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March 23, 2000 - Signs of spring show nature stirring6A • The Suffolk Times • March 23, 2000 Signs of spring show nature ,stirring Each of us has our own way of telling when spring is just around the corner. Some look for the material things going on such as snowfences being taken up along our highways. Others might tell spring isn't too far off when they see the advertisements for boat and recreational shows ap- pearing in the newspapers or FOCUS on television. And, of course, ON when the ladies NATURE see the stores change their win- by Paul dow dressings Stoutenburgh from winter to casual summer with bathing suits and sunscreen, that tells the story of a changing time and season. But for those whose eyes, ears and nose are always probing the outdoors, there are hundreds of subtle ways that show the world is coming to life in the name of spring. Among the very roads where the snowfences are being rolled up, there are new green patches of day lilies. Later in the season they will sprout long, slender stems with hand- some orange blossoms atop. They'll last but a day, hence the name day lily, but each stem has a backup of new blossoms that will keep the patch afire with color for days. Again for those whose eyes are al- ways probing, they see the color of the farmers' fields changing from winter's dullness to living green. For me, I see my two cows, who stood most of the time outside the stable during the win- ter awaiting their daily ration of hay, today combing the pasture for spring's first green grass. It will help supply some part of their daily diet now. Even their cow flops show the change in their diet. Robins return New and welcome additions to the back pasture are the robins that now take up their characteristic run, stop, and seemingly listen. Soon their early - morning song will triumph over all others as they try to persuade a mate to follow. How I await their un- forgettable spring song. While looking over the pasture to the pond I can see the willow's droop- ing branches starting to turn yellow. Their long, dangling branches have been injected with new life as their buds begin to swell. The same is true of the swamp maple that hangs over the little pond. Here the budding color is red. All this tells me the sap is flow- ing in the trees once again. I caught a glimpse of a sapsucker taking advan- tage of this sap flow by drilling his line of holes into the bark of a hickory tree. This transient woodpecker has the uncanny ability to collect sap from its new -made holes much like sap is collected from maple trees to make syrup. Later in the day I'll see him return to his ring of holes and collect his share of nature's life -giv- ing flow of sap. An interesting side note to the sapsucker's oozing ring of holes is that not only does he enjoy the rewards of the hickory tree sap flow but our always- inquisitive lit- tle chickadee sneaks in while the woodpecker is away and collects its share of the flow as well. When we first came to this place over 40 years ago, our pasture was nothing but an eroded farm field because of the slope of the land. Through the years we've nourished this worn -out field and created a healthy stable pasture that our cows thoroughly enjoy. Around the pasture is a bulwark of multiflora rose, Russian olive, cedar and pine trees and other miscellaneous plantings that through time have created a living fence. How we enjoy the open space of our back pasture with its cows peacefully gracing. As I mentioned above, the pasture land had sloped to the center where there's a small pond. Here we also find signs of spring. Our painted tur- tles have left their dark and muddy quarters and climbed up on logs to thaw out in the sun. Their world is coming alive once again. We even see little ones, which is a good sign that their reproductive cycle is working. Last year before it really got cold a friend of mine and I asked a local farmer if we could cut some of his sprouts, turnips and cabbage that were surplus in his fields. "Sure, take what you need. They're only going to freeze later on." So we both took a bushel basket and stored them in our garages for later use. I used some right up to when I went into the hospital for my knee replacement. A month or so later as I was hob- bling out in the garage I discovered my cache of winter vegetables. Since then we've been enjoying these tasty stored vegetables right up to yester- day, when we finished off the last stalk What brings this to min is ei noisy return the other morning as Barbara looked out and saw the busy little pair inspecting the area of last year's site. It was almost as if they were actually checking it out and com- plaining because their favorite flower box was not there yet. With all their noise, we decided to take action the first warm day by taking down the Suffolk Times photo by raw stoutenourgn Whenever the temperature warms up the water in our ponds, creeks and bays, hibernat- ing fish, turtles and crabs slowly emerge. Here you see painted turtles in an old Irriga- tion pond sunning themselves after winter's sleep. of Brussels sprouts. True, by now there was some picking over to do, but we did manage to get one last meal out of them. No wonder our ancestors all had root cellars to keep their produce through the winter. Maybe we could learn something from them. By the time you read this, spring will have officially arrived. I hope you have experienced some of the same signs of this long- awaited time as I have. One of Barbara's favorite signs is the return of the Carolina wrens that nest around our place. They seem to enjoy the company of man. We'll find them building in the garage, out- buildings, porches and last year's nest- ing site: right under our bedroom win- dow, where they chose one of the flower boxes. LOSE WEIGHT IN TIME FOR THE SUMMER AND KEEP IT OFF FOR NEXT SUMMER! Nancy lost 40 lbs., Helen lost 43 lbs., Joan lost 35 lbs., Ed lost 113 lbs., Cathy lost 88 lbs., Dana lost 67 lbs., Jim lost 403 lbs.! • TOTALLY SAFE WITHOUT GIVING UP -ALL NATURAL THEIR FAVORITE FOODS! - DOCTOR - RECOMMENDED Call Donna Breitenbach HERBALIFF. INDEPENDENT DISTRIBUTOR 298 -1319 storm window, putting up the screen, in its place and then replacing "their window box." How these connoisseurs of insects survived through the winter is hard to reckon. It must be they know where to find the hibernating insects, their larva and eggs and other goodies that sustain them. One of nature's wonders. By now many of you have found that your favorite osprey has returned to its last - year's nest. We were thrilled the other morning when we stepped outside to do some early- morning rak- ing and heard that old, familiar, high - pitched.call of the osprey. Raking was set aside as we both scanned the sky above to locate the callers. Sure enough, there they were, the pair of them circling and calling. Could this have been their first reunion since last fall? We know they mate for life but go their own separate ways after their young have left the nest, so our sight- ing of the two could very well have been their "first encounter" this year. The young that fledged last year won't come back the first year but stay south. The second year they might return as non - breeders but only to play house. Second -year young often build nests but don't get down to laying eggs and taking care of fami- ly until their third year. So how old do you think your special active osprey is? It could be 3 to 20 years old or even more. n •�-:� -„ x•11 6A • The Suffolk Times • March 23, 2000 Sins of SDrin show re stirrin Whenever the temperature warms up the water in our ponds, Suffolk and bays,shibe nat ing fish, turtles and crabs slowly emerge. Here you see painted turtles In an old Irriga- tion pond sunning themselves after winter's sleep. Each of us has our own way of telling when spring is just around the corner. Some look for the material things going on such as snowfences being taken up along our highways. Others might tell spring isn't too far off when they see the advertisements for boat and recreational shows ap- pearing in the newspapers or Focus television. And, of course, ON when the ladies NATURE see the stores change their win- by Paul dow dressings Stoutenburgh from winter to casual summer with bathing suits and sunscreen, that tells the story of a changing time and season. But for those whose eyes, ears and nose are always probing the outdoors, there are hundreds of subtle ways that show the world is coming to life in the name of spring. Among the very roads where the snowfences are being rolled up, there are new green patches of day lilies. Later in the season they will sprout long, slender stems with hand- some orange blossoms atop. They'll last but a day, hence the name day lily, but each stem has a backup of new blossoms that will keep the patch afire with color for days. Again for those whose eyes are al- ways probing,, they see the color of the farmers' fields changing from winter's dullness to living green. For me, I see my two cows, who stood most of the time outside the stable during the win- ter awaiting their daily ration of hay, today combing the pasture for spring's first green grass. It will help supply some part of their daily diet now. Even their cow flops show the change in their diet. obins return New and welcome additions to the back pasture are the robins that now take up their characteristic run, stop, and seemingly listen. Soon their early - morning song will triumph over all others as they try to persuade a mate to follow. How I await their un- forgettable spring song. While looking over the pasture to the pond I can see the willow's droop- ing branches starting to turn yellow. Their long, dangling branches have been injected with new life as their buds begin to swell. The same is true of the swamp maple that hangs over the little pond. Here the budding color is red. All this tells me the sap is flow- ing in the trees once again. I caught a glimpse of a sapsucker taking advan- tage of this sap flow by drilling his line of holes into the bark of a hickory tree. This transient woodpecker has - the uncanny ability to collect sap from its new -made holes much like sap is collected from maple trees to make syrup. Later in the day I'll see him return to his ring of holes and collect his share of nature's life -giv- ing flow of sap. An interesting side note to the sapsucker's oozing ring of holes is that not only does he enjoy the rewards of the hickory tree sap flow but our always- inquisitive lit- tle chickadee sneaks in while the woodpecker is away and collects its share of the flow as well. When we first came to this place over 40,v ears ago, our pasture was nothing but an eroded farm field because of the slope of the land. Through the years we've nourished this worn -out field and created a healthy stable pasture that our cows thoroughly enjoy. Around the pasture is a bulwark of multiflora rose, Russian olive, cedar and pine trees and other miscellaneous plantings that through time have created a living fence. How we enjoy the open space of our back pasture with its cows peacefully gracing. As I mentioned above, the pasture land had sloped to the center where there's a small pond. Here we also find signs of spring. Our painted tur- tles have left their dark and muddy quarters and climbed up on logs to