I love hearing from my readers, especially ones who have just discovered the blog. That was the case with Sheryl Galinski, who emailed me yesterday morning regarding the recent blog I wrote about the rare local sightings of the Pine Grosbeak.
Sheryl, who describes herself as an amateur artist and naturalist, wrote that she found my blog last week when she was searching for birding spots in Monroe County. She was particularly impressed by the beautiful photographs of the colorful finch taken by Suzie Webster. They inspired her to create some art of her own.
Here’s what she drew:
Since posting that blog, I’ve heard from two other people who, thanks to the blog, recognized the beautiful finch in their own yards. If you’ve seen them around and can snap a photo or two, please send them along to me! I’d love to post them for all to enjoy.
Local and regional birders are all atwitter about a rare sighting in our area which has drawn birdwatchers to Webster from far and wide.
The cause of the excitement is a large, plump, colorful finch called the Pine Grosbeak. Typically found in much colder climates like Canada and Alaska, a couple dozen of them have migrated much farther south this winter, and have been spotted at Webster Park and Mendon Ponds Park.
Greg Lawrence, a research scientist from SUNY Brockport and a board member of the Rochester Birding Association, explained that the migration event is unusual because the Pine Grosbeak is an “irruptive” species. Basically, that’s a species that usually only migrates short distances, but will occcasionally move far south in large numbers. He theorizes that’s the case this year because the food supply is poor up in their Canadian breeding grounds.
He added that it’s been eight years since the Pine Grosbeaks last migrated this far south.
Birders have identified two groups of about a dozen birds each, most of them females and juveniles. Apparently, sightings of male Pine Grosbeaks are even more rare, but one has been spotted in Webster Park, an event which Lawrence called “unique.” It’s so unusual that birders have traveled from all over the state and even Pennsylvania in hopes of catching a gimpse of the beautiful finches.
Female Pine Grosbeak (S. Webster)
The stunning images you see here are courtesy Suzie Webster, a local photographer and birder, who has especially enjoyed the hunt.
She wrote,
Some other photographers and I have had so much fun trying to track (the finches) down and get the timing right so they are in a place that they can be photographed to highlight their beauty. … They are a very challenging bird to photograph because they are frequently high up in tree tops and don’t always come down low enough to get a clear image.
Having the opportunity to photograph and view the rare and uncommon Pine Grosbeaks here in Webster and in Mendon has made winter nature photography much more exciting and colorful! Spring and summer were full of brilliantly colored birds to find and photograph such as the Warblers, but winter is a lot more challenging overall. I’m thankful that this year just happened to be an irruptive year for the Pine Grosbeaks and a few other winter species because it has made outings more exhilarating and fun!
According to Greg Lawrence, the Grosbeaks will probably hang around through March or April before heading back north, and perhaps even longer if they can find enough food. So there’s still plenty of time to get out on the trails and try to see one for yourself. A nice hike to appreciate these stunning Canadian visitors would be a welcome diversion from all the negative news which dominates our lives these days.
I’m very excited to announce today a new collaboration which will go a long way to keep Webster residents entertained and informed.
Beginning later today and every Monday, you’ll find a link to one of my blog posts on the (relatively) new website, Websteronlinenews.com.
Webster Online was established early last year by Anna Hubbel, whom you might know as the editor of the weekly Village of Webster newspaper, the Webster Herald. Designed as a totally independent enterprise from the Herald, the site’s original purpose was to keep the Webster community informed during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
More recently, Anna has been trying to broaden the site’s horizons, offering more community-oriented content including opinion pieces and features about cooking and books. And now, my Webster on the Web community blog.
While Anna will continue to focus on keeping her website updated with local news and information, my weekly “column” will provide a more personal look at the people and events here in our town and village. You won’t find links to ALL of my blogs there (I don’t want to lose you as a reader completely!) but once a week we’ll choose one blog to cross-post to the website. Today, for example, you’ll find a link on Webster Online to my recent blog about Dan Johannson, a 2013 Webster Thomas grad who’s making news in North Dakota.
I’m look forward to working with Anna on this new partnership, and offering the Webster community easy community access to a pair of accurate, informative and positive places to find news and features.
So log onto Webster Online and check it out for yourself. You’ll also find a link to the website on the right side of this page.
A couple of years ago I volunteered for a short time with the Girls on the Run team from Schlegel Elementary School. I fancy myself a runner, so thought I could use my positive experience with running to encourage these young ladies, some of whom had never run any distance before.
What I discovered is that the program is about so much more than running.
For sure, the girls do a lot of running. But what really impressed me about Girls on the Run is the program’s focus on life skills, confidence, positive self-image and personal and community connections — all while encouraging physical activity.
