The DC Women's Hiking Group will hike this week, Tuesday, April 21st and Thursday, April 23rd at Tarrywille Park in Danbury.

From I-84 take the airport exit.
At end of ramp turn right.
Follow through traffic lights and at stop sign turn onto Southern Blvd. ( It will be a sharp right turn).
Follow small brown signs for Tarrywile Park.
The park will be on the right, across from Immaculate H.S.
Meet in lower parking lot at 8:30am.

The DC Women's Hiking Group will meet at Topstone Park in Redding on Tues., April 7th and Thurs., April 9th.

Take Topstone Rd. off of Rt. 7.
Follow road over RR tracks until it becomes a dirt road.
Shortly after, a parking area will be on the right side of the road.
Meet at 8:30am.

Noah's Blog - March

It was not exactly spring-like, as there was a fresh five inches of snow on the ground with big flakes still falling, but a large group of all ages set off early in the morning to find avian signs of spring at the Garden of Ideas on North Salem Road.  Bird song filled the air, mostly from the red-winged blackbirds, one of the earliest spring migrants to fly up from the southern states.  The males, with their black bodies and yellow and red shoulder badges, were easy to spot in the area around the marsh.  Noah taught us to listen for the common grackle, another early migrant that often comes up in large flocks that include other birds such as the red-winged blackbirds, brown-headed cowbirds, European starlings, and even American robins.  A red-tailed hawk sat all puffed up on a tree limb surveying the area, and was unperturbed by the audience observing from below.  Birds fluff up their feathers in the cold to trap air between them for better insulation, and the oils on the feathers provide waterproofing.  A member of the buteo genus, the red-tailed hawk preys mostly upon rodents, and is one of the most common hawks found in our area, staying year-round.   Perched in another tree was another year-round inhabitant, the mourning dove, whose graceful silhouette with a rather small head and long tapering tail, and its mournful call, make it easy to identify.  As we crossed the boardwalk over the marsh, we found a pair of rather shy ring-necked ducks that were swimming near the reeds.  The male ring-necked is beautifully marked in black, grey and white, while the female is brown with a darker crown above a paler face.  Both have a peaked head and a distinctive white ring on their bills, which looks a bit like a “mustache” from a distance.  In fact, the ring around its neck for which it is named is rather hard to see, so it is much easier to go by the other features to identify it.  Even though they are one of the ducks that dive for their food, they often frequent shallow ponds, lakes and marshes.  Mallards were also spotted, one of our most familiar and easily identified ducks with the iridescent green heads and yellow bills on the males.  They are “dabbling ducks,” as they feed by tipping forward to eat water plants and hardly ever dive.  Woodpeckers were heard in the distance, both the “wuk” sound of the pileated and the “kwirr” call of the red-bellied woodpecker.  Also in the back of the Garden of Ideas property are some domesticated birds: about a half dozen hens and a rooster.  We were interested to learn that Joe Keller’s chickens stay outside in their coop year round, and stop laying eggs for only about six weeks of the year.  Joe plans to fence in a larger area for them to roam in the spring, so they won’t fall prey to fox and other predators.  We all agreed it was a beautiful day of birding despite the snow! Picture:  Ring-necked ducks Credit:  Chris Burke

Icicles!

Did you know they were doing serious research on icicles?  Knowing their properties is important for among other things gutter design.  Here is an excerpt from The Icicle Atlas by Dr. Stephen Morris of the University of Toronto:

“Icicles are familiar to anyone living in a cold climate. But what determines their shape and growth? Their distinctive forms emerge from the complex interplay between their evolving shape and the flow of air and water over their surfaces. These flows in turn control the release of heat needed to transform water into ice. Impurities in the water also play an important role, especially in the formation of ribs or ripples around the circumference of the icicle.”

