National Pie Day

Photo Credit:
http://foodsafetytrainingcourses.com/blog/articles/food-safety-news/pie-safety-on-national-pie-day/

Created in the mid-1970s by Charlie Papazian and sponsored by the American Pie Council since 1986, National Pie Day encourages us all to take a break with America’s favorite dessert.

While pie exists in some form all over the world, Americans have a cultural affinity and culinary preference for the flaky dessert.  From Don McLean’s epic song “American Pie” to expressions like “as American as apple pie,” our country embraces the pie — apple in particular — as a symbol of national pride. However, a pie may be savory or sweet.

Fun pie facts to drop into conversations today –

• oldest known pie was rye-crusted goat cheese and honey pie from Rome about 2,000 years ago
• nine states list pie as their official state dessert

The folks at National Today surveyed a thousand people about their pie preferences and here is what they found:

Source: https://nationaltoday.com/national-pie-day/#:~:text=National%20Pie%20Day%20occurs%20every,first%20three%20digits%20of%20pi.

Some suggestions on how to become engaged in today’s festivities –

1. Bake your favorite pie.
2. Share pie with friends and family.
3. Play a board game called Pie Face.
4. Sample different slices of pie.
5. Share your favorite pie recipe with friends and family.  I’m sharing my recipe for your consideration to make something truly unique.  I enjoy pecan pie, but this is even better!

For you fellow foragers out there, here is a list of alternative pies to consider on this day (or, make the necessary arrangements to enjoy any one of these for next National Pie Day!) –

• Black Walnut Pie
• Erbazzone
• Foraged Wood Sorrel Custard Pie
• Mushroom Hand Pies
• Wild Blackberry Pie
• Wild Game Mincemeat Pie with Bear Lard Crust
• Wild Greens Pie (aka Hortopita)
• Wild Harvest Pie
• Wild Mushroom Goulash Hand Pies

So, preheat your oven or visit your local bakery, and then celebrate happy pie noshing all day today!

It’s Okay to be Squirrelly Today

That’s because it is National Squirrel Appreciation Day.  Originally a creation by wildlife rehabilitation specialist Christy Hargrove in 2001, this day was so christened to learn about and celebrate these curious critters.

Squirrels commonly occur in a variety of habitats in all rural areas of the U.S.  However, up until the mid-19th century, squirrels weren’t present in American cities.  In fact, not until the landscape of urban areas began to be transformed by the planting of trees and the building of parks along with concerted efforts to introduce squirrels into these newly created environments did these bushy-tailed busy bodies begin to become established.  The first successful introduction of gray squirrels occurred in Philadelphia’s Franklin Square in 1847; Boston and New Haven followed suit in 1850.  By the 1870s, a much larger scale of parks expansion parks in America’s major cities provided a welcomed habitat for squirrels to live and thrive.  Read more about this undertaking.

Squirrels are a diverse group consisting of approximately 279 species and 51 genera that are broken into five subfamilies (Ratufinae, Sciurillinae, Sciurinae, Xerinae, and Callosciurinae). The family Sciuridae includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, and flying squirrels.

1. Ground Squirrels:  Ground squirrels live in burrows in the ground or among rocks.  They are generally more robust than tree squirrels and often have short, sturdy forelimbs that are used for digging.  Their tails, while fully furred, generally are not as bushy as those of tree squirrels.  Our most common ground squirrels locally include Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) and Woodchuck (AKA Groundhog) (Marmota monax).
2. Tree Squirrels:  Tree squirrels generally have long, bushy tails, sharp claws and large ears.  However, the true defining characteristic used to determine which species of Sciuridae are tree squirrels is dependent on their habitat rather than their physiology.  Tree squirrels live mostly among trees.  Our most common tree squirrels locally are Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) and Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus).
3. Flying Squirrels:  While flying squirrels also make their homes in trees, they have a physiological distinction separating them from their tree squirrel cousins:  a furred membrane (patagium) extending between each wrist and ankle that acts as glider wings that allows for gliding flight that enables them to glide between trees.  We have two species of flying squirrels in our area:  Northern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) and Southern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys volans); the latter is most often found south of the Mohawk Valley.