thaw out in the sun. Their world is coming alive once again. We even see little ones, which is a good sign that their reproductive cycle is working. Last year before it really got cold a friend of mine and I asked a local farmer if we could cut some of his sprouts, turnips and cabbage that were surplus in his fields. "Sure, take what you need. They're only going to freeze later on." So we both took a bushel basket and stored them in our garages for later use. I used some right up to when I went into the hospital for my knee replacement. A month or so later as I was hob- bling out in the garage I discovered my cache of winter vegetables. Since then we've been enjoying these tasty stored vegetables right up to yester- day. when we i hed off the last stalk of Brussels sprouts. True, by now there was some picking over to do, but we did manage to get one last meal out of them. No wonder our ancestors all had root cellars to keep their produce through the winter. Maybe we could learn something from them. By the time you reaa t is, spring will have officially arrived. I hope you have experienced some of the same signs of this long- awaited time as I have. One of Barbara's favorite signs is the return of the Carolina wrens that nest around our place. They seem to enjoy the company of man. We'll find them building in the garage, out- buildings, porches and last year's nest- ing site: right under our bedroom win- dow, where they chose one of the flower boxes. What brings this to mind is their noisy return the other morning as Barbara looked out and saw the busy little pair inspecting the area of last year's site. It was almost as if they were actually checking it out and com- plaining because their favorite flower box was not there yet. With all their noise, we decided to take action the swan wmaow, putting up the screen in its place and then replacing "their window box." How these connoisseurs of insects survived through the winter is hard to reckon. It must be they know where to find the hibernating insects, their larva and eggs and other goodies that sustain them. One of nature's wonders. By now many of you have found that your favorite osprey has returned to its last - year's nest. We were thrilled the other morning when we stepped outside to do some early- morning rak- ing and heard that old, familiar, high - pitched call of the osprey. Raking was set aside as we both scanned the sky above to locate the callers. Sure enough, there they were, the pair of them circling and calling. Could this have been their first reunion since last fall? We know they mate for life but go their own separate ways after their young have left the nest, so our sight- ing of the two could very well have been their "first encounter" this year. The young that fledged last year won't come back the first year but stay south. The second year they might return as non - breeders but only to play house. Second -year young often build nests but don't get down to laying eggs and taking care of fami- ly until their third year. So how old do you think your special active osprey is? It could be 3 to 20 years old or even more. 6A • The Suffolk Times • March 23, 2000 Sins of SDrin show re stirrin Whenever the temperature warms up the water in our ponds, Suffolk and bays,shibe nat ing fish, turtles and crabs slowly emerge. Here you see painted turtles In an old Irriga- tion pond sunning themselves after winter's sleep. Each of us has our own way of telling when spring is just around the corner. Some look for the material things going on such as snowfences being taken up along our highways. Others might tell spring isn't too far off when they see the advertisements for boat and recreational shows ap- pearing in the newspapers or Focus television. And, of course, ON when the ladies NATURE see the stores change their win- by Paul dow dressings Stoutenburgh from winter to casual summer with bathing suits and sunscreen, that tells the story of a changing time and season. But for those whose eyes, ears and nose are always probing the outdoors, there are hundreds of subtle ways that show the world is coming to life in the name of spring. Among the very roads where the snowfences are being rolled up, there are new green patches of day lilies. Later in the season they will sprout long, slender stems with hand- some orange blossoms atop. They'll last but a day, hence the name day lily, but each stem has a backup of new blossoms that will keep the patch afire with color for days. Again for those whose eyes are al- ways probing,, they see the color of the farmers' fields changing from winter's dullness to living green. For me, I see my two cows, who stood most of the time outside the stable during the win- ter awaiting their daily ration of hay, today combing the pasture for spring's first green grass. It will help supply some part of their daily diet now. Even their cow flops show the change in their diet. obins return New and welcome additions to the back pasture are the robins that now take up their characteristic run, stop, and seemingly listen. Soon their early - morning song will triumph over all others as they try to persuade a mate to follow. How I await their un- forgettable spring song. While looking over the pasture to the pond I can see the willow's droop- ing branches starting to turn yellow. Their long, dangling branches have been injected with new life as their buds begin to swell. The same is true of the swamp maple that hangs over the little pond. Here the budding color is red. All this tells me the sap is flow- ing in the trees once again. I caught a glimpse of a sapsucker taking advan- tage of this sap flow by drilling his line of holes into the bark of a hickory tree. This transient woodpecker has - the uncanny ability to collect sap from its new -made holes much like sap is collected from maple trees to make syrup. Later in the day I'll see him return to his ring of holes and collect his share of nature's life -giv- ing flow of sap. An interesting side note to the sapsucker's oozing ring of holes is that not only does he enjoy the rewards of the hickory tree sap flow but our always- inquisitive lit- tle chickadee sneaks in while the woodpecker is away and collects its share of the flow as well. When we first came to this place over 40,v ears ago, our pasture was nothing but an eroded farm field because of the slope of the land. Through the years we've nourished this worn -out field and created a healthy stable pasture that our cows thoroughly enjoy. Around the pasture is a bulwark of multiflora rose, Russian olive, cedar and pine trees and other miscellaneous plantings that through time have created a living fence. How we enjoy the open space of our back pasture with its cows peacefully gracing. As I mentioned above, the pasture land had sloped to the center where there's a small pond. Here we also find signs of spring. Our painted tur- tles have left their dark and muddy quarters and climbed up on logs to thaw out in the sun. Their world is coming alive once again. We even see little ones, which is a good sign that their reproductive cycle is working. Last year before it really got cold a friend of mine and I asked a local farmer if we could cut some of his sprouts, turnips and cabbage that were surplus in his fields. "Sure, take what you need. They're only going to freeze later on." So we both took a bushel basket and stored them in our garages for later use. I used some right up to when I went into the hospital for my knee replacement. A month or so later as I was hob- bling out in the garage I discovered my cache of winter vegetables. Since then we've been enjoying these tasty stored vegetables right up to yester- day. when we i hed off the last stalk of Brussels sprouts. True, by now there was some picking over to do, but we did manage to get one last meal out of them. No wonder our ancestors all had root cellars to keep their produce through the winter. Maybe we could learn something from them. By the time you reaa t is, spring will have officially arrived. I hope you have experienced some of the same signs of this long- awaited time as I have. One of Barbara's favorite signs is the return of the Carolina wrens that nest around our place. They seem to enjoy the company of man. We'll find them building in the garage, out- buildings, porches and last year's nest- ing site: right under our bedroom win- dow, where they chose one of the flower boxes. What brings this to mind is their noisy return the other morning as Barbara looked out and saw the busy little pair inspecting the area of last year's site. It was almost as if they were actually checking it out and com- plaining because their favorite flower box was not there yet. With all their noise, we decided to take action the swan wmaow, putting up the screen in its place and then replacing "their window box." How these connoisseurs of insects survived through the winter is hard to reckon. It must be they know where to find the hibernating insects, their larva and eggs and other goodies that sustain them. One of nature's wonders. By now many of you have found that your favorite osprey has returned to its last - year's nest. We were thrilled the other morning when we stepped outside to do some early- morning rak- ing and heard that old, familiar, high - pitched call of the osprey. Raking was set aside as we both scanned the sky above to locate the callers. Sure enough, there they were, the pair of them circling and calling. Could this have been their first reunion since last fall? We know they mate for life but go their own separate ways after their young have left the nest, so our sight- ing of the two could very well have been their "first encounter" this year. The young that fledged last year won't come back the first year but stay south. The second year they might return as non - breeders but only to play house. Second -year young often build nests but don't get down to laying eggs and taking care of fami- ly until their third year. So how old do you think your special active osprey is? It could be 3 to 20 years old or even more. 6A • The Suffolk Times • March 23, 2000 Sins of SDrin show re stirrin Whenever the temperature warms up the water in our ponds, Suffolk and bays,shibe nat ing fish, turtles and crabs slowly emerge. Here you see painted turtles In an old Irriga- tion pond sunning themselves after winter's sleep. Each of us has our own way of telling when spring is just around the corner. Some look for the material things going on such as snowfences being taken up along our highways. Others might tell spring isn't too far off when they see the advertisements for boat and recreational shows ap- pearing in the newspapers or Focus television. And, of course, ON when the ladies NATURE see the stores change their win- by Paul dow dressings Stoutenburgh from winter to casual summer with bathing suits and sunscreen, that tells the story of a changing time and season. But for those whose eyes, ears and nose are always probing the outdoors, there are hundreds of subtle ways that show the world is coming to life in the name of spring. Among the very roads where the snowfences are being rolled up, there are new green patches of day lilies. Later in the season they will sprout long, slender stems with hand- some orange blossoms atop. They'll last but a day, hence the name day lily, but each stem has a backup of new blossoms that will keep the patch afire with color for days. Again for those whose eyes are al- ways probing,, they see the color of the farmers' fields changing from winter's dullness to living green. For me, I see my two cows, who stood most of the time outside the stable during the win- ter awaiting their daily ration of hay, today combing the pasture for spring's first green grass. It will help supply some part of their daily diet now. Even their cow flops show the change in their diet. obins return New and welcome additions to the back pasture are the robins that now take up their characteristic run, stop, and seemingly listen. Soon their early - morning song will triumph over all others as they try to persuade a mate to follow. How I await their un- forgettable spring song. While looking over the pasture to the pond I can see the willow's droop- ing branches starting to turn yellow. Their long, dangling branches have been injected with new life as their buds begin to swell. The same is true of the swamp maple that hangs over the little pond. Here the budding color is red. All this tells me the sap is flow- ing in the trees once again. I caught a glimpse of a sapsucker taking advan- tage of this sap flow by drilling his line of holes into the bark of a hickory tree. This transient woodpecker has - the uncanny ability to collect sap from its new -made holes much like sap is collected from maple trees to make syrup. Later in the day I'll see him return to his ring of holes and collect his share of nature's life -giv- ing flow of sap. An interesting side note to the sapsucker's oozing ring of holes is that not only does he enjoy the rewards of the hickory tree sap flow but our always- inquisitive lit- tle chickadee sneaks in while the woodpecker is away and collects its share of the flow as well. When we first came to this place over 40,v ears ago, our pasture was nothing but an eroded farm field because of the slope of the land. Through the years we've nourished this worn -out field and created a healthy stable pasture that our cows thoroughly enjoy. Around the pasture is a bulwark of multiflora rose, Russian olive, cedar and pine trees and other miscellaneous plantings that through time have created a living fence. How we enjoy the open space of our back pasture with its cows peacefully gracing. As I mentioned above, the pasture land had sloped to the center where there's a small pond. Here we also find signs of spring. Our painted tur- tles have left their dark and muddy quarters and climbed up on logs to thaw out in the sun. Their world is coming alive once again. We even see little ones, which is a good sign that their reproductive cycle is working. Last year before it really got cold a friend of mine and I asked a local farmer if we could cut some of his sprouts, turnips and cabbage that were surplus in his fields. "Sure, take what you need. They're only going to freeze later on." So we both took a bushel basket and stored them in our garages for later use. I used some right up to when I went into the hospital for my knee replacement. A month or so later as I was hob- bling out in the garage I discovered my cache of winter vegetables. Since then we've been enjoying these tasty stored vegetables right up to yester- day. when we i hed off the last stalk of Brussels sprouts. True, by now there was some picking over to do, but we did manage to get one last meal out of them. No wonder our ancestors all had root cellars to keep their produce through the winter. Maybe we could learn something from them. By the time you reaa t is, spring will have officially arrived. I hope you have experienced some of the same signs of this long- awaited time as I have. One of Barbara's favorite signs is the return of the Carolina wrens that nest around our place. They seem to enjoy the company of man. We'll find them building in the garage, out- buildings, porches and last year's nest- ing site: right under our bedroom win- dow, where they chose one of the flower boxes. What brings this to mind is their noisy return the other morning as Barbara looked out and saw the busy little pair inspecting the area of last year's site. It was almost as if they were actually checking it out and com- plaining because their favorite flower box was not there yet. With all their noise, we decided to take action the swan wmaow, putting up the screen in its place and then replacing "their window box." How these connoisseurs of insects survived through the winter is hard to reckon. It must be they know where to find the hibernating insects, their larva and eggs and other goodies that sustain them. One of nature's wonders. By now many of you have found that your favorite osprey has returned to its last - year's nest. We were thrilled the other morning when we stepped outside to do some early- morning rak- ing and heard that old, familiar, high - pitched call of the osprey. Raking was set aside as we both scanned the sky above to locate the callers. Sure enough, there they were, the pair of them circling and calling. Could this have been their first reunion since last fall? We know they mate for life but go their own separate ways after their young have left the nest, so our sight- ing of the two could very well have been their "first encounter" this year. The young that fledged last year won't come back the first year but stay south. The second year they might return as non - breeders but only to play house. Second -year young often build nests but don't get down to laying eggs and taking care of fami- ly until their third year. So how old do you think your special active osprey is? It could be 3 to 20 years old or even more.