Dry And Wet Days In 2011, 2012, And 2013
Donald A. Windsor
In 2013 we had 3 wet days for every 2 dry days.
I live in the City of Norwich and define a wet day as any kind of aqueous precipitation within a 24-hour day. That is, a sunny day can still be a wet day if we had snow flakes at 2:00 in the morning.
I started recording these data back in November 2010 because it seemed as if I could never get several dry days in a row. Sure enough, we were actually getting a wet day for every dry day.
Here are my data for the past 3 years.
2011 DRY WET
JAN 13 18
FEB 15 13
MAR 17 13 1 day unknown
APR 11 19
MAY 11 20
JUN 20 10
JUL 21 10
AUG 17 14
SEP 15 14 1 day unknown
OCT 16 15
NOV 19 11
DEC 14 17
SUM= 189 174 DRY = 52.1% WET = 47.9%
2012 DRY WET
JAN 10 21
FEB 12 17
MAR 18 13
APR 18 12
MAY 16 15
JUN 16 14
JUL 18 13
AUG 21 10
SEP 20 10
OCT 12 19
NOV 16 14
DEC 11 20
SUM= 188 178 DRY = 51.4% WET = 48.6%
2013 DRY WET
JAN 6 13 12 days were unknown because I was away.
FEB 5 23
MAR 8 23
APR 12 18
MAY 16 15
JUN 12 18
JUL 15 16
AUG 19 12
SEP 18 12
OCT 18 13
NOV 10 20
DEC 6 25
SUM= 145 208 DRY = 41.1% WET = 58.9%
The data show that 2011 and 2012 had about 1 dry day for each wet day. However, 2013 was much wetter, 2 dry days for every 3 wet days. What will 2014 look like? Stay tuned.
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Thursday, January 2, 2014
Monday, April 15, 2013
SCARLET CUP MUSHROOM IN OXFORD
Donald A. Windsor
On Sunday morning 14 April 2013, along the Finger Lakes Trail about midway between Buckley Hollow and State Route 12, In the Town of Oxford, Anne Altshuler noticed several Scarlet Cup Mushrooms Sarcoscypha coccinea. Two groups were present, one with at least 6 and the other with 3.
This photo was taken by Dot Rice.
A good description is given by Lincoff, but this species is not even mentioned by Phillips. Anne identified it using Pacioni and Lincoff.
References cited:
Lincoff, Gary H. Scarlet Cup Sarcoscypha coccinea. In: The Audubon Society Field Guide To The Mushrooms. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf. 1981. Pages 343-344, Plate 605.
Phillips, Roger. Mushrooms of North America. Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co. 1991. 320 pages.
Pacioni, Giovanni ; Lincoff, Gary, Editors. Scarlet Cup Sarcoscypha coccinea. In: Simon & Schuster's Guide to Mushrooms. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. 1981. Plate/page 415.
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On Sunday morning 14 April 2013, along the Finger Lakes Trail about midway between Buckley Hollow and State Route 12, In the Town of Oxford, Anne Altshuler noticed several Scarlet Cup Mushrooms Sarcoscypha coccinea. Two groups were present, one with at least 6 and the other with 3.
This photo was taken by Dot Rice.
A good description is given by Lincoff, but this species is not even mentioned by Phillips. Anne identified it using Pacioni and Lincoff.
References cited:
Lincoff, Gary H. Scarlet Cup Sarcoscypha coccinea. In: The Audubon Society Field Guide To The Mushrooms. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf. 1981. Pages 343-344, Plate 605.
Phillips, Roger. Mushrooms of North America. Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co. 1991. 320 pages.
Pacioni, Giovanni ; Lincoff, Gary, Editors. Scarlet Cup Sarcoscypha coccinea. In: Simon & Schuster's Guide to Mushrooms. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. 1981. Plate/page 415.
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Wednesday, April 10, 2013
TRI-TOWN MARKER FOR GERMAN, MCDONOUGH, AND SMITHVILLE
Donald A. Windsor
The historical Tri-Town Marker for the borders of German, McDonough, and Smithville was still in place on Sunday 7 April 2013.
It is a sandstone rock at least a foot wide, a half-foot thick and 2 feet deep, perhaps deeper. It is hard to find, so I like to visit it every few years, just so I can remember where it is.
An article about this marker appears in my book, cited below.
Reference cited:
Windsor, D. A. The most significant corner in Chenango County. In: Souvenirs of Yesteryear. Norwich, NY: self-published. 2008. 1:28-29.
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The historical Tri-Town Marker for the borders of German, McDonough, and Smithville was still in place on Sunday 7 April 2013.
It is a sandstone rock at least a foot wide, a half-foot thick and 2 feet deep, perhaps deeper. It is hard to find, so I like to visit it every few years, just so I can remember where it is.
An article about this marker appears in my book, cited below.
Reference cited:
Windsor, D. A. The most significant corner in Chenango County. In: Souvenirs of Yesteryear. Norwich, NY: self-published. 2008. 1:28-29.
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Tuesday, April 9, 2013
STARNOSE MOLE IN MCDONOUGH
Donald A. Windsor
A dead Starnose Mole was lying in the intersection of Steere and Sherman-Bliven roads in the Town of McDonough on Sunday 24 March 2013, around noon.
My wallet, which is 4 1/2 inches long, appears below the mole. According to Burt and Grossenheider, the Starnose Mole head + body are 4 1/2 to 5 inches and the tail is 3 to 3 1/2 inches.