The eight-week program is for girls in 3rd through 8th grade, and is run entirely by volunteer coaches who follow a structured curriculum and engage their teams with fun, interactive lessons. Teams meet twice a week in person or virtually, and the season culminates with everyone participating in a 5K. The year I helped out, that event was held at MCC. It was a huge party with lots of teams and hundreds of girls coming together to celebrate their successes.
Right now Girls on the Run needs more coaches to help bring this inspirational program as many young ladies as possible. Coaches do not need to be athletes but must be at least 18 years old to serve as an assistant or 21 to serve as a head coach. All volunteer coaches must complete a background check and attend a virtual training session.
It could be a life-changing decision for everyone involved. As one coach said,
“It was so rewarding to be part of the girls’ journey to becoming empowered women. And I can’t begin to describe how changed I am as a person by learning the curriculum alongside them.”
For more information about coaching and Girls on the Run of Greater Rochester, click here.
I don’t know about you, but I put off taking down my Christmas tree until at least New Year’s Day. This year it may stay up even longer because it brings me much needed daily joy breaks.
When it does finally get stuffed out the door however, I don’t like setting it out with the garbage. Seems like a very undignified end for a tree which served us so proudly as a glorious symbol of the season. Instead, I try to pay it forward and recycle it to be turned into mulch for next spring’s gardeners or pine chips for the trails.
Here’s some info on a few nearby places you can do that:
Webster: According to the Town’s website, you can drop your tree off at the Town High Department, 1005 Picture Parkway, betweem now and Feb. 28.
Penfield: The Penfield DPW is accepting trees at their facility, 1607 Jackson Rd. You’ll see a sign to the right of the facility’s gate, and you can drop it off right there. You can also leave the tree with the regular brush pickup.
Irondequoit has a Trees for Trails program, which is descrbed on their Facebook page:
Rather than put your Christmas tree to the curb after Dec. 25, bring it to Helmer Nature Center, where it will be used to create wood chips that mitigate trail erosion. Starting Dec. 26, bring your tree to the Helmer parking lot for recycling. We will collect trees until the Jan. 16th Trees for Trails event when volunteers will help unload your tree and High Falls Tree Service and Irondequoit Lawn & Landscape will be on-site recycling trees. This will happen from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Helmer Nature Center is located at 154 Pinegrove Ave.
As we near the day we can finally say goodbye to a difficult 2020 and welcome a fresh new 2021, it helps to remember that some good things actually did come out of this awful year. Here’s a story about one of them.
Almost every week since the beginning of April, 5-year Julia Meyers has been playing virtual Yahtzee with her new friend Marion, a resident of Maplewood Nursing Home.
Julia and Marion playing via Google Duo
They get together via Google Duo, usually on Tuesday afternoons, and spend about a half hour playing one game of Yahtzee, each using her own dice and board. Marion is assisted by Maplewood’s Volunteer Coordinator Lori Porte, and Julia’s mom Linda helps her. But despite the board-side assistance, there’s plenty of excitement and conversation passed back and forth between the competitors themselves. And judging from the end of the game I watched earlier this week, the competition is pretty fierce.
It was Linda who originally came up with the idea as a way to have Julia connect with one of the residents.
I reached out to The Maplewood when the pandemic started because I was looking for a way my daughter could give back during these hard times. My grandmother spent time at Maplewood before she passed away in 2014 so that was my connection.
They first tried just video-chatting with another resident, but that didn’t work very well. Someone came up with the idea to play a game instead, and suggested Yahtzee. Lori found a resident whom she thought would be able to follow along pretty well and enjoy playing with somebody she’d never met before.
The games were on.
Both young and old have benefited from the weekly interactions. Julia gets to practice her math and number-writing skills. Marion enjoys seeing Julia and her 5-month old brother William every week.
The games have forged a friendship that reaches beyond the computer screen. Just before Thanksgiving, they even got to “meet” through the window. Marion and Lori used the occasion to give Julia a wooden jewelry box inscribed with her name. Before they presented the gift, Marion even asked Lori to line its drawers with purple felt, Julia’s favorite color.
More recently, Julia and Linda gave Marion her own Yahtzee game for Christmas — so she didn’t have to continue using Maplewood’s game — and a frame with a picture from the window visit, where Marion can keep track of the Yahtzee scores. Recently, Linda even discovered that one of Marion’s children is a neighbor of theirs.
The overall game score is pretty close. Julia won again on Tuesday, so she’s up 15 games to 13. But Marion needn’t worry. She’ll have plenty of chances to catch up. Julia said she’s planning to keep playing the games for “29,000 years.”
Here are a few holiday delights for you and your family on this Christmas Eve.
