ALBION – Garrett Knaak of Albion took this photo last week of a bald eagle on East County House Road.
“I have never seen these locally, although I know they exist,” Knaak said in an email. “I had the photo verified by the DEC in Avon.”
The DEC told Knaak the bird is a near adult bald eagle. It has not quite fully achieved the white head and tail feathers, and still retains some of the brown feathers typical of younger eagles, the DEC told Knaak. This bird is likely 4 years old and just now reaching breeding age, the DEC told Knaak.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 April 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
CARLTON – Department of Environmental Conservation officials were at the Oak Orchard River today to deliver Steelhead and Chinook Salmon from the Altmar Hatchery. The fish will spend the next month in pens by Ernst’s Lake Breeze Marina.
The fish are about 2 inches long and will double in size before they are released from the pens. The month in the Oak Orchard will allow the fish to imprint on the river, increasing the chances they will return to spawn when they are mature.
Andy Domachowske, a fish culturist for the DEC, empties the truck of the Chinook Salmon.
The DEC released 106,560 Chinook in five pens at the Oak Orchard River, plus another 4,960 Chinook by the two bridges at Captain’s Cove. Another 9,920 steelhead were delivered for two pens in the Oak.
Leigha Townsend, left, and James Boccacci guide the fish into the pens. Leah’s parents, Tracy and Chas Townsend, are charter boat captains. Boccacci is a volunteer.
Keeping the fish in the pens and releasing bigger fish in about a month increases their chances of survival. They are less likely to be eaten by bigger fish in the lake and river.
Bob Songin, a charter boat captain pictured in back left, led the pen-rearing project since its inception about 15 years ago. He has handed over the duties to a group of five volunteers – Mike Lavender, Bob Stevens, James Cond, Chris Efing and Ian Scroger.
The volunteers will feed the fish five times a day over the next month.
Leigha Townsend and another volunteer direct the fish into a pen in the Oak Orchard River today.
James Cond said the pen-rearing project has made a big difference in the fall fishery. Many of the 20-pound-plus Chinook are in the Oak Orchard to spawn. Their presence attracts anglers from all over the country for the fall fishery.
Without the pen-rearing, Cond doubts the county would have such a vibrant fall fishery. Those fish would likely head back to the Salmon River near Oswego where the fish were initially raised.
“Since we’ve stocked, we notice more of the fish come back to the river,” said Cond, a charter boat captain.
He praised Songin for leading the effort for so many years.
“He’s put a lot of time and energy into it,” Cond said.
Cond (pictured on dock) said the group of volunteers is ready to step up and tend to the fish for the next month.
“We got to give back to the lake,” he said. “A lot of guys will just take, take and take.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 April 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – You live in a place for two decades and you think you’ve found all the nice spots. On Tuesday, while heavy equipment was ripping apart the Clarendon Street bridge, I noticed Sandy Creek ran under the railroad tracks just east of Clarendon Street. I hadn’t seen this place before.
I decided to take a look. I didn’t expect to seen the little waterfalls and the impressive culvert, with some fine Medina sandstone work. That big culvert was built in 1919.
Orleans County has many nice waterfalls and nature trails, but many do not have public access or signage pointing people to the locations.
Places like this are good for the body and soul. As a community we should develop a map, improve signage and accessibility for these special places.
The bottom photo shows the Clarendon Street bridge in the upper right corner before it was knocked down. You can see it through the trees.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 5 April 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Michael Stephenson, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Medina, leads a sunrise service this morning in Boxwood Cemetery next to Glenwood Lake. About 25 Christians from Medina churches attended the service on Easter morning.
Stephenson spoke of the power of Christ’s resurrection and the hope that provides for the world.
Stephenson has been a part of four sunrise services on Easter morning in Medina and he said each time there has been a glorious sunrise.
“It never ceases to amaze me about the timing,” he said.
The service today began at 6:30 a.m. One of the people at the service said, “The lake looks like it’s on fire.”
The cross at the cemetery is a memorial given in May 30, 1971 to “The People of the Village of Medina.”
Dr. Fulton and Marie Hurd Rogers gave the memorial for their parents, Arthur and Ethel Phillips Rogers and Charles and Lillie Horn Hurd.
File photo by Tom Rivers – A boat approaches the Oak Orchard Harbor last summer off Point Breeze in Orleans County.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a letter sent last week to the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, U.S. Representatives Chris Collins (NY-27) and John Katko (NY-24) requested language preventing the use of any federal funding to implement the International Joint Commission’s Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Plan (Plan 2014) for the 2016 Fiscal Year.