I was surprised to find this critter out above all the snow, which was at least 9 inches deep. It did not appear to have been hit by a vehicle. Perhaps it was caught by a predator and then discarded.
Reference cited:
Burt, W.H. ; Grossenheider, R.P. Starnose Mole Condylura cristata. In: A Field Guide to the Mammals. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. 2nd Ed. 1964. Pages 16-17, 20.
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A dead Starnose Mole was lying in the intersection of Steere and Sherman-Bliven roads in the Town of McDonough on Sunday 24 March 2013, around noon.
My wallet, which is 4 1/2 inches long, appears below the mole. According to Burt and Grossenheider, the Starnose Mole head + body are 4 1/2 to 5 inches and the tail is 3 to 3 1/2 inches.
I was surprised to find this critter out above all the snow, which was at least 9 inches deep. It did not appear to have been hit by a vehicle. Perhaps it was caught by a predator and then discarded.
Reference cited:
Burt, W.H. ; Grossenheider, R.P. Starnose Mole Condylura cristata. In: A Field Guide to the Mammals. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. 2nd Ed. 1964. Pages 16-17, 20.
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Tuesday, March 19, 2013
BEE TREE
Donald A. Windsor
Wild honey bees nest inside hollow trees and we sometimes find them flying in and out of an opening. However, I have never seen the inside of a natural hive.
Until Sunday morning on a Bullthistle Hike through the Basswood State Forest in Oxford. We were taking a well-deserved break on and around a large fallen tree trunk, when Dot Rice noticed the hollow tree trunk contained a bee hive.
The bees probably abandoned the hive when the tree blew
over, apparently several years ago, because the wax honeycombs had
deteriorated to a fragile dry material.
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Wild honey bees nest inside hollow trees and we sometimes find them flying in and out of an opening. However, I have never seen the inside of a natural hive.
Until Sunday morning on a Bullthistle Hike through the Basswood State Forest in Oxford. We were taking a well-deserved break on and around a large fallen tree trunk, when Dot Rice noticed the hollow tree trunk contained a bee hive.
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Saturday, March 2, 2013
EARLY HISTORY OF THE TOWNS
Donald A. Windsor
Here are the maps I will use in my presentation on Tuesday 5 March 2013 at the Norwich YMCA at 7:00 pm.
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Here are the maps I will use in my presentation on Tuesday 5 March 2013 at the Norwich YMCA at 7:00 pm.
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Saturday, December 29, 2012
SNOWFLEAS IN DECEMBER
Donald A. Windsor
Snowfleas are enthusiastically welcomed as harbingers of spring. They appear on snow toward the end of winter. Here is a photo taken by John Carhart on 23 December 2012 along the Finger Lakes Trail north of Bowman Lake in McDonough.
Snowfleas live in the forest leaf litter. They emerge through openings in the snow cover. In late winter rain funneling down tree trunks melts holes in the snow surrounding the trees.
Snowfleas are tiny, wingless insects, about 1/16 inch long. They belong to the springtail family Poduridae in the order Collembola (1). They are called "springtails" because they spring into the air by flicking a rear appendage that resembles a tail. Their leaping resembles fleas, but they are not true fleas (order Siphonaptera), which jump using their legs (2).
Carhart's photo was taken when we Bullthistle Hikers saw unusually large numbers of snowfleas on the surface of about 8 inches of newly fallen snow. They were in many separate flocks for at least a furlong of the trail. They were even on the snow adhering to to trees, up higher than I could see or reach. I have never before seen so many.
Snowfleas can be easily overlooked, even on pure white snow. I will certainly be paying more attention in the future.
The amazing aspect of snowfleas is that they are here. A century ago almost all of Chenango County was deforested. There was no leaf litter for these little critters to live in. Nice recovery!
1. Borror, D.J. ; White, R.E. A Field Guide to the Insects ... Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. 1970. Page 64.
2. Milne, L. ; Milne, M. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders. NY, NY: A.A. Knopf. 1980. Page 629.
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Snowfleas are enthusiastically welcomed as harbingers of spring. They appear on snow toward the end of winter. Here is a photo taken by John Carhart on 23 December 2012 along the Finger Lakes Trail north of Bowman Lake in McDonough.
Snowfleas live in the forest leaf litter. They emerge through openings in the snow cover. In late winter rain funneling down tree trunks melts holes in the snow surrounding the trees.
Snowfleas are tiny, wingless insects, about 1/16 inch long. They belong to the springtail family Poduridae in the order Collembola (1). They are called "springtails" because they spring into the air by flicking a rear appendage that resembles a tail. Their leaping resembles fleas, but they are not true fleas (order Siphonaptera), which jump using their legs (2).
Carhart's photo was taken when we Bullthistle Hikers saw unusually large numbers of snowfleas on the surface of about 8 inches of newly fallen snow. They were in many separate flocks for at least a furlong of the trail. They were even on the snow adhering to to trees, up higher than I could see or reach. I have never before seen so many.
Snowfleas can be easily overlooked, even on pure white snow. I will certainly be paying more attention in the future.
The amazing aspect of snowfleas is that they are here. A century ago almost all of Chenango County was deforested. There was no leaf litter for these little critters to live in. Nice recovery!
1. Borror, D.J. ; White, R.E. A Field Guide to the Insects ... Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. 1970. Page 64.
2. Milne, L. ; Milne, M. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders. NY, NY: A.A. Knopf. 1980. Page 629.
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