Happy Halloween

Our son Brad attended a pumpkin carving party and sent us this photo.

First Snowfall

The following photos of the first snowfall for this year were captured by my game camera. This is the first time the fawn has seen snow.

The Woolly Bear Report

After three seasons (Spring, Summer and Fall) of unusual weather I decided to check with some widely accepted consultants on forecasting the coming Winter, the Woolly Bear Caterpillars.

The Woolly Bear Caterpillar (Pyrrharctia isabella) is the larval form of the Isabella Tiger Moth and some people believe the Woolly Bear can predict the Winter weather by the size of the black bands on its body. The more black bands, the worse the winter will be.

While a good share of the Woolly Bears I consulted had 5 to 6 black bands with 5 or 6 brown bands (~50% black), more than half of the Woolly Bears had a greater amount of brown.









This one had mixed black/brown at the head, 2 black bands, 6 brown bands and then a black band.



This one had 60% brown in the middle.



This one was ~75% brown with black on the head end and no black on the other end.



This one was brown on both ends with very little black in the middle. It was ~80% brown.


We will see if these weather consultants are correct predictors of this Winter but in reality the size of the color bands are more reflective of the Woolly Bears previous weather and food supply.

Cabin Project Update

As mentioned in the 19 July posting, we have been working on "fix-up" projects at our cabin this year. We didn't get all of our work completed at the cabin but with the colder weather approaching we have shifted to other jobs such as winter firewood.

We did manage to replace all the supports under the cabin, reinstall the front porch, replace and stain the decking on the porch, install new porch steps, install gutters and downspouts, install drain lines and do some landscaping.

Fall Fungus

While the colorful fall foliage gets the attention of most people there is a smaller display of color on the forest floor. Fall is also a peak time for members of the fungus family.

It's hard to miss a bright orange maple tree in the fall but a lot of the fall fungus is just as colorful, just smaller.

The following image may look like a large orange mushroom in a pine forest but the mushroom is less than an inch across and the "pine forest" is a carpet of moss.



Russula emetica (Poisonous)



Yellow Spindle Coral (Clavulinopsis fusiformis)




Clavaria zollingeri







Puffball



The fall foliage of this year will soon fall to the forest floor where it will decay and feed next year's crop of fall fungus.

Fall Colors

With the weather for the past several days being warm and sunny, the color of the fall leaves is starting to reach its peak. A view of our barn from the cabin property (click on image to enlarge view).



Two geese swimming on Miner's Pond.

Wild Asters

As the Autumn daylight hours grow shorter the number of wildflowers in bloom get smaller. Insects, like these bees, checking out the wild asters (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae).

School Time for Bears

I had set up one of my game cameras in the neighbors back yard and got this picture of mother bear showing the cubs the location of a food source (bird feeder).

Autumn Olive Jam

The Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata), which is native to eastern Asia, was introduced to the U.S. in 1830 and is now listed as an invasive plant by the USDA. This bush was introduced as an ornamental and used for wildlife habitat but many farmers and landowners know this plant can quickly take over fields in a couple of years.



This year's weather has produced a bumper crop of fruit and I found a recipe for Autumn Olive jam on the "dreams and bones" web blog.



Recipe for Autumn Olive Jam

Gather 8 cups of ripe autumn olive berries. (Be sure to taste test the berries as you pick. I've found the bright red berries to be more tart than the dull red berries.)

Add 1 cup of water to the 8 cups of berries and bring to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes. Run the mash through a sieve and you will have about 5 cups of pressed fruit.

Measure out 3 ½ cups of sugar. Take ¼ cup of the measured sugar and mix it with the contents of a package of no-sugar-needed Sure Jell. Mix it in with the pressed fruit and bring to a rolling boil. Add the remainder of the sugar to the boiling liquid and return to a rolling boil and let it boil for one minute.

Then can according to canning directions and cool.

This will make about six 8 oz. jars of well set jam. Nice and tart.

Bees, Butterflies and Goldenrod

The abundance and diversity of the Spring and Summer flowers has narrowed as we enter Autumn. The many rain showers of September have produced a bumper crop of goldenrod flowers.

Some insects took advantage of the flowering goldenrod during the dry weather between the rain storms. While the number of wild honeybees has dropped off in the past years, they were large numbers of them working on the goldenrod.


While not as common as a honeybee, a blue wing wasp enjoyed the goldenrod.



The Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus), which depends on the milkweed plant during its caterpillar stage, switches to flowers like the goldenrod in its adult (butterfly) stage.



Two honeybees and a bumble bee working on the goldenrod.

Wilmot Pipeline

Earlier this week the activity was on the Wesauking pipeline route and today it was on the Wilmot pipeline route. A-1 Surveying was at the cabin property this afternoon placing new survey markers along the Wilmot pipeline route.



Later in the afternoon, Jeremy Freeland and Robert McCarty of Kleinfelder were at the cabin property to get GPS locations of wetlands along the Wilmot pipeline.

Wesauking Pipeline Survey

A team from Navarro & Wright was in the neighborhood re-surveying the Wesauking pipeline route. This is yet again another survey of the same pipeline route that was surveyed in June by A-1 Surveying of Laceyville.



The survey team used the same GPS base station location near our cabin as did other survey teams.



New survey markers along Joyce Road near our barn.

Flood Damage

The water level of Wysox Creek was down enough that we were able to travel to Wysox for supplies this morning. Some of the clean-up along Route 187 had started but here are a few photos of what we saw.

Some of the flooded cars along Route 187 had been removed but this truck was located in a field just north of Myresburg.



This car was being removed from the flood water next to the Wysox Township Building along Route 187.



Shortly after the car was removed from the water these two people paddled by in a boat.



A boat paddles by the house near the Wysox Township building.




A little creek near Weaver's house, south of Gillette's Bridge, dumped rocks onto Route 187.



A view of Wysox Creek behind Weaver's Barn. Notice the stream bank which was washed out by the flooding. There used to be a road to the creek but now there is a 20 foot drop off.



Flood damage at the trailer court next to Route 187 south of Rome.



The small bridge at Elliott Road and North Rome Road is plugged full.







Flood trash at a bridge on North Rome Road.



Bridge damage on Battle Creek Road between Route 187 and Robinson Road.





Flood trash under the Route 187 bridge near Bob Wilmot's.




Damage at the old "sawmill" building along Route 187 north of Rome. Flooding from Wysox Creek pushed in the side of the building.







Wilmot's B&B next to Wysox Creek along Route 187.



The bridge on Route 187 just north of Orwell Hill Road was washed out.



Washout at the north end of the bridge.



View from the creek.



View of damage on the underside of the bridge. The north bridge abutment is broken in several places and the bridge deck is resting on a tree.