“Plan 2014 is not in the best interest of homeowners and other stakeholders along the Lake Ontario shoreline,” Collins said. “The plan would quicken erosion along Lake Ontario’s already rapidly deteriorating shorelines, lower property values for homeowners and have a negative impact on the region’s economy by limiting recreational and commercial boating. I remain committed to working with my colleagues to fight Plan 2014’s implementation, and am happy to be joined by Congressman Katko in this effort.”
Plan 2014 will increase the frequency by which Lake Ontario’s water levels are raised and lowered, Collins said ina news release today. This has the potential to cause substantial damage to the lake’s south shoreline, which houses hundreds of businesses and residences.
The plan would also raise the current maximum water levels by 2.4 inches and increase the annual cost of shoreline maintenance and protections by 13 percent. These water level changes threaten the economic activities of hundreds of communities, residents, businesses, and farms, Collins said.
He held a news conference last July at the Oak Orchard Harbor and was joined by many county officials from Niagara and Orleans.
Six southshore counties have 10,025 parcels of land with a total assessed value of $3.7 billion, Lynne Johnson, an Orleans County legislator, said then. If they suffer a 10 percent loss, those communities would lose $370 million in value.
Katko also is joining in the call for the federal government not to fund the lake-level plan.
“As a lifelong hunter, sportsman and conservationist, I recognize the value of preserving our natural resources and supporting conservation measures – but the IJC’s Plan 2014 could irreversibly damage the Wayne County shoreline, as well as local tourism, recreation, and agriculture,” Katko said. “Before adopting a plan that puts Lake Ontario south shore communities at risk to suffer millions of dollars of damage, it is critical that a more detailed analysis of the plan’s economic impact is provided. Right now, that means taking steps in Congress to ensure that federal dollars are not provided to implement the Plan.”
The binational International Joint Commission approved the new plan last June, the first significant change since 1958.
Prime real estate could be washed away, gobbling up back yards and the tax base, Collins said. During times of low lake levels, boaters may not be able to get out of harbors and into the lake, harming the fishing and recreational industries that are important economic engines for lakeshore communities, he said.
To see the letter from Katko and Collins, click here.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 March 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
This is generally an ugly time of the year. The snow melts and leaves a muddy wake. At the tail end of winter, the houses, front yards and community look like they have been through a battle.
Yesterday’s sunset felt like a gift. I don’t recall one more spectacular with the colors and clouds for dramatic effect. I stopped several times on my drive from Albion to Carlton. The top photo shows a field on Route 98 with a snow fence. This is south of Route 104.
The scenes are a reminder of the beauty of Orleans County.
My drive started on East Park Street, looking towards St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and the First Baptist Church.
I climbed the stairs on the Main Street lift bridge to get this photo.
This one was taken from the walkway on the bridge.
Here is one of the front of the lift bridge.
There were about a dozen deer together in the field on Route 98, south of 104. I zoomed in for this photo of six of them.
The waning sunset bathes Stillwater Road in Carlton.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 March 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Pamela Moore
SHELBY – Pamela Moore sent in these photos of a family of bald eagles at the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge.
Moore spotted a family of four bald eagles, including two babies, last year at the refuge. She has been traveling through the refuge this week and spotted three bald eagles on Wednesday. The group grew to five bald eagles by Friday.
“A total of 5 and I was just in Awe!!” Moore said in a Facebook message.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 March 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
HOLLEY – The Holley Waterfalls, one of Orleans County’s most scenic spots, is covered in snow and ice, except for an open spot at the bottom of the falls where the water is still roaring.
The snowy photos were taken on Friday. I’ve contrasted them with photos taken from similar angles in early October 2014.
The water flows under the Erie Canal from the east branch of Sandy Creek.
The falls appear frozen but they are still very much alive and moving under the ice.
This spot is popular in the fall and summer for wedding pictures and senior portraits.
A pedestrian bridge stretches across the creek.
After about 10 weeks of bitter cold, the temperatures will warm up this week with highs in the upper 30s through Friday.
It was Christmas Eve at about 4:30 p.m. when Mike and Jaime Beach of Albion saw a rainbow stretch out over Lake Ontario. The Beaches were visiting Jaime’s parents by the lake, just east of the Albion Water Treatment Plant.
“In lieu of snow, how about a Christmas Eve rainbow at the lake?” Mr. Beach wrote in a message.
Provided photo
Burton Howell looked out behind his house at 2 Brown Ave. in Medina on Saturday and saw what he thinks is a Red Shouldered Hawk.
“It sat for a while and gave me time to go get a camera,” he said in an email.
