
Tilly Strauss had the foresight to order her baby chicks ahead of time. They arrived by mail a week or so ago and are now getting stronger in a little box in her living room.
Photo by Tilly Strauss
This week’s Nature’s Notebook column includes information and observations from several area nature experts.
Ramps are here!
Jody Bronson, Forest Manager for the Great Mountain Forest in Norfolk and Falls Village, suggests that, “Foraging for ramps is a great spring tonic.
“Ramps (Allium tricoccum) grow in rich soils under mature hardwood trees. These wild leeks are a true sign of spring; their low-growing lance-shaped green leaves jump out at the forager at this time of year. The entire plant is edible — but to harvest them responsibly, use only the leaves and stem; leave the bulb undisturbed, to ensure the population will remain intact. Ramp populations have been destroyed by over-foraging to supply fancy restaurants.
“Their onion-y flavor adds to any recipe. My wife makes ramp pesto; I like ramps sautéed in olive oil and served with brook trout or in an omelet.
“When you find a good population of ramps, keep it a secret!”
Bird bonanza
Eileen Fielding is the Sharon Audubon Center Director and the state Team Leader, Eastern Forests. She sent in a report on the return of birds to the area.
“Any news about recently sighted birds will go out of date very quickly this time of year, as new migrants are arriving daily! You may have heard that Sandhill Cranes have been sighted in Litchfield and Norfolk, or that there is (or was) a Common Eider in Salisbury.
“Besides these more sensational sightings, we’ve had swarms of Juncos coming through en route to more northerly areas. They are sparrow-sized, solid gray or brown above with white bellies, and show a flash of white in their tails when fluttering in fields and the edges of woods. Robins and Bluebirds are suddenly more conspicuous too, although many of them have really been here through the winter, hiding and feeding in dense cover.
“Other new arrivals include Tree Swallows skimming along rivers and lakes for newly hatched insects, and Eastern Phoebes, who can be recognized by their up-and-down ‘feee-bee!’ call, a characteristic up-down tail wag, and presence near a barn, deck, porch or other sheltered spot where they will nest.
“In the woods, listen or look for Winter Wren, Brown Creeper, and both Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglet. The Kinglets are even smaller than chickadees, mostly olive-brown, and flutter along branches and twigs, picking off insects.
“If you hear a woodpecker drumming with an irregular beat, you can be fairly sure it’s a newly returned Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a very handsome bird that’s well worth trying to see. Its name comes from a habit of making rows of holes in tree bark that ooze sap. The Sapsucker can return to these holes to lick up both the sap and the insects it attracts.
“Since more of us are around our houses and yards in this unusual spring, you may find time to watch birds more often, and even to give them a helping hand. Many if not most woodland bird species in northeastern forests are in decline, for a variety of reasons.
“Fortunately, there are fairly simple measures that we can do to help them survive and reproduce successfully. The Salisbury Association Land Trust’s planned spring exhibit, ‘Birds in Crisis: What Can I Do?’ has been transformed into a virtual exhibit that will be available on line at the Salisbury Association’s website shortly.
A live talk by the same name will be given by the Salisbury Association and the Scoville Library on Saturday, April 25, at 4 p.m. I am the speaker and will provide an overview of why our birds are in trouble, but also point out the many ways we can improve their chances. For details, send an email to scovilleadultprograms@gmail.com.
Cows in mud, chickens inside
Artist Tilly Strauss reported from North East (Millerton) on her egg-laying hens, which are hard to come by this year, and life on the farm.
“Spring is a time for action on the farm. So in spite of COVID threats, we are still often busy and outside. Today we noticed a cow sitting deep in the mud by the creek. It was unusual because the rest of the herd could be spied several fields away.
“When we checked on her up close, we noticed she was not sitting! She was standing and deeply stuck in the mud. It took a tractor and chains to pull her free. While doing that, and getting her hay, we found ourselves surrounded by the rest of the herd. They had come straight in a beeline to her and started urging her with noises and nose nudges to stand up.
“Dad got the Skid Steer and went to get gravel to steady up the banks of the creek where the cows get most of their water. We hadn’t noticed the steep erosion and the sludge that would be making access to the water a dastardly sinking hazard.
“Looking across the marsh, past the geese, the ducks and the swallows I see two swans. One is enthroned on a dark reed-and-twig nest that sits almost 2 feet above the water’s surface. The partner is in the water circling close by. It takes 42 days for cygnets to hatch, so we will be on the lookout for babies come the middle of May.
“Meanwhile, the chickens in the living room are now two weeks old. They make a lot of racket. Half downy and half feathered, they can leap from one side of the cardboard box to the other in 9-inch arcs.
“Of course I don’t use the newspaper for their bedding. I prefer using my ancient bank statements for that. The chicks make art or a mess (depending on your outlook).
“It seems chickens are coded in their genes to scratch at the ground, so they make quick work of getting in the feed bowl, kicking both legs back like a bull about to charge forward, and throwing the grain pellets all over the dang space.”
AMENIA — Pedestrians will soon be able to walk safely between Broadway and Beekman Park, now that a construction contract has been awarded.
The planning process continued for many months, culminating in an invitation to bid. The Town Board voted unanimously at its regular meeting on Thursday, March 20, to select the lowest bidder, clearing the way for work to begin.
The contact was awarded to Southern Industries Corporation of Tarrytown, New York, the lowest of three bids received and reviewed by Engineers LaBella Associates of Poughkeepsie.
The project that will extend the sidewalk along Route 44 to provide pedestrians with access between the hamlet center and Beekman Park will cost $234,326.50, according to the bid documents. The amount will be paid from the town’s Capital Project Fund.
With several local committees working on town planning activities, the Town Board discussed ways to find commonality and cooperation among those various deliberations.
Town Supervisor Leo Blackman reported that he had attended the recent Century Boulevard planning meeting in Millerton and had found it instructive. He recalled that in 2004 Amenia had worked with landscape architect Mark Morrison who created a design proposal that upon Blackman’s review, seems relevant to the community today. Researching further, Blackman reported that he had found that there have been 13 reports done over the years by architects and landscape designers, each with ideas that could be useful in local planning.
In an effort to find commonality among the many reports, Finance Director Charlie Miller prepared and presented a summary of plans and visual depictions of overlap.
Miller said that he focused on the Morrison plan from 2004, the Recreation Department’s plan from 2006, Leo Blackman’s plan from 2016, and the Fountain Square plan and the Amenia Green plan from 2024.
Grants are available for communities seeking to improve walking convenience, connectivity, access, parking and passive recreation, Miller reported. He saw value in bringing residents together to hold planning discussions.
Blackman saw the importance of coordinating such planning with the current work of updating the Comprehensive Plan that is now underway and sharing ideas with the community planners about to begin work with the comprehensive plan committee.
A goal, Blackman said, could be to work toward qualifying for a state New York Forward Grant program.
“The initial part would not cost money,” said councilmember Rosanna Hamm.
Councilmember Nicole Ahearn observed that the timeline between community input and grant application seemed “ambitious.”
“It’s a matter of pulling all of this together,” Miller responded. The slide presentation will be posted on the town’s website.
General discussion continued, touching on the town’s ongoing needs for downtown pedestrian safety, ease of access, community enhancement and revitalization.
Blackman reported that he has spoken with the Department of Transportation about imposing a parking time limit in front of the post office and accommodating parking for handicapped drivers.
Crosswalks are a concern also. Blackman felt that where there are presently two along the stretch of Route 343 between the traffic light and Mechanic Street, there should be four.
“Our expectation is that we will have a more vibrant downtown and the way to do that is for people to not be afraid for their lives when they cross the street,” Blackman said.
Hamm suggested flashing lights at crosswalks and Ahearn saw the need for reflective paint marking the crosswalks, noting that the existing lines are faded.
Spring has officially arrived with freezing night time temperatures forecast through the first week of April.
Victoria Kelly, Cary Institute Environmental Monitoring Program Manager and Senior Ecologist, prepared this report.
MILLBROOK — Since 1988 the weather station at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in the Town of Washington has been keeping track of our local weather — precipitation, temperature, wind, air quality, etc.
The News asked Cary’s Victoria Kelly what records showed about this winter. Were these months colder and snowier than last year? How do they compare to historic winters? Is this a normal winter?
December’s average temperature was 30.3 degrees Fahreneit, 1.3 degrees below the 1991-2020 average, which is what weather people refer to as “normal.” The January average temperature was 25.2 degrees, 1.1 degrees below normal, and the February average temperature was 28.4 degrees, 0.3 degrees below normal. So, it’s not your imagination, this has been a cold winter. Note that the 30-year average used to determine “normal” changes every 10 years and doesn’t include the warm winters of the last few years in the comparison.
The record high winter temperature was a balmy 78 degrees Fahrenheit on February 21, 2018, and the record low was a very chilly minus 27 degrees Fahrenheit on January 27, 1994.
Overall, the winter of 2024-2025 has been colder with less snowfall than normal. It’s not over yet though. Remember the blizzard on March 14, 2017? Or the April Fool’s Day blizzard March 31-April 1, 1997? March has been known to go out like a lion before, it could very well do it again. Total snowfall this winter so far is 22 inches. Our last accumulating snow was February 15-16. As with many of our events this winter, it began as snow and changed to ice and then rain. We call that mixed precipitation. If we get no more accumulating snow this winter, it will be the fourth winter in a row with less than average snowfall. Our record low snowfall was 13 inches in the winter of 2015-2016. Our record high snowfall was 92 inches in the winter of 1994-1995.
Reports from the suppliers or heating oil and propane estimate that demand increased 15% to 30% so far this winter confirming the findings of the Cary Institute.
The North East Fire house on the south side of Century Boulevard.
MILLERTON — The commissioners of the North East Fire District recently held their monthly meeting at the firehouse to discuss their current needs and general business.
Discussion centered around the current work on the 2025 budget and proposed expenditures, which ranged from upgrading their heating/cooling system to the possibility of replacing car no. 3.
The possibility of obtaining a new vehicle, such as a pickup truck, was also considered. In the end, the discussion was put on hold with chair Dave McGhee saying, “We have time.”
Updates on planning and training were discussed. Fire chief Keith Roger reported that 15 calls for medical assistance came in for the previous month, two calls came in for motor vehicle accidents, one call for a fire and one call came in for a propane issue which was quickly resolved. There were 35 calls for downed wires.
Physicals were also a topic of conversation. The fire district currently has 47 members, some of whom still need physicals. The district’s plan is that all members will be caught up on physicals by autumn.
The Easter egg hunt to be held on April 19 was discussed in addition to the need to look into hay wagons for the event.
As part of the chief’s report, Roger discussed equipment. Hose-testing is scheduled to be conducted on April 9. He also stressed the need to order brush equipment and side mirrors. Roger stated he needs to figure out exactly what is needed to fill department needs, but “bib overalls, radios and wands,” are on his wish list as well as new labels for equipment.
The discussion then turned to two events. On March 27, assistant county executive Gregg Pulver will be holding a closed meeting to discuss EMS issues. On April 18, Kelly Roger will be utilizing the firehouse for an event. Building use was approved for both events.
The subject of air packs then came up as one had sustained damage. Chief Roger also reported he is looking into which responders are in need of new equipment. Additionally, he has been trying to meet with new vendors. He has also started a log book for recordkeeping purposes around equipment to enable the department to track its movement and usage throughout the department.
Responder Chris Reyes discussed his work on the annual dinner and requested that $15,000 be made available for associated expenses. A motion was made to allow, which was officially passed.
No new members have recently joined the fire department, but recruitment efforts remain ongoing with interested parties being encouraged to come to the fire district on Monday evenings at 6 p.m. to learn more.
The next meeting at the firehouse will be a workshop on April 1. A regular meeting will be held on April 15.
MILLBROOK — For the next two months beginning on April 1, the town will pick up brush placed streetside throughout the village, a free service for village residents. The service will continue until May 31. However, there are strict rules and prohibitions to follow.
Only brush is being picked up. The definition does not include leaves — leaf pickup begins on Oct. 1 — tree trunks, grass clippings or soil. Fines may be levied against property owners who attempt to discard these non-brush materials.
Definition of brush specifies that branches be less than 4 inches in diameter and shorter than 8 feet in length.
The brush pickup program is guided by additional specific instructions. For more information, go to www.villageofmillbrookny.com or phone the Public Works Department at 845-677-3022 before placing anything curbside.