Posts filed under ‘Nature’

Old Friends and New Faces

Three new members join Adele Wellman, Ryan Droney, and Heidi Tschopp on the recreation and museum staffs this season.  Katie Santangelo and Jeff Clerc will be conducting nature walks and orienteering programs.  Join Jeff and Katie at Science Lake, Monday at 1:00 PM, for the Pond & Stream Safari.

Lorraine Milbrandt will join Virginia Deacon at the Quaker Store Museum.  Lorraine lived in Quaker for many years and will have  many stories about living and working in the park.

Click the link for a pdf version of the entire week’s activity schedule.  July 13 sched

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July 12, 2009 at 5:03 pm 1 comment

A Busy Week Expected at A.S.P.

The weeks before and after July 4th are prime vacation time.  So far it has been a little cool, and many people have gone to nature programs instead of the beach.  Some highlights of the coming week are as follows:

Monday–The weekly Nature Center Series will focus on Pfieffer Nature Center in nearby Portville, N.Y.  The rustic lodge and old-growth forests attract many visitors. A Pfieffer naturalist will talk about some of the lesser known features of this fabulous place.

Tuesday–The Environmental Series Movie will be Planet Earth.  You can catch it at 9:00 p.m. at Quaker Amphitheater.

Wednesday–Allegany State Park Naturalist, Kim Dean will talk about porcupines and fishers for this week’s Wildlife Series program. Kim’s talk will be held at Quaker Amphitheater beginning at 1:00 p.m.

Thursday–Butterflies are flying at Allegany State Park. Join Adele Wellman and Abbie Briggs to catch and identify a few of them. Meet them at 1:00 p.m. on France Brook Road, at the second bridge.

Friday–Heidi Tschopp, a volunteer wildlife rehabber and one-day-a-week park naturalist, will talk about ospreys.  Have you seen those big nests?  The young ospreys will fledge soon.  Join Heidi by the osprey platform near Cain Hollow.

Saturday–Abbie Briggs will take you hunting for ferns and mushrooms.  Join her at the Osgood trail parking area.  The naturalists were talking about a big beautiful fungus they found in that area this week.

Sunday–have you stopped in at the Old Quaker Store Museum?  There are a few new things to see, and a chat with Mercy or Virginia is always interesting.

July 4, 2008 at 3:46 pm Leave a comment

Allegany State Park Events for Winter 2008

Nature programming resumed the day after Christmas, ending a six-week break. Park naturalists Randy Abbott and Grace Christy will conduct nature walks on Friday nights and Saturdays throughout the winter. Both indoor and outdoor activities are planned. Some favorites from past years include the Decorate a Tree for Wildlife workshop, Tour of a Beaver Colony, and Snowshoe Instruction which includes a general nature walk. Animal Tracks & Signs has been replaced by Randy’s Stories in the Snow, featuring detection of animals by use of track plate boxes.  Detailed schedules will be posted on this blog weekly.

Several winter special events will take place at the park in addition to the nature programs.  The annual Winter Funfest, a snowmobiling event, is scheduled for Saturday, February 2, 2008.  Events will include a vintage snowmobile show and trail ride.  Pre-registration for the show and trail ride is necessary prior to January 29, 2008.  Contact Jim Toner at (716) 354-9101 ext. 243 for more information.  Participants must provide their own snowmobiles. Snowmobiles must be registered in New York State, and insured, to operate in the park. Operators under 18 years of age are required to have a snowmobile safety certificate. Helmets are required for all riding.

The Canadian-American Sledders will hold the Annual Trappers Special sled dog races on February 9 and 10, 2008.  Race classes have been announced as follows:

       Sprint                                                        Mid- Distance

8 dog (8 miles)                                    8 dog (34-38 miles each day)

6 dog (6 miles)                                    6 dog ( 28 miles each day)                             

4 dog (4 miles)                                    6 dog recreational (15-18 miles)

1-2 dog ski-jour (1 mile)

2 dog junior (?)

3-6 dog race (4 miles)

Additional details will be forthcoming on the Can-Am website www.canadian-americansledders.com.   Camp Turner, in the Quaker Run Area of Allegany State Park will be the starting point for events.

