It is truly a wonder to be able to watch my Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris)all season long, although it is primarily the adult female I watch day-in, day-out, manically nectaring mainly on my Beebalm (Monarda) in the early part of the season, then going back and forth between the Beebalm and the Firecracker plant when it flowers. Of course, as the season goes by, and the Beebalm withers, I break out the feeder, which now seems to be their focus as they get r

WHY WAGHKONK? I should explain to the occasional reader why I call these missives Waghkonk Notes. I started writing these as the Comeau Newsletter, way back when I was the volunteer trail-keeper at Comeau. I decided to expand my horizon (literally) to include all of the Woodstock Valley, which runs from Bearsville to northern Zena, following the middle stretch of the Sawkill, going from the foothills of the Catskills to the western edge of the Hudson Valley itself. I settled