Scoville Library talk outlines mixed bag for America’s birds

SALISBURY — Bird expert George E. Wallace said Connecticut’s bird population faces distinct challenges despite the overall growth in total forested area in the state. Wallace, recently retired from the American Bird Conservancy, spoke at the Scoville Memorial Library Thursday, Dec. 12 (sponsored by the Salisbury Association Land Trust).

Wallace gave some background, and without delving too deeply into the rise and fall of the iron industry in Salisbury and the Northwest Corner, noted that by the 1920s, when the industry ceased operations, most of the local forest was cut down for the charcoal needed for iron production. Wallace described this as “catastrophic deforestation.”

That means that the current forest, while extensive, grew back more or less all at once.

And the “new” forest has vulnerabilities, including invasive species, overbrowsing by deer, insects like the emerald ash borer and spongy moth, and diseases such as Dutch elm disease and American chestnut blight.

All of these elements combine into a very mixed bag of results for birds.

North America lost about 3 billion birds between 1970 and 2019, Wallace continued.

Specifically, 720 million (or three out of four) grassland birds, 500 million (nine out of 10) boreal forest birds, 2.5 million (two out of five) migratory birds, and 160 million (two out of five) aerial insectivores.

On the plus side, Wallace said raptors are doing well in North America, with some 15 million added, largely due to regulation of pesticide use and hunting.

There are 14 million more woodpeckers around than before, and 35 million waterfowl. Wallace pointed to hunting regulation and the activities of conservation groups such as Ducks Unlimited for the waterfowl increase.

Latest News

Club baseball at Fuessenich Park

Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

  Anthony Foley, rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, went 1-for-3 at bat for the Bears June 26.Photo by Riley Klein 

 
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

Keep ReadingShow less
Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

Keep ReadingShow less