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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Well, it finally happened; I got to taste my first pawpaw fruit. One of our members let me try a pawpaw from one of their trees near West Shokan. I gotta say, this a great fruit. It really does taste like mango, banana-custard. IfContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Fall foliage is spotty this year. Some sugar maples look pretty good and have that bright golden color. However, it seems only the youngest and healthiest trees are showing nice foliage. Most sugar maples I’m seeing so far are turning a brown color, probablyContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? There’s a tree I first became aware of when my first daughter was born in 2013–Korean dogwood (Cornus kousa). I noticed it outside the hospital in Rhinebeck growing vigorously beside the building; It was loaded with fruit. I didn’t realize that this dogwood berryContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? I’ve said it before & I’ll say it again; There is nothing like a hemlock stand. On my short overnight trip, I ran into one of the oldest growth hemlock forests I’ve seen in the Catskills. Some of these trees must have been overContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Abundant and consistent rainfall has been wreacking havoc with apple trees. Leaf fungi spores “run wild” and spread prolifically under moist conditions. Frog-eye leaf-spot (Botryosphaeria obtusa) has been seen on several members’ apple trees already leading to early leaf-drop. This fungus was confirmed byContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Went for a hike the other day back in the woods and stumbled upon some white oak branches on the forest floor. Branches had been cut from above by a hungry black bear that was after the acorns. Once the branches laid on theContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Went for a walk last week up Peekamoose Mountain & amongst the sea of northern hardwoods (maple, beech, ash, hemlock), I saw this huge red oak tree growing in the state wilderness area. This oak must date back to when the proverbial “mountain air”Continue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Went for a hike last week near Peekamoose Mountain & saw great examples of “pit & mound” topography in the making. Maybe you’ve noticed before that some areas in the woods display a pit & mound topography; It almost looks like someone excavated thereContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Tree failure in Sullivan County! Last May, parts of Sullivan County–especially near Forestburgh–experienced some significant wind damage. In most instances, white pine trees “failed”, split apart or uprooted onto peoples’ homes or wiped out acres of white pine stands. Some areas were literally “clear-cut”Continue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Last week, I was between Callicoon Center & Roscoe, Sullivan County & noticed the remnants of a massive (isolated) hail storm that occurred back in June. Leaves had been completely shredded and lots of insurance claims from property damage too. These same trees areContinue Reading