Looking Ahead

Looking Ahead Earl Plato

I have had e-mails and telephone calls about wild turkey sightings. Niagara Falls resident, Dianne Morris, e-mailed me a good one. She saw 15 in a field at the corner of McLeod and Kalar. They headed for the playground off Kalar Road. Dianne was pleasantly surprised. The last part of her message invoked memories in me. She wrote, “... I was on the Millenium Trail and on the other side of the fence between the Trail and the canal, I saw two adult wild turkeys with five babies trailing behind.” That’s my experience too but down in ski country just past Ellicottville in Cattaraugus County. We were headed back Hungry Hollow Road toward my cousin’s rustic place. In an open field just beside us near the road was a duplicate of Dianne’s sighting. Five chicks too. I was as close as I have ever been to wild turkeys. How close have you ever been to wild turkeys in Niagara? Yes, I know there’s a wild turkey hunt coming up shortly April 24-25. Tou need the St.Catharines course to get a hunting licence. Me? I still hunt but with a camera ***
Raincoat and knee boots I walk the Bert Miller Nature Trail at Point Abino. What should I write about this April shower day? I don’t have to for my nature writer mentor, Ed Teale, said it best. “Yesterday the thermometer was up; today it is down. Yesterday the sky was far away, shining, burnished blue. Today it sags low, dragging sluggish clouds, heavy and opaque just above the tree tops. Before dawn the April rain began. Hour after hour it has been soaking the meadows, dimpling the pond and drenching the woods. ... I find myself repeating the words: “Rain, rain, April rain! Rain and green grow the grasses-o!”
Soon these sandy woodland vales of Point Abino will be covered with trilliums. What a joyful sight it will be!
***
Hey, I have become well equipped again nature-wise. My fold up tripod seat has been replaced. I’ve lost weight so I hope this one holds me up! I recently bought a collapsible walking stick. I intend to travel overseas with it but these old knees need some extra support. Right now it helps me over the many fallen limbs on the trail. I have my light-weight bird glasses. I often take my little camera and my field sketch pad. You never know what you’ll see. On this warm spring day I need no jacket. I talked with Rick at the gate. He said, “I saw a large group of Northern flickers near the Point Abino lighthouse.” soon these Abino woods will be full of spring birds. I’m equipped. How about you nature-wise?