The Art Roscoe cross country ski race is planned for February 17, 2008 with February 24th as the rain date. Courses will include a 6 K course for beginners, a 16 K course, and a “blockbuster” 22 K course.The race will be classic style on groomed double-set track on trails at the Art Roscoe Cross Country Ski Area. Information and registration materials are available at www.heartrateup.com.

Maple sugaring will begin at Camp Allegany with public programs on Saturday and Sunday, March 1 & 2, and Tuesday, March 4, 2008. Unlike most of the programs offered at the park, this one requires a pre-registration fee of $12.00 for adults and $6.00 for 4 – 10 year olds. (Children 3 and under, free of charge.) The fee covers a lunch of pancakes and sausages with real maple syrup, produced at camp, as well as the interpretive program.

A walk in the woods will take you to Native American and early settler sugaring camps with costumed interpreters to help your guide explain their methods of producing maple sugar. A 1940s sugar house, with a working model evaporator, will bring you to modern times. Participants are also welcome to visit the displays, children’s craft area, and book nook. For registration information please visit www.natureed-ventures.com. For photos from previous sugaring seasons, visit “Lost in Time” on this blog.

November 21, 2007 at 4:52 am Leave a comment

Notes on Some Spring Nature Programs

Spring is finally here, and the Allegany State Park naturalist staff will be offering nature walks on Fridays and Saturdays throughout May and June.  Many program titles are familiar — beavers, Thunder Rocks, and wildflowers, but some offerings with a spring theme are planned, as well.  One of these is the slide show, “Wild Travellers,” about the migration of birds.  The program explores some strange old myths about birds, and some of the stranger truths about where birds go, and what triggers their return.

A program in the planning stage is “Crepuscular Creatures” about the animals and birds that are most active at dusk and dawn.  Deer, beavers, and bats are the most familiar, but one bird is especially conspicuous on spring evenings.  This is the American Woodcock, seen here on a snowy spring afternoon.

 

This bird was pulling up worms in a roadside ditch, not too far from Bear Caves. 

 There is one program unique to the season.  The Frog Pond Pilgrimage happens only in the spring.  A short audio/visual program, in the Red House museum, precedes a walk to the nearby wetlands area.  There participants listen to the calls of frogs and search for the tiny, but vocal, spring peeper. 

Catching them takes patience and luck.  A flashlight and waterproof boots are essential.  

My thanks to mon@rch for the clip of the peeper singing and the photo of the peeper in the net, which he took at my program on 4/21.

April 26, 2007 at 2:45 am 2 comments

Bear Safety Education

Recently the park obtained a large, male, black bear from the Department of Environmental Conservation.  The bear was killed out of season by a deer hunter, who claimed it attacked him.  It was donated to the park for educational purposes.  A taxidermist mounted the head and front paws, and prepared the skull.  These are materials the park naturalists will use for the Bear Safety program.  Bear Safety was added to the list of program offerings in an effort to educate campers to the dangers of feeding and getting close to bears.  Bears in the park are used to people, and they seem tame.  Even so, they are still potentially dangerous wild animals.

The taxidermist discovered an interesting thing when he prepared the skull.  The bear had a bad canine tooth, or fang.   The tooth had been broken off, and was riddled with decay.  The bear, apparently an old one, had also lost one of his cheek teeth. The bad tooth, probably infected, caused the upper jawbone to deteriorate.  Bears are among the few wild animals that are subject to tooth decay.

 

BlackBearSkull 01

The right side of the skull of a big male black bear. The canine teeth (fangs) are normal.

 

BlackBearSkull 04

A missing molar. The eroded jawbone makes us think this tooth was infected.

 

BlackBearSkull 03

Left side of skull showing broken/decayed canine tooth.

 

BlackBearSkull 06

Close-up of decayed canine.

February 13, 2007 at 3:03 pm 3 comments


Trail Maps

pdf files of the Trail Maps here in Allegany State Park.

Here is a map of all the Streams in the park.

XC Skiing Reports

For recent updates on the Art Roscoe Cross Country Skiing Trail Conditions go to the Skinny Skiers Website

Allegany State Park Photos on Flickr

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