I stopped by the bald eagle nest on the Rondout a few days ago – a bald eagle male has been nesting just north of Grahamsville on the reservoir every year for over a decade now – and there were some big chicks in the nest. For a sense of what they look like, see [...]
Tag Archives: Catskills
Bald Eagles on the Rondout.
06-May-13Beech Bark Disease.
14-Feb-13The bark of beech is famously smooth, providing a space for people to carve their initials. But most beech in the Northeast, and almost all in the Catskills, is infected with beech bark disease, an imported European pathogen to which the American species has no resistance. The young trees grow fine, until they reach about [...]
Hurricane Sandy.
04-Nov-12I was at the cabin for the hurricane, which counts as one of the more impressive experiences of my life. I was on high ground, and all the trees within striking distance of the house are healthy and rather distant threats, all in all. That said, I was aware of their presence and experienced a [...]
Catskill Ruins Porn.
28-Sep-12I’ve written before about the Detroit Safari, and the taking of pictures in ruined Detroit places; now the Catskills gets the same treatment.
Old Growth.
25-Sep-12Admit it, that’s the biggest yellow birch you’ve ever seen! From a stand of old-growth trees on the Devil’s Path in the Catskills.
Timber Rattler Sighting.
02-Sep-12I am aware that there are timber rattlesnakes in the area – my high-school girlfriend managed to grab one while climbing in the Catskills, thinking it was a root, and feeling its warm soft flesh threw it away from her before getting a bite. I’ve done a few landscaping jobs in the Shawangunks where I [...]
Late Summer Mountains.
29-Aug-12Native Plant Gardening in the Catskills.
21-Jul-12A piece I wrote for The Denning Denizen.
Back in the Woods.
20-Jun-12I’ve spent my first complete week up here on Wildcat Mountain, and I can’t express how amazed I am with the place: a week here is a thousand years with the Lord. Most of the small, good things that constitute life in the Catskills have happened in some form for me in the past few [...]
Catskills Political Commentary.
19-Oct-12Since I showed a picture of my own empty chair, I thought maybe I’d include another empty chair. From the Rondout Valley, just outside the big state prisons north of Ellenville: