The Rattlesnake Hill Wildlife Management Area is a 5,100 acre upland tract, situated approximately eight miles west of Dansville, New York. Roughly two-thirds of the area lies in southern Livingston County, while the remaining third lies in northern Allegany County. The tract was purchased in the 1930’s under the Federal Resettlement Administration and is one of several such areas turned over to DEC for development as a wildlife management area.
The area is appropriately named after the Timber Rattlesnake, which may be occasionally found in the more remote sections of the “Hill”.
The area offers an interesting blend of upland habitats such as mature woodland, overgrown fields, conifer plantations, old growth apple orchards and open meadows.
The area is inhabited by a variety of game species and is open to public hunting. The white-tailed deer, wild turkey, ruffed grouse, grey squirrel, cottontail rabbit and woodcock are found on the area. An occasional snowshoe hare may be observed adjacent to thick creek bottom brush or conifer plantation habitats.
A number of small marsh units have been developed and provide limited hunting for waterfowl. Some of the area’s furbearing species such as mink, beaver and raccoon may be occasionally viewed at these marsh units.
When I was at Aldi’s the other weekend I picked up some canned chicken after studying the nutrition facts. I was thinking canned chicken is a convenient way of having meat to add to various soups and stews I’m making up. Unlike normal chicken wrapped in plastic and Styrofoam, you don’t need to keep it frozen or even refrigerated, it can be stuck in cupboard or with other dry goods, and is ready when you need it.
Maybe canned chicken isn’t as healthy as canned tuna, as it’s an omega-6 rather then omega-3 fat but it’s good for a change and is a relatively healthy meat-protein source. It’s also very affordable, the package fully recyclable with urban recycling programs. It would be good in quick soups made up at camp, or even at home when I’m not really in the mood to do much cooking but want a quick chicken soup with carrots and other vegetables.
Got to bed a little after nine after my bread was rising in the oven. Up a bit before five to get baking, beans cooking on the stove, butternut squash cleaned and baking.
Good morning! Mostly clear at the freezing point 🌅 in Delmar, NY for the morning walk. There is a northwest breeze at 13 mph. 🍃 with gusts up to 24 mph 💨💨💨. I’m out walking this morning and it’s a cold one. I’m out and going though with my morning walk, but it’s cold. 🚶♀️ Going to ride to work today, 🚲 but by five o’clock it will be dark and I’ll be busing it back home.
Lost one of my gloves 🧤 when I was out riding on Monday, so it might make for a bit of cool ride into work, but I figure I best do it today as tomorrow isn’t going to be nice enough to ride to work. I am stumbling around this morning though, running late, it’s going to be closer to 10 AM when I get into the office. 👨💼 Probably almost would have been just better to take the local bus in this morning, but so be it. Part of it was I was studying local election results and news 📰, trying to see what happened last night. Not that it makes much of a difference in my life, but I always find it interesting to see what’s happening politically.
Today will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 43 degrees at 2pm. Nine degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 30th. Northwest wind 7 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with sunny skies in the afternoon. The high last year was 53 degrees. The record high of 75 was set in 1975. 1.7 inches of snow fell back in 1894.❄ A few years before my time.
The bread I ended up making came out very salty, 🧂🍞 as I decided to put extra salt on the top. I might try to scrape it off, but if that doesn’t work out, I’ll let the bread dry out and use it in a soup as breadcrumbs with less salt in it. I am out of flour now, I will need to get more before I start doing anymore bread. Last week’s bread came out so good, I am disappointed I messed this one up but I was kind of sleepy as I made the bread up, having just come back from those three nights camping out Madison County.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:40 am with sun having an altitude of 30.9° from the due south horizon (-40° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 10 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:00 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (241°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (248°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:42 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 8 seconds with dusk around 5:10 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:45 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 41 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 7 mph. Today will have 10 hours and 5 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 23 seconds over yesterday.
This morning is cold ❄️ but this evening looks even worse. But hopefully late enough that it won’t impact my plans to get out walking 🚶♀️ this evening after dinner, then read for a while 📕 and get to bed early 🛌 as I’m quite tired. It’s been a fun few weeks but it’s been so busy with vacation then taking the other weekend out to Madison County. 🤠 Plus much like yesterday, ☕ sipping coffee just seemed like a more important activity then getting to work on time, lol. 🤣 It’s going to probably be a fairly quiet day in the office, as I didn’t see a lot of backgrounds or cap grants go through when I was on vacation on Monday.
Tonight will rain, snow, and sleet likely before 3am, then rain likely, possibly mixed with sleet. 🌨 Cloudy, with a low of 32 degrees at 11pm. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around November 13th. Calm wind becoming southeast around 6 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow and sleet accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2022, we had clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 27 degrees. The record low of 11 occurred back in 1971.
Yesterday, drove back to Albany from Madison County. 🚘 Stopped at Altamont Orchards and got apples 🍏 and grapes 🍇. The grapes weren’t as good as the concord grapes I got last week at Annuto’s but far better then what I would get at a grocery store. Went out and visited the family on Sunday evening. 👪 Then got clothes unpacked and started kneading the bread 🍞 and then headed off to bed, a bit after 9 PM as I didn’t get home too early and had a fair bit to unpack.
Cool but sunny weekend ahead, bar Veterans Day. 🎖 Friday, Veterans Day Observed, mostly cloudy, with a high near 50. West wind 7 to 11 mph. Saturday, Veterans Day, sunny, with a high near 46. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 43. Typical average high for the weekend is 51 degrees. Not a half bad weekend, kind of wish I had held off until this weekend but so be it. Sunday was nice last weekend in Madison County. I am considering going out to Vermont next weekend, but I’ll see how the weather looks as we get closer. Might be kind of cold.
Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until Saint Nicholas Day 🎅 when the sun will be setting at 4:23 pm with dusk at 4:53 pm. On that day in 2022, we had rain showers, partly cloudy, mild and temperatures between 54 and 39 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 41 degrees. We hit a record high of 68 back in 2001.
I was thinking picking up littered beer cans at Stoney Pond State Forest what would be an effective deposit today to reduce litter and maximize recycling. With inflation, I think a quarter per can makes a lot of sense, it would provide a real incentive to make sure cans are brought back to the store for recycling or refilling.
A quarter a can would raise the 12 pack of beer by $3 and a 30 rack by $7.50. I concede that’s a pretty big price hike but the flip side is it’s fully redeemable when you bring your cans back. I’d argue it’s quite worth it and would help to keep our forests and farms clean, and provide a relatively clean source of scrap aluminum for factories.
This year I’m glad I’m not involved in any elections or doing anything political. Just sipping my coffee watching the sun rise remembering the days gone by but glad I’m not at all rushed this morning.
Good morning! Happy Election Day 2023. Partly cloudy ⛅ and 51 degrees at the Stoney Pond State Forest. ☔ There is a west-southwest breeze at 15 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 47 degrees. I can smell the manure somebody’s spreading this morning 💩 it’s November in Madison County and the field work is soon to be done for the season. 🚜 They might have snow as soon as midweek.
Turned out to be a much nicer morning then expected. ☕ I knew it was going to be a great day when I awoke, saw the clear night skies 🌜and the moon. Had a nice hardy breakfast of eggs 🍳 with lots of vegetables and onions 🧅 that I got at Aldi’a yesterday in Cazenovia. While yesterday was cold, damp and gray at times it was still a good day with lots of riding 🚲 and making the most of my day off. A lot has changed in this world over the past few years but mornings are still quite beautiful and the coffee is good.
Glad I’m not involved in any elections this year 🗳 but there were many hard fought ones out of Bill Magees auction house 🗝️ 🍶🏺just down the road. Been half a decade now, I saw the bridge in Cazenovia they renamed after him. It was sad he lost five years ago, but during that general election cycle wasn’t my race. 🧑🌾 Truth is winning these rural districts is almost impossible with the democratic party becoming mostly an urban issues party with gun 🔫 control one of their top priorities. I can understand why people vote the way they do nowadays out in the country. 🚜 It’s not just Trump. Both parties have become more extreme but the Republicans have really locked up the rural areas nowadays. I have a feeling that Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Senator John Tester of Montana are going to loose in 2024, especially if the GOP runs a stronger presidential candidate then felon Donald Trump. ⏳ Time moves on. Democrats though really have locked up the suburbs, especially the older ones and professional class. 🕴🏻
Today will have showers likely, mainly between 10am and 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a temperature falling to around 43 by 5pm. 🌦️ Breezy, with a west wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with sunny skies in the afternoon. The high last year was 69 degrees. The record high of 75 was set in 1938. 4.5 inches of snow fell back in 1886.❄
I’m not sure how long it will be nice, clouds are already pushing in. 🌥 I don’t want to deal with wet camping gear 🏕 so I’m slowly but surely taking things down. I don’t have solid plans for today but I think 🤔 I’ll just go for a walk 🚶 around Stoney Pond then head home and get unpacked. 👪 Planning to go see my family this afternoon it’s been three 3⃣ weeks as I’ve been out of town 🌲 on various trips. Despite yesterday being cold and dreary especially midday it was a great trip.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:47 am with sun having an altitude of 30.9° from the due south horizon (-39.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 10 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:08 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (241°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (249°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:50 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 8 seconds with dusk around 5:18 pm, which is one minute and 10 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:53 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 44 degrees. Breezy, 20 mph breeze ⛅ from the west-northwest with gusts up to 32mph. Today will have 10 hours and 6 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 26 seconds over yesterday.