Thus, icicles do not form from water tension and are dependent on air flow and water impurities.  The Atlas can be found on-line at:  http://www.physics.utoronto.ca/Icicle_Atlas/  It has some very interesting pictures and details growing conditions.  So before you knock down the treasure trove that has been decorating your house, have a look to see if they match Dr. Morris’ collection.  (Picture: Naturally curved icicles on the edge of a roof in Truckee, CA.  The icicles kept growing and curled as a mass of icy snow slid down the metal roof.  Credit John Larkin - NYTimes Science)

The DC Women's Hiking Group will snowshoe at the Ridgefield Golf Course on Thursday, March 12th.
We have snowshoes, so give it a try.
Take Ridgebury Rd. take a left onto Dhly.
Meet at 8:30am in the parking lot.

Noah's Birding Log - Feb 2015

February’s bird walk was quite a challenge with deep snow covering the golf course.  Breaking trail with snowshoes required a lot of work.  After one hole, we were warmed up to coat unzipping level. But the day was perfect for birding – no wind and bright grey sky which allows one to see finer detail at a distance.  First bird of the day was the pileated woodpecker, discovered by hearing its loud pecking sound.  Nearly the size of a crow, this is the largest woodpecker in our area.  They have a long neck, a conspicuous triangular crest (entirely red in males), and a long chisel-like bill.  They are famous for creating rectangular shaped holes that are be so broad and deep, they can cause a small tree to break in half.  Clues to their work are large chips of wood on the ground.  Their favorite food is carpenter ants but they are willing to consume numerous other woodboring insects, plus wild fruits and berries.  They have long, barbed tongues which they use to extract their prey from deep within the wood.  Like today, one generally hears them first; hammering loudly and then you may catch their undulating flight pattern with strong rapid wing strokes alternating with brief periods of wings folded at their sides.  They are very important to the forest ecosystem.  As primary nest builders, their numerous excavations provide living quarters or shelter for many other cavity loving animals, like wood ducks, bluebirds, mice & flying squirrels.  We also managed to spot two small buteos – soaring hawks.  They may have been red-shouldereds but red-tails nest in that area too.  The distance made positive identification impossible which is a frustrating part of birding.  So without a doubt, the bird of the day was the magnificent pileated woodpecker.  It was worth all the energy to see it.   

Photo credit:  David.margrave - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Pileated-at-platform-feeder.jpg

Groundhog Day 2015

Groundhog Day has its roots deep in the past when nature’s cycles dominated one’s life.  It falls between the winter solstice and the spring equinox when in the far Northern Hemisphere winter is at its deepest.  At this point it was important to determine if there was enough food and hay to last till spring and what adjustments must be made.  Traditions developed to hone in on the date, have evolved over the eons.   Some say the early Christians took the Gaelic festival of Imbolc and converted it to Candlemas.  For centuries this was the day that the clergy blessed candles and distributed them to the people.  Thus reassuring their followers that the light will continue to grow and the dark of winter was behind them.  Regardless of whose traditions one quotes, this day revolves around the sun.  How a groundhog got involved seems to go back to German folklore where the prognostics were a badger or bear or a hedgehog.  It peeps out of its winter quarters and if the day is sunny, goes back to sleep for another 6 weeks.  If the day is cloudy, it stays out to enjoy the mild weather.  German settlers brought this tradition to American, specifically Pennsylvania.  There groundhogs were in abundance and thus took center stage.  It is said the first recorded celebration took place in Morgantown, PA in 1841. Now the largest celebration is held in Punxsutawney, PA where large crowds have gathered since 1886 to hear Phil’s predictions.  However, in CT we have our own prognosticating rodent, Chuckles VIII.  Unlike Phil who claims to be 125 years old and drinks a magic elixir to maintain his youth, Chuckles comes from a long line of diviners.  According to his handlers at the Lutz Museum, Chuckles takes a more scientific approach by “consulting with meteorologists, examining radar data, and reading the Farmer’s Almanac.” Chuckle’s conclusion:  2015 will have 6 more weeks of winter.