
A Swainson's thrush in spring.
Photo by Mick Thompson/Audubon
A Swainson's thrush in spring.
It has not been easy to work outdoors this winter thanks to the rain and melting snow. I am spending more time on social media, which I am not proud to admit, and have found several Facebook Groups – rather Facebook found them for me - that share information on native and invasive plants. The algorithm did good this time. I am rather hooked.
These groups include ‘Native plants of the Northeast’, ‘Native and Invasive Plants of the Eastern US’, ‘Propagating Native Plants’, ‘Invasive Plants ID and Removal in the US and Canada’,
‘Connecticut Native Plants’ and ‘New England Native Plant Seed Share/Trade’. Many within the communities are fierce advocates of native plants. They identify species almost competitively, the way someone might with the New York Times Spelling Bee, and offer suggestions on ridding invasive plants, propagating and planting native substitutes.
Recently, a community member shared a chart that put some data around a serious issue.
Berries of invasive plants do not offer the nutrition required by migrating songbirds. For birds that migrate south for the winter, a lot of fat is needed in their food to sustain them through their journeys. The research study behind this chart comes from a 2013 paper published in the scientific journal Northeastern Naturalist. Even though the study is now 10 years old the findings remain relevant and the issue it informs is more acute than when the study was published.
In addition to migrating birds, those that over-winter in our area require food with a high fat content to nourish them through the winter and into spring when they can rely on caterpillars (and, for the caterpillars to survive we need to plant the native plant they eat.) Sadly, birds in the wild are being malnourished due to the proliferation of non-native and invasive plants and their berries. Birdfeeders can only do so much.
According to the study, Japanese honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica thunbergii berries have less than 1% fat content. Compare this to northern bayberry, Myrica pensylvanica, a native shrub, at 50% fat. Remember tasting the sweet nectar from honeysuckle flowers as a kid? Perhaps the berry is similarly tasty to birds, but don’t eat a berry to find out; although the flowers are fine for human consumption, the berries are toxic to us. Japanese honeysuckle is basically junk food for birds.
The avian candy store includes berries from multiflora rose and buckthorn, with less than 1% fat, and autumn olive and oriental bittersweet at less than 3% fat. Compare with the native plants that co-evolved with local birdlife over millenia: gray dogwood has 35% fat, virginia creeper 34%, arrowwood viburnum and spicebush at 48%. These plants have been largely replaced in our backyards, fields and woodlands with non-natives and invasives, adding to the decline of our bird life.
When a bird ingests a berry it also ingests the hard seed or seeds inside the berry. The bird’s digestive system removes the outer part of the seed and excretes it coated in poop fertilizer, greatly increasing the seed’s chances for germination. This helps to explain the rapid spread of invasive species.
Some of the berries of invasive plants have healthful benefits, providing a few useful nutrients for the birds, and even for humans. Invasive Barberry, Berberis Thunbergii, is a relative of the Barberry, Berberis vulgaris, that is used in Persian cooking. Both types of plants have sour-tasting berries that contain berberine, an antioxidant phytonutrient that has been shown to lower cholesterol and help control blood sugar in humans.
Autumn olive, Elaegnus umbellate, which comes to us from Asia, is a shrub or small tree that can produce as much as 30 pounds of fruit from a single mature specimen. The fruit contains many more times the lycopene levels than our main food source of this carotenoid — tomatoes.
Lycopene has been shown to inhibit certain cancers and protects against diabetes among other benefits of its anti-oxidant rich pulp. Harvesting the prolific number of berries from the autumn olive will help to reduce seed dispersal by birds so, if you decide not to remove the plant it is a good idea to collect as many berries as possible when they are ripe. There are many recipes for autumn olive condiments and dishes to be found online.
The berries of the Amelachier genus are being touted as a superfood in Canada, where the tree is called saskatoon (here we know it as shadblow or serviceberry). According to Web MD and a few other sources I have checked, the berries have plenty of vitamins and minerals as well as the kind of flavonoids that can help prevent blockages in our blood vessels and can protect our heart and liver. They are ripe when purple; not red, or they will be too sour.
There’s only so far a bird feeder will go to solving this life and death issue for the birds in our area; still, it can’t hurt. Planting more native shrubs that produce fat-containing berries is the only long-term solution to the winter nutrition issue. A health food pantry to replace the existing sweet shops in our backyards.
Dee Salomon “ungardens” in Litchfield County.
The LED sign in front of Amenia's Town Hall on Route 22 warns passing motorists of the current temporary burn ban, in effect from Oct. 2 to Oct. 15.
A statewide burn ban is in effect as of Thursday, Oct. 2, the New York State Governor's office announced in a press release.
The temporary ban is in effect until at least Oct. 15, and the statement released by the governor's office said the restrictions will be re-evaluated prior to the Oct. 15 deadline.
Lighting fires for brush or debris disposal and large, uncontained fires for cooking or other purposes are banned until at least Oct. 15 under the statewide order. Backyard fire pits, contained camp fires no larger than 3 feet in height and 4 feet in diameter, and small, contained cooking fires are still permitted under the burn ban.
New York State has faced dry conditions all autumn, triggering drought watches and warnings across most of the state.
Dutchess County, along with the other counties in the Catskills region, are under a drought watch according to the Department of Environmental Conservation's drought condition map.
Dutchess County is currently under a "high" fire danger rating, according to the DEC.
LAKEVILLE, Conn. — Barbara Meyers DelPrete, 84, passed away Tuesday, September 30, 2025.
