Albany County.

Historically regarded as a barren, desolate, and dangerous to cross, the Pine Bush has come to be known as a historical, cultural, and environmental asset to the Capital District and Hudson Valley regions of New York. It is home to the Karner blue butterfly, an endangered species first identified by author Vladimir Nabokov in 1944 using a type specimen from the Pine Bush. In 2014, Albany Pine Bush was designated as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service.

The Pine Bush is governed by the Pine Bush Commission and supported by several agencies. See who the Commission Board Members are by CLICKING HERE

Although it has taken us nearly 40 years to really discover the Albany Pine Bush, we are now making up for lost time. We are indeed lucky to live close to this special natural feature.

Forever Wild amid Personal Agendas and Squabbling Neighbors

I read with interest an article on June 18, 2020, in the Albany Times Union Newspaper titled: “Loudonville neighbors battle over a forest preserve in their midst” by Reporter Rick Karlin.

https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Loudonville-neighbors-battle-over-a-forest-15344152.php

Some reasons I found this article interesting include the fact that my name was mentioned in the article and much of the information presented is not exactly accurate or is misleading at best. For the record, I was not involved in the matter written about in the article and I did not even know that any of this was going on until I read the article.

The focus of the article revolves around an ongoing dispute with the present landowner of a piece of land that was sold with the deed restriction that stipulates that the property is designated “Forever Wild.” Evidently it is now the contention of several area landowners that the present owner of the “Forever Wild” parcel is taking actions on his property that are not in accordance with the “Forever Wild” deed restrictions.

The writer begins by stating that “The story began in 1998 when Marjorie Doyle Rockwell deeded about 30 acres to the Audubon Society of New York State, A/K/A Audubon International to create a nature preserve.” He also mentioned that Siena College had previously turned down the offer of the property that was made to them.

In fact, the story began in 1995 when Mrs. Rockwell died. At that time, her estate went through Probate, and among other things, her home and land in Loudonville, NY was being administered by Fleet Bank. Evidently, for many months a representative of Fleet Bank had been negotiating with Siena College to accept the offer of the Rockwell home and property.

In early 1998 I received a telephone call from Mr. Francis Coolidge of Fleet Bank concerning the Rockwell property. At the time I was the President and CEO of the Audubon Society of New York State, Inc., and our headquarters was located on a property that had been donated to our organization by Dr. and Mrs. Robert Rienow. That property was called Hollyhock Hollow Sanctuary. Along with the land, the Rienows had also left a sizeable fund to be used for the care and upkeep of Hollyhock Hollow Sanctuary, and that fund was managed at that time by Fleet Bank. That is how I knew Francis Coolidge. During that phone conversation, Francis told me that he was attempting to donate a home and property to Siena College, but the administrators of Siena would not clearly spell out what Siena might do with the property should they accept it. Francis asked if I could offer any suggestions as to how the estate might put some provisions in place that could help guide Siena in their future decisions. He told me that Mrs. Rockwell did not want the college to build dormitories and/or sports fields on the property. I had never heard of the property or of Mrs. Rockwell for that matter, but I agreed to meet Mr. Coolidge at the property to see if I might have some ideas for him to consider. At the time of my initial visit to home and property had already been vacant for around 3 years. At the conclusion of the site visit, I suggested that the estate could have restrictions on the property in the form of a “conservation easement” or some other restrictions that would govern the way any future landowner would be allowed to manage the property. The property was essentially grouped in 3 separate parcels of land. This strategy was taken by the estate, and eventually, Siena College turned down the offer of the property. I am not certain if that decision was based on the deed restrictions or not, but none-the-less they turned the property down.

Coincidentally, but unknown to Fleet Bank, the Audubon Society of New York State was already working with Siena College and partnering with one of the college professors to create an Environmental Studies Program. During the 1997-98 school year, we had worked with several Siena students on a research project on the Schuyler Meadows Golf Club, which adjoins the college campus. The golf club became our first “research site” and formed the basis for what I discuss later in this post. I had an office at Siena where I worked a few days each week. Among other things, we were working with a group of students conducting research on the Schuyler Meadows Golf Club. Along with the Environmental Studies program, we were in the process of creating a new entity called the Audubon-Siena Institute. Our plans were to work together to raise funding for the Environmental Studies program and ongoing and expanding research connected with wildlife, conservation, and environmental topics in general.

Several weeks after my visit to the Rockwell property I received another phone call from Francis Coolidge and he informed me that Siena had turned down the property and he wanted to know if the Audubon Society of New York State might be interested in it. This came as quite a shock to me. We took several more trips to the property and spent considerable time inspecting the home and land. Eventually, it was decided that the property and home would make an outstanding “home” for the Audubon-Siena Institute. After several Board meetings, the Board voted to accept the property, which became official on June 1, 1998, when we closed on the property and accepted 3 parcels of land including the home.

Therefore, it was in mid-1998 the Audubon Society of New York State started work on planning for the future of the Rockwell property with a general vision of creating a headquarters for the Audubon-Siena Institute including a “Forever Wild” parcel immediately behind the headquarters building. I am the person who drafted the wording written into the “Forever Wild” parcel. This was written at the request of Fleet Bank to control the future use of that parcel by Siena College.

Over the next several months I worked with several Audubon staff members to plan for the future of the Rockwell property. We visited most of the adjoining property owners, local elected officials in the Town, and even held a public meeting at the Colonie Town Hall to introduce ourselves and the concept of the Audubon-Siena Institute, and our work with Siena regarding the Environmental Studies program.

To put it mildly, I found the “neighbors” around the Rockwell property to be anything but neighborly. They seemed to be extremely focused on themselves, were suspect of most of the other neighbors, and did not seem to care at all about what we were contemplating doing with the Rockwell property or with Siena.

Our planning continued, however, and eventually, with input from several general contractors and discussions with Town officials, it was determined what we would have to do to transform the home into an accessible headquarters for the Institute. Among other things, it would be necessary to install an elevator. The complete remodeling effort would require several hundred thousand dollars. At this point, I contacted Fleet Bank to determine if we could sell what we called the “Turner Lane Parcel” to generate funds to complete the remodeling. They had no problem with that and therefore we put the Turner Lane parcel on the market.

During the time period of marketing the Turner Lane parcel, I received a phone call from the former Schuyler Meadows Golf Club superintendent who told me that he had received a phone call from one of the golf club members named Joe Gerrity. Mr. Gerrity had asked the Superintendent if he was familiar with the Audubon organization that had recently acquired the Rockwell property because he (Mr. Gerrity) thought he might have a problem. When asked what the problem was Mr. Gerrity stated that he was afraid that one corner of his tennis court might be built on the former Rockwell property. The superintendent assured Mr. Gerrity that if that turned out to be true that he was certain that Audubon would work out something amicable and satisfactory.

We eventually did sell the Turner Lane Parcel. On the day of the closing, the buyers stopped to walk around on the property while on their way to the closing. While there, Mr. Gerrity came out and asked them what they were doing on his property. The buyers said, “No, we just bought this property and are on our way to the closing.” Long story short…Mr. Gerrity filed an adverse possession claim on the Turner Lane Parcel and put a stop to the closing. Eventually, that issue was resolved when we agreed to pay Mr. Gerrity $25,000 so that he would just go away.

We had another “neighbor” who decided that he was going to build a brick wall along the front of his home, and in order for it to look the way he wanted it to look he decided to build one end of the wall onto our property and therefore block off access to an easement that exists along that side of the property. This led to a series of meetings and lawyers getting involved.

There was another “neighbor” who had a hobby of doing blacksmith work. He decided that a great place to set up his blacksmith shop was in an old and dilapidated garage building that was owned by Audubon and located on Rockwell property. Of course, we had discussions with this person and let him know that he was on property without permission and that we were concerned about liability issues and the fact that his blacksmithing hobby might actually end up burning down the garage and who knows what else.

These 3 examples are just a sampling of our experiences working on the Rockwell property. However, the icing on the cake occurred one morning when I was in a meeting with the Colonie Town Supervisor, again talking about our plans and our project with Siena College. At one point I was asked, “Are you certain that you have a partnership with Siena?” I said that I was and that I had an office on campus where I worked. At this point, she handed me a fax that she had just received that very same morning from the then Siena College President that stated that Siena College had no relations with the Audubon Society of New York State and that he didn’t know anything about the proposed Audubon-Siena Institute. I found this to be unbelievable as I had just met with the College President the day before to give him an update on the progress being made. Immediately after my meeting with the Town Supervisor, I met with the Professor that I had been working with regarding the Environmental Studies program and the Audubon-Siena Institute. This memo from the Siena College President started a process of winding down my involvement with Siena, shelving any idea of the Audubon-Siena Institute, and the eventual decision to sell the Rockwell home and the parcel of land around the home. We sold the home and surrounding land on March 2, 2001. We retained ownership of the “Forever Wild” parcel as an Urban Wildlife Sanctuary.

The purpose of this “Forever Wild” parcel was to provide for permanent open space in an otherwise urbanizing area. It was also to provide a great place for future Environmental Studies program students from Siena (should there be any interest) to conduct relevant research and conservation projects near the College. The “Forever Wild” restriction attached to the parcel in question is still part of the deed. Personally, I do not think the Audubon Society of New York State, Inc. has done anything legally wrong in selling the parcel. However, it is still supposed to be managed for the “research, education and management for urban wildlife conservation and water resource protection.” However, from a “mission” point of view, I believe the Audubon Society should have transferred ownership to an entity that had the main focus of managing the property with the “Forever Wild” restriction.

Finally and speaking of the “Audubon Society” I also find it interesting that for some reason the writer thought it was relevant to throw into the article a reference to some “confusion” concerning the distinction between the Audubon Society of New York State, Inc. (A/K/A Audubon International) and the National Audubon Society. First, there are over 500 different Audubon Society organizations in the United States. Each is independently and separately incorporated and each is free to establish its own programs. Second, the writer mentions that I created Audubon International in 1987 and then refers to the Audubon Society of New York State as an “affiliate” of Audubon International. This is not correct. The Audubon Society of New York State was originally created in 1897 as the second Audubon Society in the United States. I re-incorporated and re-established that organization in 1987. Once we found ourselves working with landowners across the country and not just in the State of New York, the Board of Directors authorized creating Audubon International as a “Brand” for the Audubon Society of New York State to work under on a national and international basis. Finally, the spokesperson for the National Audubon Society states that National Audubon is not a “Land Trust.” The National Audubon Society owns and manages 104 sanctuary properties. So, while National Audubon might not be officially incorporated as a “Land Trust” they do own, and they have sold properties throughout the history of the organization. This does not even mention the millions of dollars that National Audubon has been paid for oil and gas production on at least one of their sanctuary properties.

An Early Spring Walk in Search of Spring

Yesterday was March 2, 2020, and it was the first day in many that actually felt almost like Spring has to be close at hand. So, I just had to take a drive and a short hike around Hollyhock Hollow Sanctuary in the Town of Bethlehem, NY.

We live only 3 miles from Hollyhock Hollow and for 26 years, I worked out of an office in the midst of the sanctuary. Since my retirement, I have continued to visit the trails of the sanctuary on a regular basis and yesterday, the warm sunshine called my name.

Even though I know that flower called Snowdrops is not native to America, I was very pleased to once again see the showy white blossoms had managed to push their way through the cool soil and leaf litter and survived another winter of upstate New York. Snowdrops are native to Europe and the Middle East, from the Spanish and French Pyrenees in the west through to the Caucasus and Iran in the east, and south to Sicily, the Peloponnese, the Aegean, Turkey, Lebanon, and Syria. The flower has been widely introduced and cultivated throughout Europe and has become widely naturalized in Europe, North America, and other regions and are often found in long-abandoned home sites, which is exactly the case with the patch at Hollyhock Hollow.