Yesterday I rode the South Trail from outside of Cazenovia to New Woodstock. 🚵 Nice ride though best on a mountain bike as some parts of the trail are a bit rough with roots and gravel. Pungent with the cow poop and water slurry 🐮 💩 one of the dairies was applying to a nearby field but that’s to be expected this time of year.
Spent a little bit of time riding around New Woodstock yesterday after taking the South Trail from outside of Cazenovia to New Woodstock. 🚂 Neat little village with a Historical Museum just off the rail trail. They like in Cazenovia also have an old Black Diamond Caboose there. Cute little village.
Unfortunately my bike had developed a really annoying squeak on Sunday afternoon ⚙️ which I couldn’t figure out and started applying grease everywhere, including getting it all over my hands 👐 and jeans 👖 and started to drive me crazy thinking I might have a failing bearing or some problem that could leave me stranded. I thought it was just some stone dust from the Erie Canalway somewhere it shouldn’t be mixed with the grease. Kept stopping, applying grease trying to find the noise. 🔕 Finally, I figured it out, it was the left pedal got some stone dust in it and squeaking. A little spray lubricant, knock off WD 40 on the pedal after my south trail ride 🚲 returned my sanity.
Swung by Critz Farms hoping to get apples 🍏 but it looked like only the brewery was open 🍻 and I wasn’t looking for a drink. So I went to Cazenovia Lake Park. Kind of cold gray afternoon but the geeese didn’t seem to mind the cool gray day on Cazenovia Lake. 🦆
Then I went to the Lorenzo State Historic Site, never been there before. ⛲ Been by it a million times though. It was a Monday so all the buildings were shut up and no visitor services or as I needed a bathroom 🚽 but it was still nice to explore the grounds. Swung by the library 📚 in Cazenovia for a pee.
Then I Canastota – Cazenovia Trailway, it was starting to rain and was cold didn’t spend a lot of time, ☔ wanted get back to camp and start cooking soup plus by then I needed another bathroom 🚽 break. Too much coffee ☕ in the morning. 🌅 Also didn’t feel like carrying my mountain bike over several steps to cross Bingley Road. Visited Aldi’s in Cazenovia 🍏 🥦, such a delightful shopping experience. 🛒 Low prices, simple selection quick in and out and the cashier lines without them bagging is so quick. ☺
Got back to camp around 4 pm accidentally brushed a tree with one of my tires backing into the campsite ⛺ rushinghaving to pee butdidn’t do anybody damage to my truck 🛻 as the tires stick out beyond the body. Sun ☀ came out and ghe wind died down. Fried onions and mushrooms, boiled carrots, broccoli, spinach and whole wheat pasta, added some tuna fish 🐠 for an excellent dinner. Soup really warmed me up 🍲, I just wish I had some homemade bread 🍞 to dip in it but I eat all of that the previous three days. Had a nice fire 🔥 didn’t rain until 7:30 pm so it was a good evening at which point I retired to bed 🛏 in my truck for the evening.
Tonight will have a chance of rain and snow showers before 11pm, then a slight chance of snow showers between 11pm and 1am, then a chance of flurries after 1am. Cloudy 🌧, with a low of 26 degrees at 6am. Eight degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 3rd. Northwest wind 14 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. In 2022, we had clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 34 degrees. The record low of 18 occurred back in 1971.
Cool but fairly decent now for Veterans Day Weekend, especially come Saturday. ☀ Friday, clouds then clearing, high may reach 43. Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 37. Sunday, going to be sunny and 39. Typical average high for the weekend is 51 degrees. Probably will stay 🏡 next weekend.
Looking ahead, next Tuesday is Average High is 50 🍂 when the sun will be setting at 4:42 pm with dusk at 5:11 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly sunny and temperatures between 42 and 27 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 50 degrees. We hit a record high of 70 back in 1973.
They don’t kid about the Quickway being quick. I was driving along it at 63 MPH and cars were blowing past me like I was standing still. The speed limit is 55 mph.
Beautiful country for sure. Next heading down to Pennsylvania.
