For the End of Summer
Temptation to hold malice
at the taking of summer.
Found such fruit
found so temporary
found true love
found out. [Read more…] about Poetry: For the End of Summer
Summer
The Perseids: Summer’s Big Celestial Show
Celestial events are among the oldest and most profound human experiences of the cosmos, inspiring stories as grand as the sky is wide to explain the marvelous spectacles that arch overhead. Few natural wonders are more awesome than the blazing fireballs that streak across our night skies.
And the Perseid meteor shower, which appears during some of the warmest nights of the year, features up to 100 meteors per hour. [Read more…] about The Perseids: Summer’s Big Celestial Show
Caring for Backyard Birds in Summer
Do you enjoy feeding birds? Having a bird feeder in your backyard can bring you closer to the birds in your community. In winter, you can supplement natural food sources and give birds an extra boost of energy to make it through the cold months.
For the warm summer months, the NYS Department of Conservation (DEC) is passing along a few tips to benefit the birds in your backyard: [Read more…] about Caring for Backyard Birds in Summer
Cinnamon Fern Through the Lens of Time
Near my home, at the bottom of a hillside, there is a shelf just above a road-cut where the soil is moist from the groundwater seeping out of the hill. Back in April the first coiled cinnamon fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum) fiddleheads pushed up through the ground.
Huddled with heads bowed in a tight group, clad in shaggy off-white wool as if anticipating the chill, their forms glinted in the morning light as they caught the dew. [Read more…] about Cinnamon Fern Through the Lens of Time
Play Streets & New York City Recreation History
In summer thoughts turn to fun at the beach, pool and in parks. The vertical files of the New York City Municipal Library include a trove of publications describing City government’s role in providing recreational opportunities between 1919 and 1979.
A good portion of the contents are news clippings that track, decade by decade, City residents’ recreational choices. “Eel Season Ending For City Anglers” the New York Times reported in 1967; “People Pushing Horses Out Of Park” the Daily News decried as the Claremont Riding Academy was poised to close in 1970; and the perennial “New York on Next to Nothing” from the New York Post are just a few of the titles. [Read more…] about Play Streets & New York City Recreation History
Two Bathing Suits Highlight History in Everyday Life
Two bathing suits from the textile collection of The Buffalo History Museum highlight the long and varied history of swimsuits. In the early 1900s, women wore long gowns with bloomers underneath for swimming.
These bathing gowns were weighted down by several heavy layers of material, occasionally with weights sewn into the hem so the material would not float. Fabrics were chosen for bathing suits that would not become transparent when wet. [Read more…] about Two Bathing Suits Highlight History in Everyday Life
New York State’s Polystyrene Foam Ban Expanded
In 2020, New York State adopted the nation’s strongest state ban of expanded polystyrene, single-use foam food and beverage containers, and polystyrene loose fill packaging materials, commonly known as packing peanuts. On January 1, 2026, the state’s Foam Ban expanded to include a ban on polystyrene foam coolers and other containers designed or intended to be used for cold storage. [Read more…] about New York State’s Polystyrene Foam Ban Expanded
1908 Swimming & Summer Reading At Camp
Alice Mabel Allen (1886-1976) grew up in the village of Adams in Jefferson County. In 1908, while attending Syracuse University, Mabel, as she was known, kept a diary which New York Almanack is publishing each week.
Monday, July 13
Father and Edna [her sister] left for Adams about noon. We — mother and I — took up the matting in the hall and mother washed. Put up banners and sewed on Edna’s bathing suit. After lunch we made the acquaintance of little Laura Howard who lives here the year around. [Read more…] about 1908 Swimming & Summer Reading At Camp
Birds Preying on Stinging Insects: A Meal Worth the Sting?
One predator-prey interaction always leaves me torn. Birds sparked my love for the natural world years ago, but after my interest lapsed during adolescence, bees brought me back into the fold.
So I found myself split between two allegiances the first time I watched a bird, in this case, a gray catbird, swoop into the garden and snatch a bumblebee on the wing. [Read more…] about Birds Preying on Stinging Insects: A Meal Worth the Sting?
The Hidden Diversity of Fireflies: Glow-Worms, Blinkers, and Ghosts
In the deepening twilight, the pines edging my backyard merge into a wall of shadow. I hold my breath, staring hard into the darkness. Will they come? No matter how many times I repeat this ritual, I’m never sure… but then the magic happens.
A little greenish pulse of light, floating somewhere in the middle distance. Then another. And another. Those memories are decades old, but the magic of encountering fireflies remains undimmed. [Read more…] about The Hidden Diversity of Fireflies: Glow-Worms, Blinkers, and Ghosts
A Super Strength El Nino Brewing? Here’s What to Expect
El Niño is a natural climate pattern characterized by warmer than average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, typically returning every two to seven years. It disrupts global weather – and it looks like we may be in for a record El Niño year.
State University at Albany Atmospheric Science Professor Paul Roundy studies how interactions between the tropical ocean and atmosphere influence global weather, including El Niño. [Read more…] about A Super Strength El Nino Brewing? Here’s What to Expect
Sumac Galls & Aphids: An Ancient Association
The staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) is a ubiquitous shrub of human-impacted northeastern habitats. Sumac stands occur along most highways and county roads, as well as in disturbed areas and abandoned fields transitioning to shrubland.
With the onset of late summer’s cooler nighttime temperatures and shorter days, staghorn sumacs are among the first leafy plants to lose chlorophyll from their cells. The breakdown of this pigment triggers the transition from green foliage to yellow, orange, and red, often starting as early as mid-August. After a striking autumnal display, their rich red to burgundy-colored fruit clusters remain all winter. [Read more…] about Sumac Galls & Aphids: An Ancient Association
Mowing Practices to Benefit Ground-Nesting Birds
While grasses are getting greener and flowers are blooming, New Yorkers, high on many people’s priorities is pulling out their mower and beginning the summer-long cycle of mowing their fields or larger lawns. However, the timing of mowing can have significant impacts on a variety of bird species.
Small grassland songbirds nest on, or close to, the ground in grassy and shrubby fields. Mowing and bush-hogging during the spring and early summer can destroy nests and remove the habitat required to successfully raise their young. [Read more…] about Mowing Practices to Benefit Ground-Nesting Birds
Learning to Live with Snakes
Spring and summer in New York bring a burst of activity to the outdoors – flowers bloom, birds sing, and a variety of wildlife — including snakes — make their seasonal appearance. For many homeowners, an unexpected encounter with a snake in the yard or garden can be a bit startling. [Read more…] about Learning to Live with Snakes
White Admiral Butterflies: Winging Through the Woods
Walking on a woods road beside a stream in early July, I spotted several tight clusters of butterflies perched on scat piles and on wet sand near the brook. When one of the butterflies spread its wings, I saw that its topside was black with blue shading, and had a broad white band running through the center of its fore and hindwings, creating a U-shape. [Read more…] about White Admiral Butterflies: Winging Through the Woods
Road Salt Impacts Aquatic Life Year Round
Road crews across the United States use more than 24 million tons of road salt (sodium chloride) to melt ice and snow each year – triple the volume used in 1975. Road salt is cost-effective and prevents traffic accidents.
But there is an ecological downside to this practice: rain and meltwater dissolve and wash road salt into streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds, where it severely impacts aquatic life and degrades freshwater environments. [Read more…] about Road Salt Impacts Aquatic Life Year Round
Wetlands Throughout the Seasons
The cyclical nature of wetlands and the seasons is a fascinating and intricate interplay between environmental factors and biological processes. Wetlands, including marshes, swamps, and bogs, are highly sensitive and dynamic ecosystems that undergo seasonal changes influencing their hydrology, plant life, and animal communities. [Read more…] about Wetlands Throughout the Seasons
Help Monarchs on their Long Migration South
Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) began their annual fall migration around late-August. These butterflies are the great-great-grandchildren of the monarchs that migrated to Mexico last fall.
You can help monarchs by providing food (nectar) and keeping those areas protected: [Read more…] about Help Monarchs on their Long Migration South
The 1952 Vacation Boom in Sullivan County
In 1952 the bungalow industry in Sullivan County, NY, believed to be the largest in New York State, reported that rentals for the summer were at 100 per cent, “the greatest season in its history.”
Likewise, during the peak summer season the county’s hotels “had not a single room to spare.” The Liberty Register newspaper reported in its September 11 edition that year that “the county’s 534 resort hotels — the largest concentration of such hotels in the world — with 34,000 rooms, operated at 100 per cent capacity.” [Read more…] about The 1952 Vacation Boom in Sullivan County
Goldenrod and The Golden Rule
Unless you have bees up your nose on a regular basis, don’t blame late-season allergies on goldenrod. However, if you do find bees in your schnozz, seek medical (and perhaps entomological) help immediately. While most plants respond to the shrinking hours of daylight in the late summer by starting to wind down their business for the season, goldenrod is a “short-day” plant, the type that is stimulated to bloom by dwindling light. [Read more…] about Goldenrod and The Golden Rule