Although I did a bit of slipping and sliding down the path to the wildlife pond, I found over 50 American Robins were feasting on the remaining berries of several Sumac bushes. I also note that the pond is still covered in a sheet of ice. But, occasional calls of a Tufted Titmouse and a few Black-capped chickadees I remain convinced that Spring has nearly returned.

Hollyhock Hollow is as geologically interesting as it is biologically. The 140-acre property is underlain with what is called Karst, which means acres of limestone outcroppings on the surface and caves and fissures underground. A main feature of the sanctuary is the Onesquethaw Creek.

The Onesquethaw Creek is a 14.5 mile-long creek in Albany County, New York. It is a tributary of the Hudson River. It rises in the town of New Scotland, to the west of the hamlet of New Salem, in the Helderberg Mountains, and flows to Coeymans Creek in the town of Bethlehem, southwest of Delmar, NY.

O-nis’-kwe-thau Creek is also called Coeymans Creek, which is the name given to the Onesquethaw Creek’s outlet stream at the Hudson is a beautiful little stream. There is a hamlet also called Onesquethaw, (sometimes called Tarrytown) in New Scotland, as well as Oniskethau flats and mountain which is now named Bennet Hill. Onesquethaw is said to have been an early Native American name meaning cornfields, but this attribution was mistakenly based on William Martin Beauchamp’s lack of personal knowledge of the Ma-quaes [Mohawks] language because it seemed similar to the Mahican word for maze. The Mahican’s originally owned the land before it was lost to the Ma-quaes [Mohawks] during the Beaver Wars of 1628. The land was deeded to Teunis Slingerland and Johannes Apple by representatives of the three races (clans of the Ma-quaes [Mohawks] (Wolf, Bear, and Turtle), owners of the land called “O-nits-quat-haa.” as indicated on the original Slingerlands Land Patent Agreement. The name when translated from the Ma-quaes [Mohawk] language simply means: “Sinking-Stream.” This name is much more in keeping with the actual topography of the land and the Karst that I previously mentioned. During the summer months, it is often interesting to find that the creek has gone completely dry for long sections and then all of a sudden come upon a section where the water is flowing up out of the ground and once again filling the stream as the water makes its way to the Hudson River.

The Onesquethaw Creek is the main drainage through what is now known as the Onesquethaw Valley Historic District, which is a national historic district principally located in the town of New Scotland in Albany County, New York. The Historic District includes 25 buildings and three archaeological sites. It encompasses farmsteads and sites in part of the valley of Onesquethaw Creek. Most notable are eight 18th-century stone houses. The archaeological sites are a grist mill site, sawmill site, and a prehistoric Indian site.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

I spent about an hour poking around the sanctuary, pond, and creek and came away with a renewed sense that nature will soon be blossoming and the woods will once again be full of bird songs.

New Years Day 2020 – Dismal First of the Year Bird Count

With the start of a new year and a new decade, I plan on and increased effort at blogging about my regular “field trips” into nature.

Therefore, I decided to start with a morning walk down the country road where we live with the round trip being about 1 mile. This short walk down a paved road transects several different types of habitat areas, including an open field of about 50 acres, some shrubby grassland areas, a nice woodlot, a meandering stream, and associated wetlands.

New Years Day, 2020 in our neck of the woods, was a bit brisk and cloudy. The temperature during my walk was around 34 F., with a slight wind. I have to say that the wildlife results of my walk were a bit disappointing. I hope this is not an indication of things to come.

As soon as I walked out the front door, I saw some movement in the old fence row that is beside our house and field and quickly spotted a House Finch and 4 House Sparrows. (So…my first “Bird of the Year” was a House Finch.)

With that, I started my leisurely walk down the road of 1/2 mile to the East and the intersection with a major highway, where I turn around and walk back to the house. All the way to the highway and about 3/4 of the way back to the house…I never heard and never saw 1 bird! Nothing…not one. About 200 yards before getting back to the house I spotted a lone Blue Jay fly across the road and land in a tree for a few seconds. Walking another 25 yards I noticed a Red-tailed Hawk perched on top of an old power pole that is located in the olf fence row beside our house. I walked just a bit past our house to check a small stream and wetland area across the street from home…and saw or heard nothing.

So the summary of this mile-long walk-in “nature” is a total of 7 birds of 4 species! Not a Chickadee, not a Cardinal, not a Morning Dove…I know it is winter…but that is pretty bad. The pictures below I took while walking as a documentation of where this walk took place. If you look closely at one picture you can sort of make out the Red-tail on top of the old power pole…and a blurry one of the hawk after it flew off and over the road.

Forests

Forests are the dominant terrestrial ecosystem of Earth and are distributed around the globe. Forests account for 75% of the gross primary production of the Earth’s biosphere and contain 80% of the Earth’s plant biomass. Net primary production is estimated at 21.9 gigatons carbon per year for tropical forests, 8.1 for temperate forests, and 2.6 for boreal forests.

Human society and forests influence each other in both positive and negative ways. Forests provide ecosystem services to humans and serve as tourist attractions. Forests can also affect people’s health. Human activities, including harvesting forest resources, can negatively affect forest ecosystems.

A Snag is a Beautiful Thing

I go for a series of short walks down the road where we live most days during the summer. In the winter when the snow is piled over my head on the side of the road…not so much. But, since we live in the country, my walks always allow me to see and hear some sights and sounds of nature.

Nature comes in many shapes and sizes. One part of nature that I have been observing over the past few years never moves and I have never heard it make any sound whatsoever. But still, this part of nature is very valuable for many reasons. It goes by many names, but I call it a snag.

Yes, that would be a dead or dying tree. Death is a part of life and with trees, the dead and dying provide many environmental benefits, most of which are not really appreciated.

In forest ecology, a snag refers to a standing, dead or dying tree, often missing a top or most of the smaller branches. In freshwater ecology, it refers to trees, branches, and other pieces of naturally occurring wood found sunken in rivers and streams.

Snags are an important structural part of forest communities, making up 10–20% of all trees present in old-growth tropical, temperate, and boreal forests. Snags and downed coarse woody debris represent a large portion of the woody biomass in a healthy forest.

In temperate forests, snags provide critical habitat for more than 100 species of birds and mammals and are often called ‘wildlife trees’ by foresters. Dead, decaying wood supports a rich community of decomposers like bacteria and fungi, insects, and other invertebrates. These organisms and their consumers, along with the cavities, hollows, and broken tops make snags important habitat for birds, bats, and small mammals, which in turn feed larger mammalian predators.

Snags are an optimal habitat for primary cavity nesters such as woodpeckers which create most cavities used by secondary cavity users in forest ecosystems. Woodpeckers excavate cavities for more than 80 other species and the health of their populations relies on snags. Most snag-dependent birds and mammals are insectivorous and represent a major portion of the insectivorous forest fauna and are important factors in controlling forest insect populations. There are many instances in which birds reduced outbreak populations of forest insects, such as woodpeckers affecting outbreaks of southern hardwood borers and spruce beetles.

Every tree dies eventually, and its ecological value continues long after the last leaf falls. Whether it still stands, is reduced to a hollowed stump, or exists as downed wood, most of its “life” occurs in a complex, interesting, unseen world. Imagine a time-share that is used by different species, for vastly different purposes, in every stage of its demise. Most species that use snags are associated with those that are about 15” in diameter though there are many benefits from smaller trees too. No man-made structure matches the ecological usefulness of a sizeable dead tree; and few living things are as overlooked and unappreciated, except of course by wildlife and the vast number of inhabitants at work on its remains beneath the soil.

Nature “gifts” dying trees to enrich habitats. A dead tree is a legacy that can take dozens of years to replace, and in many cases, it will never be replaced. Whenever a tree is cut down needlessly and hauled away prematurely, we short-change our forests and our planet. Dead trees represent one of the finest examples of nature giving back to the environment. A study of a snags relationship with wildlife and organisms above and beneath the soil is a profound example of the fact that individuality and independence within our ecosystems is an illusion.