The hemlock trees, Tsuga canadensis, in our forests, are threatened by an invasive insect, the hemlock wooly adelgid, Adelges tsugae.  Many old hemlocks grow on steep slopes, where logging wasn’t practical.  Loss of these trees would produce severe erosion of these hillsides, with many effects on ecosystems.  Migrating amphibians, already threatened by a fungus, would be threatened even more by losing the shelter and moisture they need.  In New York, many thousands of hemlocks have already been killed, in the southeast part of the state.  They have been found as far west as Yates County.

Springwater Trails hikers can help slow the spread of this killer by checking the hemlock trees we encounter, on our Sunday hikes, for the fluffy, white overwintering ovisacs on the leaves, from now, until the eggs hatch, usually around the end of April.  On this information sheet you can see what hemlock trees look like and what we’re looking for on them, as well as items that look like them.  Information sheets will also be passed out before the hike starts and ribbons to mark suspect trees.  Photographs will also be helpful.  The hemlock is one of the most common trees in this area and we’ve seen them on nearly every hike we do. There were many on the trail in Swain but, you’ll see why we can’t look for the ovisacs, when there’s snow on the trees.  Most of our hikes are west of where they’ve been found so, hopefully, we’re not going to find them.  If we do, Cornell Plantations will definitely want to know.  If you see a suspicious tree, mark it with your ribbon, take a picture if you can, and let Gene or Georgia know.  We will submit survey reports on every hike we take.  In case you’re motivated to do more, you can check into training classes, offered by Cornell Plantations in Ithaca, this month, where you will see actual HWA infestations, and participate in surveys in some beautiful areas of Tompkins County, in April.

We will also be looking for other invasive tree killers, this summer.  We will be presenting 2 programs for you to learn about them.  April 9, at the Springwater Historical Society meeting at the Springwater Town Hall, and April 10, at the Adirondack Mountain Club meeting at the Rochester Science Museum.

It may not feel like it but, a definite sigh of spring was seen at Katherine’s, last Sunday.  The pussy willow buds had broken and the familiar catkins were coming out.  This is one of the first buds to germinate, and occurs around this time, every year.  What do you think causes this?  Probably not temperature, because that’s not the same every year, but something that’s always the same.  Let me know what you think it is.

The next sign of spring will occur a week after this Sunday.  Guess what it is, before you read further.  OK, it’s the return to daylight savings time.  Remember, you saw it here, first.

The current forecast, for the end of this week, calls for temps in the 20s, with a little fresh snow.  Remember, March comes in like a lion.  Anyway, we may be able to get in another Sunday of skiing and snowshoeing at Swain, thanks to the little varmint from PA, who saw his shadow.  Soon, we’re going to be checking hemlock trees for an invasive killer but, we have to wait till the 6 weeks are up, and the snow is gone.

On our hike at Wesley Preserve this Sunday, we hiked through an area that is an emerging forest.  The first sawmill in Frost Town was built in 1790 just a mile south of the Wesley Hill Preserve along Gulick Rd.  By 1880 three mills were operating, but by 1926 when three artists bought land within the area now encompassed by the Wesley Hill Preserver, the mills and the town had closed for lack of trees and good farm land and the trees were beginning to recover.  One tree in particular stood out.  As I caught up, Wendy and Norm were investigating the tree and the best angle for a picture.  Norm was seeing the shapes and the light in the tree, Wendy was looking through to tree for interesting images framed by the tree. What I saw was two stems that had grown back together in two places.  This last occurrence is called inosculation if the joining is a true graft, or conjoining if the joint remains two separate branches. You also may notice the size of this tree compared to those in the background.  This tree must have escaped the sawmill and grew up in the open field.  I hope to get a copy of Wendy’s and Norm’s pictures of this same tree so we can compare but meanwhile, compare to a second old oak tree a bit lower down on the preserve.

If you want to investigate further, simply Google Hugging trees or Trees grow together.  Sometimes people work hard to help.  Sometimes it simply occurs naturally.

Last week our very on Char joined a hike across Antarctica to the South Pole.  She was able to send us one image of the desolate landscape.

Char points out that it is summer in Antarctica so the sun is up 24 hours each day.  But it only gets about 30 degrees above the horizon.

As the tour headed south toward the pole, Char says they all wore the same snow clothing so it was only with great care that they could tell who was in the lead.  We were fortunate to find a satellite image of the troop taken just a few days ago and show the two lead hikers.  Unfortunately Char doesn’t think she was in this picture.

Char expects to be back and at our Springwater Trails hike on Sunday.  So stop and ask her about her trip!