Some squirrelly facts to drop into conversations today –

• more than 270 squirrel species worldwide
• only wild mammal that many of us will routinely see throughout our lifetime
• group of squirrels is called a scurry
• 25% of nuts buried by squirrels are stolen by others, most often other squirrels
• 74% of buried nuts are never recovered by the squirrel who buried it
• worldwide, squirrels are attributed with planting more than a billion oak trees each year largely due to forgetting where they buried those acorns
• squirrels can leap up to 10X the length of their body and they can reach speeds of up to 20mph!
• their front teeth never stop growing and do so at the rate of six inches per year
• communicate with a wide range of calls, such as ‘squeaking’ noises and territorial barks
• tree squirrel nest is called a drey

Some suggestions on how to become engaged in today’s festivities –

• Feed them and they will come:  Smear peanut butter on a pinecone, hang it in a tree, then grab a pair of binoculars and sit back and wait for some fun wildlife viewing up close.
• Create an obstacle course:  Since squirrels are the epitome of opportunistic eaters (afterall, you know they will find and pillage from your bird feeders), why not make them work for it?  Check out this awesome video for inspiration!
• Read on:  Open a book and learn more.  Adults might enjoy Squirrels at My Window by Grace Marmor Spruch.  Kids will prefer Those Darn Squirrels! by Adam Rubin and The Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel by Thornton W. Burgess.

Think like a squirrel and seize the day!

Curious By Nature Events for 2023: Saturday Strolls through Four Seasons

During 2023, I will be conducting a series of nature walks in-synch with each of the four seasons.  Each walk will occur on a Saturday in hopes of encouraging your participation.

This series will begin with a winter walk on February 25 at Anchor Diamond Park at Hawkwood in the Town of Ballston to identify plants – particularly forbs – in a winter landscape.  We’ll continue through spring and summer to view blooming wildflowers up close and then conclude on October 7 at Veterans Memorial Park in the Town of Clifton Park to view the vibrant palette of fall colors of forbs on display (as well as the last wildflower to begin blooming each year).  Each walk will offer those who join me with the opportunity to view plants in each of our four seasons and to do so in a variety of ways.  To illustrate my point, the inaugural session will engage participants through the use of a digital guide that I prepared for trailside use during our outing that will highlight several winter plant identification tips for each of the flagged plants that we encounter along our route.  Building off the self-guided winter plant ID walks that I offered last winter, I will lead a group walk on this outing and will assist participants in the use of my digital guide on their personal mobile device.  I think this interactive group activity will be a fun outing!

Common Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)

For more information about all of my scheduled events, please view the Events page.

I hope you’ll join me.

Happy trails!

Full Wolf Moon

Photo Credit: Creator: Zeferli | Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

The full Wolf Moon rises on Friday, January 6, with peak illumination at 6:09pm EST.  Look for the moon to rise from the northeastern horizon around sunset that evening.  This full moon is a “micromoon” this year, meaning that it is at its farthest point from Earth.

A full moon in January came to be known as the Wolf Moon because wolves were more likely to be heard howling at this time.  It was traditionally believed that wolves howled due to hunger during winter, but we now better understand that wolves communicate to one another for a variety of reasons when they howl.  Howling is a wolf vocalization generally used to define territory, locate pack members, reinforce social bonds, and coordinate hunting.  During the denning season in spring and early summer, wolves only howl to pack mates.  As the late summer moves towards fall, wolves call more and more to neighbors and enemies.  Just before and during their breeding season in February, wolves are particularly louder and more vocal as they communicate in search of a mate, which is probably why people associated the month of January with howling wolves.  While it may seem that wolves howl at the moon, they lift their heads erectly upright toward the sky for better acoustics, because projecting their howl upward carries the sound farther.

Lore suggests that if this first full moon of the New Year is bright, its presence promises rain and a bountiful harvest; however, a red-tinted moon means a dry year lies ahead.

Watch a video about the Full Wolf Moon.

FYI: Mars will be perfectly visible during the three nights that the Wolf Moon will appear to be full: Thursday through Saturday. On Thursday night, January 5, at approximately 7pm, you’ll find Mars in relation to the Wolf Moon as shown here:

SOURCE: https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/night/usa/albany-ny

Best time to view Mars on Thursday evening is 9:17pm.

Happy viewing!

Not your ordinary ‘winter’ plant ID quiz!

On this second day of the New Year, there is no evidence outside that winter is upon us – yet the calendar says otherwise. 48 degrees and filtered sunshine this afternoon!

Thus, I invite you to peruse the photos below and take part in my first-ever snowless plants-still-with-green leaves(!) ‘winter’ plant identification quiz. All photos were taken at Dwaas Kill Nature Preserve in the Town of Clifton Park.

Click on any photo for a closer look.

Have fun!

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