A Funeral Mass will be celebrated Saturday, October 4, 2025, at 11:00a.m. at St. Mary’s Church, 76 Sharon Rd., Lakeville.
A complete obituary will appear in next week’s Lakeville Journal.
To offer an online condolence, please visit ryanfhct.com.
Volunteers were hard at work putting the finishing touches on the crucial creepy decorations for the Haunted Fortress of Stanford on Sunday, Sept. 28.
STANFORD — Greg Arent led a devoted team of volunteers on Sunday, Sept. 28, in a final push to prepare Stanford’s Haunted Fortress for opening day.
Final touches included cleaning the bottomless pit, scrubbing the pirate ship, raking the graveyard and dressing the dolls. By 2 p.m., about 20 volunteers had assembled to creepify the beloved local landmark.
Many of the volunteers have been coming back for years, Arent said, dedicating time and valuable skills to the town-owned haunted house that was constructed by the artist Peter Wing.
Arent has been building sets in his free time for forty years, but he started out volunteering with the Haunted Fortress in 2014 when his children wanted to get involved, he said. At that time he would help out one or two days a year. That grew into a leadership position over the course of a decade.
On Sunday, Arent was touring the decrepit grounds checking light bulbs, soundtracks and other set details to contribute to that perfect spooky ambience.
Nathan Miller
When it’s all said and done, the Fortress will be ready to welcome visitors starting on Friday, Oct. 3, with shows running from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Sundays. The Haunted Fortress is entirely staffed by volunteers, Arent said, including the actors that don costumes to scare visitors. Anybody aged 6 and up can volunteer to act in the horror show, and families often will volunteer to take over a scene.
“I love it because every scene is different every night,” Arent said. “Sure there are going to be vampires in this scene, but this family is going to do it different from these three kids from Bard, who are going to do it different from these three middle school kids.”
The sets themselves were all built from recycled material to be as creepy and decrepit as possible, Arent said. Concrete culverts adorn the sides of a bridge over a stream, stacked vertically with a cone on top to elicit a fortress’s spires. Reclaimed lumber bolted to a fence evokes a dark and scary forest blocking any escape. A rusting tractor with a steel box welded above the seat sits on a set of rails with two cars attached to it, mimicking a wrecked train with it’s inner mechanisms exposed and blowing steam on passersby.
This year the Haunted Fortress is following a haunted circus theme featuring clowns and other carnival staples alongside the classic settings of the Fortress.
The team of volunteers is dedicated and numerous, and the Stanford Highway Department lends a hand too, Arent said, but there’s always a need for skilled labor at the local attraction.
And the group appreciates all the help they can get. “Whatever you’re interested in and capable of doing,” Arent said.
The haunted pirate ship marks the spot where groups of visitors are paired with their ghastly guides for the remainder of the Haunted Fortress tour in Stanford.Nathan Miller
From left, Jim Milton, Spencer Parks and William J. Clark stand with Joseph Olenik on their first day working under him as the head of Public Works on Monday, Sept. 29.
MILLERTON — The Village announced a leadership change at the Highway Department on Friday following the resignation of Superintendent Peter Dellaghelfa. Police Chief Joseph Olenik will step into the role, effective immediately, officials said.
Olenik will continue to serve as Police Chief.
The decision was made Friday, Sept. 26, during an emergency meeting of the Board of Trustees following Dellaghelfa’s resignation.
Mayor Jenn Najdek said the “amicable split” with Dellaghelfa was part of an ongoing annual employee review process, adding that turnover is not uncommon in small municipalities. She expressed her gratitude for Dellaghelfa’s service over the last four years.
The Board went into Executive Session on Aug. 26 and Sept. 9 for “matters leading to the appointment, employment, promotion, demotion, discipline, suspension, dismissal or removal of a particular person,” but village officials could not comment on the specifics of those discussions.
The leadership shift will allow the Village to “better respond to the changing needs of our residents and community,” announced the Board in a press release shared with The News. “The Mayor and Board are excited to see Joe expand his impact on Millerton and we’re confident this change will bring lasting improvements to operations, communications and community engagement.”
Police Chief Olenik, who will continue his leadership role within the Millerton Police Department, said he is looking forward to the added responsibilities.
“I am excited to help move the department forward and rebuild it after the devastating fire,” Olenik said. “I am also looking forward to working with the dedicated staff and helping the residents of Millerton by making needed changes and repairs.”
Though Olenik will assume additional responsibilities as he leads the Highway Department, the Millerton Police Department will continue to operate separately — but with the same shared goals of supporting the village community.
William J. Clark installs the leaf container he and his colleagues built. Leaves from the Village will be delivered to McEnroe’s Organic Farm for composting.Aly Morrissey
Mayor Najdek added that Olenik has extensive supervisory and administrative experience that, given the imminent need to rebuild the Highway Department building, will be critical. In addition to managing the upcoming construction, his first orders of business will include making sure the village is on track for leaf pick-up and snow removal, working to ensure the right equipment and personnel are in place.
Olenik held his first meeting with the Village Highway Department on Monday, Sept. 29 and discussed a new leaf container — built by Millerton’s Highway Department — that will support efforts to collect leaves. The leaves will then be turned over to McEnroe’s Organic Farm for composting. While the team configuration — which includes Jim Milton, William J. Clark, and Spencer Parks — will be new, Olenik said they are not strangers. “They’ve always helped me out and I’m looking forward to working with them more closely.”
The Board said in a statement the Village is in good hands moving forward. “Joe’s leadership style — hands-on, structured, and community-focused — makes him well suited to guide this department through the transition.”