Author: Kathleen

I heard of Bird Island Pier, but never visited before. We stopped on our return from a day trip, and took a walk toward the Peace Bridge. The strong wind made conversation a little difficult as we walked toward the Peace Bridge on the paved path along the Niagara River. Many ducks gathered in various places on the leeward side, grooming and taking a break from the wind and waves.

The path goes under the Peace Bridge, but we turned back before then. We visit this area to see family. On this visit we realized we needed more time, not only to visit family but also explore the area again. We even passed on our annual Shakespeare in Delaware Park visit because of time constraints, and that has been a family tradition for decades.

We flew into Buffalo this year, and took little in the way of camera gear. I carried my Canon 7D with the 24 – 70 mm lens. I did manage to get some interesting shots of butterflies, dragonflies, and various other insects, but bird photography eluded me. Warblers are fast and small whether here in central Florida, or in their summer home in Buffalo, NY.

Walking along the boardwalk, we surprised a couple white tailed deer. One further on expressed no surprise at all but watched us without fear.

I noticed many warblers flying around, but the denseness of the canopy and underbrush hid them well. Two or three bird blinds gave views of several wading birds, but unlike the deer above they flew away quickly.

One more set of photographs from Times Beach Preserve in the next entry, this time the butterflies and insects.

More personal observations about Buffalo picking up from the last post:

The 1980s and 1990s saw some resurgence for the city. In the 2000s, I heard many comments from locals of all education levels that civil service remained the way to go for any kind of career and pension in the area. The locally owned small and medium sized businesses of my youth and very early career either no longer existed or merged into larger multi-nationals and reduced the number of local employees. The very large employers making steel and automobiles either closed or reduced and consolidated.

 

Over these years we visited with our tourist hats on, took family around to places we discovered (many new to them), sometimes in disrepair and difficult to find, and complained that the area did not capitalize on its assets. Luckily others living in the area felt the same, and now tours of the older sections run regularly in the summer months, and the waterfront looks wonderful and attracts summer crowds. Buffalo made its name in innovation (think electricity and city of light), heavy industry (steel, auto, grain silos), and transportation (Erie Canal). Finally, though past their prime in terms of many of those businesses, these areas are being highlighted and explored for their history and contributions to the country at large.

We ate at a local bar/pub/small brewer (Gene McCarthy’s, check it out) in the old First Ward that served an old fashioned beef on weck with fries and gravy!  Only a native of Buffalo who grew up going to the local nightclubs/pubs/beach bars to dance and have fun with friends, and then retreated to a local diner about 3 a.m. for coffee and talk about the evening understands the perfect comfort food of fries and gravy to absorb some of the adult beverages imbibed!

We both grew up in the suburbs of the city of Buffalo, but different suburbs, at different times. When we met and married, nearly forty years ago now, we left the area, Karl for the third time. We visit family who remained there at least once annually, and we enjoy being tourists re-discovering and sometimes discovering for the first time the nature and history of the area where we grew up.

Located on the shoreline of downtown Buffalo where the Niagara River and Lake Erie meet, the Times Beach Preserve provides a needed conservation site for birds, and judging by the day we visited, for butterflies.

Only about 50 acres, the history of the area includes use as a public beach (though not for long due to contamination), waste area for dredged material, and finally closed off due to contamination in the 1970s. Nature took over from there, and now it provides important habitat for birds, migration, insects, and mammals including White Tailed Deer.

We first visited the preserve two years ago, and hiked in amazement at this little piece of natural paradise surrounded by the industrial city of Buffalo. We decided to visit again this year, and had a wonderful hike in some very hot, sunny weather (for Buffalo at least).

The city of Buffalo, NY saw several ebbs and flows in fortune. In the early part of the 20^th century it rose to prominence due to its location, the use of the Erie Canal, and the fact that power development at Niagara Falls made Buffalo one of the first cities to enjoy electric streetlights. In the middle of the 20^th century heavy industry dominated the landscape. Steel mills, automobile manufacturing, and manufacturing of all types found a home here. As the world recovered from WWII and industry started up in other countries, Buffalo saw a decline of the industries that defined that era. The glory days ended in the 1970s as other countries started making their own steel and cars.

(Wildlife of this Preserve in the next entry).

 

Summer colds are the worst. I felt awful, and hadn’t been paying any attention to the news, so missed the articles about the eclipse on Friday, July 27 and “Blood Moon” that most of the world would see. Except North America, at least for the eclipse.

