A little less sucessful

because it rained like a son of a gun. Ellie got a toweling when we returned. She hates that, and does a strange, whiny, lower-leveled growl during the whole procedure.

And yet we got one unusual shot. If you click on the photo, you can pick out the individuals marking the top of the water. If it hadn't been raining so hard, I would have filmed their antics. They looked like teeny-tiny jet-skiers zooming across the water.

Note: if you slept through the rain that Saturday, you may be surprised we got wet at all. Here are some soaking wet shots of irises taken even earlier in the morning.

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Little Pond

Can you stand it?

One more baby picture? I'm sounding like a proud auntie or grammy or something.
These two seem to be guarding the nursery.
While this flock of extremely large geese are able to swim and dabble and simply ignore my dog and me.
Let's call this a thornapple for now. (Let's not; it is actually a wild pear or plum!) Looks like an apple tree, but has nasty thorns.

Overall, I am amazed at how quickly the Spring set in. Everything is very lush and green, not untypical for the Finger Lakes area this time of year. A fairly dry, warm April gave way to a cool, rainy May. Just the opposite of the usual.

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New Behaviors

I never thought about how different mommies are from everyone else.

This week the geese are showing off their new babies, and we are seeing a whole range of new instinctive behavior. The tiny goslings cause reactions we don't see the rest of the years.

Watch the goose instruct her littles ones on how to move on, sort of shooing them with her head and neck.

I love it. I'm becoming a bird nerd!

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Where in the Elmira Area...?

Strange things, indeed.

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All things green and blue.

That's what was showcased by the overcast sky on Saturday. We went to Foster Island. Already the Chemung is low enough that the island isn't isolated any more.There are absolute carpets of these blue flowers.

I'm going to call them violets, but I doubt they actually are true violets.

No question they are in the viola family. I think we used to call them Johnny Jumpups when I was little.

These ferns attracted the HuggaMutt, and she pushed her way through them a few times, before they got my attention. I love the way they begin as fiddleheads.


And they are so very, very bright green this time of year!

They look good enough to eat.
These flowers seemed new to me, so I just called then Blue Bells.


Google Images brought up similar pictures, so unless someone can document a more correct name, Blue Bells it is.



Perhaps a nicer day will bring out some other colors, but almost anything with green works for me.

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Newtown Creek to Gateway

Finally we were able to explore further down Newtown Creek, into the area that was once considered for what would have been a gorgeous park. There were problems with sewage and/or industrial effluents, or so I'm given to understand. What a loss for the people of the area!As usual, the geese aren't interested in Ellie. She moves right out on the point to stare at them. We are right at the mouth of Newtown Creek, where it meets the Chemung River, facing southeast.
This is knotweed, it is what totally overgrows the area, making it nearly impassable by the end of spring. It's grassy and lovely, just what the area needs to counteract all the gray silty mud.
This goose feels pretty safe from me, hiding behind last year's knotweed. However, Ellie is moving up the bank, and the gander will slowly waddle out to the water, crabbing at the both of us all the way.
The path leads nowhere that is easily accessible. If I were not so tired, I would knock my way through the reeds, and begin a new path. Perhaps some squatters or fishermen will do it for me.
We've been able to explore the creek because the water level is already quite low. Pretty soon we may be able to cross to the other side for some new views. I'll never get there if I have to use the railroad trestle, seen here.
This wonder tangle was caused by an uprooted tree crossing the creek. The water has found its way around it, changing the little valley forever. At least for the foreseeable future. Geese are mating on the other side, and the squabbling and clucking goes on and on until we appear.
Then they all vacate, flapping noisily to the Chemung River, seen in the center top. We are not the first people and dogs. There are a few tracks here and there. Squatters camps are dotted through the area in the more impassable thickets.
For now, though, we are alone. Ellie is enjoying the exploration. At one point, she doesn't return to the whistle. Instead, I hear a frustrated little yelp, each time I toot for her. It takes some doing, but eventually I find her, stuck atop a fallen tree, her harness twisted into its branches. Thank heavens she was withing earshot. My hearing is impaired, so I don't let her go long out sight.

We will return here when the knotweed is higher.

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Gull Island in the Spring, taken from across the River on the Southside bank. The seagulls come up the Susquehanna River by way of the Chesapeake Bay. They stay year-round.

If that wasn't noisy enough for you, then you really must go to Riverfront Park in the early morning. You can see Water Street in the background, with a string of shops. The trees are actually lining the south side of the street and have a lovely walkway going through them. The cacophony really gets on my nerves, and I tend to avoid them altogether.


If you agree, you may prefer this sound. The spillway, that we locals call the dams, makes a soothing, constant white sound background for anyone near the river. In this clip the fishermen are enjoying a beautiful sunny morning. They are everywhere we want to walk, so we keep moving. Ellie doesn't always knows how to mind her p's and q's near fishermen. She wants to visit and reacts noisily when ignored. Not so very good for fishing.
This is the best way to fish, in my humble opinion. A quiet rowboat down the river would be even better. They aren't running the motor in the film, because they are riding the stream to the dams. Later, they will land just before the dam and join the others we saw.

I took lots of pictures, but of nothing new, really. Except for the skeletal carcasses of a dog and a goose. Didn't keep those, however, they weren't complete enough to be recognized in the pictures. The river was high earlier in the month, and it washed a pile of stuff into our walking area.

Every day the Chemung River is different. Every single day.

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