SLAG FROM THE MAYDOLE HAMMER FACTORY SITE

 Donald A. Windsor

Around mid July 2012, NYSEG put in a new gas line under the lawn on the north side of the Golden Age Apartments on Mechanic Street in the City of Norwich. 

On 25 July, I noticed a shiny black stone atop the back-filled ditch.  Here are 2 photos of it.  The upper photo is a top view and the lower is a side view.

The stone weighs 5 ounces.  It looks like obsidian, but I suspect that it is slag, because this is the site of the former Maydole Hammer factory (1845-1970) and is about 80 feet from the railroad tracks.

I showed this to David Moyer and he identified it as slag before I told him where I found it.  Gail Merian gave me a piece of real obsidian for comparison.

=================================================

2012 IS STILL ONE WET DAY FOR EVERY DRY DAY

Donald A. Windsor

As of this posting, Friday 13 July 2012, we are in a very dry period, the driest in several years.  Rainfall is usually announced as how many inches fell.  For those of us who schedule outdoor activities, inches are not as important as frequency.  We want to know how often it rains/snows.  Consequently, I record those days (midnight to midnight) in which some precipitation fell on my property in the City of Norwich.  On 3 January 2012, I posted my data for 2011.  Here are the data for the first half of 2012.

            Dry Days  Wet Days 
January        10        21       
February      12        17       
March          18        13        
April             18        12       
May              16        15       
June              16        14       

For the first half of 2012, we had a total of 90 dry days and 92 wet days, about one wet day for every dry day.  However, we have had less precipitation, so it is drier. 

=============================================

JUNCO NEST

Donald A. Windsor

Dark-eyed Juncos breed in every town in Chenango County (1).  They build their nests on the ground and sometimes on woodland roads that support vegetation.  Sometimes we almost step on these nests when we are hiking.  The nests are very hard to see and their presence is revealed only when the mother darts out, surprising us.

The photo below shows a nest along a trail on private property in southwest Preston.  It was snapped on Monday 28 May 2012.  Four bluish eggs with brown splotches are visible.  For more information, consult Harrison (2).

References cited:

1.  Smith, Charles R.  Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis.  In:  McGowan, Kevin J. ; Corwin, Kimberley, Editors.  The Second Atlas ofBreeding Birds in New York State.  Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. 2008. pages 572-573.

2.  Harrison, Hal H. et al.  Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Junco.  In:  A Field Guide to the Birds' Nests ...  Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. 1975. Page 243.

================================================

EARLY SPRING WILDFLOWERS

Donald A. Windsor

Here is a list of the 21 wildflowers that I saw blooming on Friday afternoon 20 April 2012 in the Town of Oxford.  I was walking in a kettle-kame area east of the Chenango River south of the Village.  The landowner did not want to be identified.  The habitat was mainly upland forest, but also included bushy and grassy areas, ponds, and the river.  

 
Blue Phlox (photo),  Spring Beauty,  Bloodroot,  Crowfoot,  Common Chickweed,  Toothwort,  Blue Cohosh,  Trout Lily,  White Trilium,  Squirel Corn,  Dutchmans Breeches,  Foamflower,  Wood Anemone,  Dwarf Ginseng,  Dandelion,  Gill-Over-The-Ground,  Common Blue Violet,  Round-leaved Yellow Violet,  Sweet White Violet,  Long Spur Violet,  Canada Violet.

The names are the ones used in the Peterson & McKenny Field Guide.

Birds seen included:  Wood Duck,  Common Merganser,  Turkey Vulture,  Red-bellied Woodpecker,  Yellow-bellied Sapsucker,  Downy Woodpecker,  Tree Swallow,  Song Sparrow,  Tufted Titmouse,  Red-winged blackbird,  Common Grackle. 

=========================================

CHENANGO CANAL BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE

Donald A. Windsor

The Chenango Canal extended for 97 miles between Utica and Binghamton.  It operated from 1837 through 1878.  Its summit was at Bouckville, 706 feet higher than Utica and 300 feet higher than Binghamton.  The Canal had 116 locks; its summit was between locks 76 and 77.  Chenango County contains locks 84 through 105.

I made the following three drawings for my presentation to the Bullthistle Hikers on Tuesday 3 January 2012.  Data for them were taken from:

McFee, Michele A.  Limestone Locks and Overgrowth.  The Rise and Descent of the Chenango Canal.  Fleischmanns, NY: Purple Mountain Press.  1993.  240 pages.

===============================================

2011 WAS A WET YEAR

Donald A. Windsor

2011 was a wet year, very wet I thought.  But how wet?  On January 1, 2011, I started logging whether or not any precipitation fell during the 24-hour day.  I continued every day throughout the year and am still faithfully keeping track.

For 2011, we had 190 dry days (52.1%) and 175 wet days (47.9%).  So, in general, we had a wet day for almost every dry day.  Here is a breakdown by month.  Note that 7 months had more dry days and only 4 months had more wet days.

              Dry Days    Wet Days    Most Days
January      13              18             Wet
February    15              13             Dry
March        17              14             Dry
April           12              19            Wet
May            11              20            Wet
June           20               10           Dry
July            21               10           Dry
August       17               14           Dry
September 15               15            -
October      16              15           Dry
November  19              11           Dry
December   14             17            Wet

But, I have no baseline for comparison, so I intend to continue doing this.  My data reflect conditions where I live, in the City of Norwich.

Precipitation is usually reported as inches of rain or snow.  For my purposes, this is inadequate.  I want to know whether the ground or the foliage is wet, or if I leave something outside, will it get wet?  Or more importantly, if I schedule an event, is it liable to be a wet day?  Besides, some plants thrive on being constantly wet; others do not.

==================================================

DUGOUT CANOE IN OTSEGO LAKE 1894

Donald A. Windsor

A dugout canoe 16 feet long was pulled out of Otsego Lake during the summer of 1894 by George Rathbun of Cooperstown, according to an article in The Norwich Sun of 4 October 1894.  Thanks to Tom Knapp for finding this article.

The canoe was down 50 feet underwater and was pulled up in a seine.  It bore the marks of the blunt instrument used to dig out the hull.  The location was between Hutters Island and Mount Wellington, directly in front of Hyde Hall.  Hyde Hall is on the northern shore of Otsego Lake, just northwest of Glimmerglass State Park.

Note that the length approximates the 17 feet of our Dave Walker canoe, posting of 16 August 2011 on this blog.

==================================================