Home to Birds and Trees

Fuertes Bird Sanctuary / Renwick Wood

This large sign found along the Cayuga Waterfront Trial at the entrance to Renwick Woods. It provides the origin story (floodplain, delta of Fall Creek), how it came to be conserved and the importance of the place to birds.

The original entrance to the Fuertes Bird Sanctuary, now called Renwick Wood, was marked by this arch, designed by Louis Agassiz Fuertes, dedicated June 10, 1917.

The professor was born February 7, 1874, at Ithaca, the son of Prof. Estevan Antonio and Mary Stone (Perry) Fuertes. He was graduated by Cornell with the degree of A.B., in 1897, and married Margaret F. Sumner of Ithaca, in 1904. Since 1898 he had been a painter of birds.

Professor Fuentes illustrated such volumes as “Birding on a Broncho,” “Citizen Bird,” Song Birds and “Water Fowls.” His permanent work included habitat groups in the American Museum of Natural History; 25 decorative panels for F.M. Brewster, at New Haven, Conn., birds of New York at the State Museum, Albany; murals in the Flamingo Hotel, at Miami, Fla., paintings for the New York Zoological Society, Bronx. (Source: Find a Grave)

Misshapen tree trunk on the shore of Fall Creek, Renwick Woods

The flowers of this small shrub identify it as a member of the Rose family. The berries I captured in the following photograph are edible (non-poisonous), though astringent. Autumn time, the leaves turn red. It is native to eastern North America. I found these berrys along the Renwick Wood trail.

A pair of Mallard ducks foraging along a Fall Creek bayou on the edge of Renwick Woods where Stewart Park begins.

Ithaca Fire Department was training at their facility on Pier Road, next to Newman Golf Course, and across Fall Creek from Renwick Woods.

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Happening on Cayuga Lake

Wave Riders

Pam and I have sailed past Crowbar Point, the arm of land projecting into the lake on left, so we know this end of Cayuga Lake well. The lake reach northward is deceiving as the bulk of the 39-mile reach is north of the headlands of the west lakeshore visible in the distance as the apparent end of the lake.

I love the pale blue of late February / early March skies.

Also known as White Willow, for the white undersides of the leaves that flash in the wind. These flourish on the southernmost shore of Cayuga Lake.

Here is a video of a large gathering of Canadian Geese, multitudes landing to ride lake waves on an unsettled, windy March afternoon.

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Golden Willows

Stewart Park

Among the earliest plants to flower, brilliant yellow willows (Salix alba ‘Tristis’) are glorious early spring as new growth sprouts.

Willows native to New York State are all shrub-like, the homeland of these large trees is Europe and Asia.

Also known as White Willow, for the white undersides of the leaves that flash in the wind. These flourish on the southernmost shore of Cayuga Lake.

Willow bark does NOT have analgesic properties. The genus name, Salix, is the root for acetylsalicylic acid (aka aspirin), a chemical that does not appear in nature, originally synthesized from salicylic acid extracted from Meadowsweet.

Movement of budding willow branches in a north wind off Cayuga Lake

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved