Month: March 2026
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Trout in the Classroom 2026 Releases
Read more…: Trout in the Classroom 2026 Releases2026 Trout Release season is underway for the Trout in the Classroom program here in the Croton Watershed! I went out on Monday to help with the macroinvertebrate sampling, student macro identification, and the releases. It was spring break for Charlie and my parents were in town, so the three of them came along for…
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Green frogs
Read more…: Green frogsAnother nighttime walk in the woods with rubber boots and a flashlight. Lots of green frogs out tonight.
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Wading Around
Read more…: Wading AroundCharlie and I went and explored a creek about 13 minutes away from our house. I heard rumors that there is a native brook trout population there and Charlie jumped at the chance to try out his new waders. Win-win. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we only needed a light jacket. The first…
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Spring Peepers
Read more…: Spring PeepersCharlie and I went out in the woods after dark searching for yellow spotted salamanders. I think it might be a bit early yet for the salamanders, but we were lucky to find the spring peepers out in full display in the vernal pools. The moment we stepped out the front door, we heard their…
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How I organize my fly tying materials
Read more…: How I organize my fly tying materialsOnce you get into fly tying, you accumulate a lot of materials. If you aren’t careful, a lot of that gets thrown into a drawer or a box, which makes that small bag of CDC almost impossible to find. First I organized my thread and yarn, then I organized my beads and hooks. Thankfully fly…
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What I’m Reading, March 2026
Read more…: What I’m Reading, March 2026Non-fiction Fiction
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Casting Out Winter
Read more…: Casting Out WinterOvernight we turned the clocks forward an hour. This afternoon the temperature on our weather station reached 66F (18.9C). The sun went down an hour later as the clock reads, so Charlie got to play outside longer than normal. The skunk cabbages are emerging. It feels like we turned a corner and spring is on…
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Page Family Tree WP block by Telex
Read more…: Page Family Tree WP block by TelexI used Telex to create a Pages Family Tree block for my Digital Garden. I wanted to be able to see my hierarchical post types in context, so it shows siblings and two levels of ancestors and two levels of children in relation to the current page I am on. I use it in the…
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Skunk Cabbages
Read more…: Skunk CabbagesThe skunk cabbages are emerging, a sure sign of spring. Dates we noticed them previous years: These photos are also me testing out a used Canon Extender EF 2x III that I picked up. The reviews are accurate: A bit of a reduction in sharpness and a reduction in speed on auto focusing. You lose…
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Month of February 2026
Read more…: Month of February 2026The month of February started out with some fun sledding with friends in the nature preserve at the end of our street after the first big snow. I got out and took some photos of the ice: We read some of The Hobbit together on the couch. Amanda is a much better verbal reader than…
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Cecil Heacox’s Charmed Circle of the Catskills articles
Read more…: Cecil Heacox’s Charmed Circle of the Catskills articlesLast weekend I read Ed Ostapczuk’s Ramblings of a Charmed Circle Flyfisher. Recommended! In it, Ed writes: In 1969, I read a two-part article written by Cecil E. Heacox that appeared in the March and April issues of Outdoor Life titled “Charmed Circle of The Catskills.” That poetic, yet simple, set of articles about the…