Friday morning Karl left for his morning walk, and came back almost immediately. He said that we could see the Blood Moon, more orangey-red than red, though clouds were starting to cover it. He went back out, I quickly dressed and went out to see it. As I walked around the circle for a better look over the Gulf, I finally realized I needed my camera. I sprinted back (not easy when you are coughing, sneezing and on an antibiotic), grabbed the camera, and managed to get a few shots before the combination of dawn and the clouds changed the moment entirely.

This is taken at 70mm and cropped, with a lower ISO. I increased the ISO but of course the photography turned out grainy, and the shots were just not as dramatic. You can just barely see the green of the bushes lining the coast of the Gulf in the foreground.

I actually complained about growing too much parsley a month or so ago. My complaint stemmed from a conversation with fellow naturalist volunteers about butterflies. They grow wonderful native plant gardens in their back yards, some also recognized as native habitats, and regularly discuss the plants, insects, birds, and butterflies visiting various plants. I manage with a very small area, a few native plants in the sparse soil but mostly herbs in pots. I planted extra parsley this year because in years past the one plant always grew lush and verdant one day, and a couple of days later showed just spindly stems, the result of the larva of the Black Swallowtail, nicknamed the Parsley Caterpillar. Then I stopped growing any plants at all for two years, just too busy. Missing the fresh herbs for cooking and salads I restarted this year, and also this year I grew extra for the caterpillars.

They didn’t come. Until two weeks ago. And the extra naturally turned out not to be enough extra. We returned from a RV trip and I noticed the lush, almost overgrown parsley plants seemed sparse. Thinking they needed water, I filled the can from the rain barrel and started watering. Then I noticed the tiny black and white creatures. Just before we left for the trip, I saw one lone Black Swallowtail, somewhat the worse for wear based on the faded colors and the condition of her wings, stop briefly at the parsley plant, extend her abdomen for maybe a second, and take off. I hoped, but forgot about the brief sighting until I saw her offspring.

I watched as they grew, and the plants carried less and less foliage. I went out with a camera one day as the oldest, or at least largest, munched away contentedly on an outer leaf. Yesterday I saw the larger ones wandering around the other plants in the garden, hoping for another plant. A few younger siblings, still tiny and black and white, looked for leftovers in the original pot. I looked for cocoons, but found none.

I plan to replant that parsley, and maybe another large pot at the other end of the small potted herb garden. There is nothing like fresh salsa verde, tabbouleh made the traditional way with more parsley than bulgur, and the hope of more butterflies.

On our boat trip in the Okefenokee I noticed a Snowy Egret sitting on the stump in the photography next to the tree on the left. I took a few shots, and then the bird took off, dipping feet into the water. I noticed how the reflections warped and skewed with the slight ripples, and kept shooting.

Looking at it online, I might try a crop at the land and into the water, so only the twisted cypress show…

We saw these swallowtail butterflies clustered like this while on our boat tour of the Okefenokee Swamp. I’ve never seen this before. The ranger said they had seen it, and speculated that the area contained some sort of food or nutrition that drew all of them to the one area.

 

 

Take the ranger guided boat ride when you visit Stephen Foster State Park, GA. We took the tour six years ago on our first visit here, and just recently we returned. The rangers know their stuff. Though the day started hot and still, the boat ride was comfortable and thankfully the mosquitoes and other biting bugs took the day off. Both Karl and I took a lot of photographs. I’ll start with three of Karl’s, and post more over the next week or two.

As in previous years, postings will be less frequent for the next two months. While most of the northern hemisphere gets outside and active in the summer weather before the cold of their winters return, here in central Florida we get outside but lazy or indoors in air conditioning doing all the inside stuff neglected during the nice weather and wait for the beautiful warm weather of Fall and Winter replace the blast furnace of summer.

I grew up near the Great Lakes. Beaches and larger bodies of water drew me even then. Unlike my friends, I did not tan well nor did I burn a lot. I protected my skin in the days when everyone else applied baby oil (really) before a day at the beach.

I always loved the beach though I drove most of my friends crazy in those days. While they lay on towels looking good and working on their tans, and, let’s face it, checking out the guys, I went for walks, swims, read, and generally kept active (and checked out the guys).

I live near several beaches now, and walking on the beach (usually with my camera, but not always) still ranks among my favorite relaxing activities. We love walking the beach and then sitting and having a cup of coffee on those cold, blustery days that keep the tourists away. Karl will bring a chair, and read or relax while I maintain my same activities as all those years ago as a teenager and young twenty something. Except checking out the guys of course. At my age they would find that scary!