The first is a beautiful rendition of O Holy Night, shared by Carly Thomas, the orchestra director at Klem North and Schlegel Rd. elementary schools.
Carly is a member of several orchestras, and is normally very busy performing holiday concerts at this time of year. But as there’s nothing normal about this year, one of her orchestras decided to try something different. They recruited some vocalists and put together a COVID-friendly arrangement of O Holy Night, recording their parts individually.
The result is incredible. Carly is the violinist in the red sweater against a white background.
Next, here’s a special treat for children and adults alike. Santa himself reading the Christmas Eve classic, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. This video was originally posted on the 2020 Webster Holiday Parade of Lights Facebook page.
May you all have a blessed holiday, enjoy your family, and please remember to be safe so that we can all get back to celebrating Christmas properly once again next year.
At my sister’s house in Greene, Christmas-time 2018. The temps were hitting record lows that week.
So many things are different about this holiday season. But come hell or high water, my family WILL be doing a barefoot snow walk.
My regular blog readers have heard about this unusual tradition. My paternal grandmother (“Gia Gia”) originated the challenge about 75 years ago, when she took off her shoes and socks in the dead of winter and tromped barefoot in the snow to the far side of her yard and back. It was a distance of perhaps 100 feet each way. Pretty much every year since, my family has been holding annual barefoot snow walks whenever we get together for the holidays.
It’s a foregone conclusion: before the turkey gets sliced or the gifts get opened, we gather up towels, remove socks and shoes, roll up the pants, set up a photographer or two, sprint out the back door into the snow, and — while holding one another for emotional and physical support — smile for the cameras.
(While we scream through gritted teeth, “Take it already!” “What do you mean you need one more!?” “No, I am not moving over!” “Why didn’t you turn the camera on before we got out here!?” “I AM smiling!”)
Then, after the photographers are thoroughly accommodated, we run screaming back into the house to re-acquaint ourselves with our feet.
This year, of course, we won’t be gathering for Christmas. So we’ve had to come up with a creative solution to keep the tradition going: the first-ever Zoom Barefoot Snow Walk.
My running buddy Mike Bodine actually came up with the idea, and after giving it some thought I realized it was inspired. So a set time has been arranged, texts have been sent, and the Zoom invite has been emailed. On Christmas morning, I, my kids, my siblings and a smattering of nephews — representing at least four states — will, at the appointed time, Zoom barefoot into whatever snow we happen to have.
It will be epic. And it will be recorded.
How about you? What unusual holiday traditions does your family have? How are you celebrating this unusual holiday safely and creatively?
We all could use a little laugh right about now as Christmas-time stress compounds the stress we already have thanks to COVID.
So I thought I’d share these images with you, of a scene I came across in Irondequoit last weekend. All I could think of was, “Arlo Guthrie told us all about the ‘Thanksgiving Day Massacree.’ How come we haven’t heard anything about this obvious Christmas Day Massacree?
It got worse when I got to the Rec Center, where I saw clear evidence of a hit-and-run.
Continuing my theme of it’s-such-a-stinky-year-I-want-to-get-Christmas-started-early, I convinced my husband the other day to make our annual trek to the Christmas tree farm a good week earlier than we usually do.
It was actually a more complicated process than it might sound, requiring quite a bit of unexpected research. It started when we got a mailing from the farm we usually patronize, informing us that the price for a cut-your-own tree was going up from $35 to $50.
That was a bit of a shocker. And it got us thinking that we might need to shop around.
I start asking friends for recommendations, hoping to find someplace a bit more reasonable. Long story short, those places do exist, but most of them are too far afield to make it worth the gas money trade-off. Because so many people recommended Woody Acres — which happens to be about three miles from our house — we ultimately decided to go there, even though their trees also cost $50. Our original choice seemed to be getting picked over a bit anyway.
I was blown away by the incredible selection of beautiful trees I saw there. It only took us 15 minutes, and only a few steps off a main path, to find a great tree, so perfectly shaped that it looks like it came from a movie. My eyes were a bit bigger than my Christmas tree nook, however, and we had to angle and shove it in much like the Grinch tried to shove a Christmas tree up the chimney.
A lot of you out there probably still have to find your perfect tree, and I know that this weekend will be a busy one for tree shoppers. So if you need to shop around, here are some local options. You’ll want to check their websites or Facebook pages to check pricing and see if they have pre-cut, cut-your-own, or both.
I feature the people and places and events that make Webster the wonderful community it is — and throw in some totally-not-Webster-related personal ramblings every once in a while as well.
I love it when readers send me news about the great things happening in their schools or the community, so please email me anytime at missyblog@gmail.com
webster on the web 