You might say that I’ve had a love affair with bogs that goes back decades. Back in the sixth grade, my science fair project was about the acidic, mossy waterways where decay happens at a turtle-like pace. I have always been intrigued the living things hosted by bogs, which include some of the strangest plants in the world – like carnivorous plants – and a variety of rare birds. What also helps make bogs so mystical is their relative scarcity. Bogs are more of a northern thing, more likely found on the Canadian Shield. They are rare in Western New York. Only a few come to mind. One of the most readily accessible is in Allegany County: Moss Lake. Many readers of this column, from inside and outside of that county, are quite familiar with the Rushford Lake area, as they or a friend might have a cottage on the shore of Rushford or a hunting camp in the nearby hills. For any of those souls, or the leaf peepers who will be out in full force in the coming days, a visit to nearby Moss...

  There’s a strange perception among folks that most any wildflower that blooms after June is a weed. Maybe it’s because those summer and fall plants normally aren’t found in the forests, but frequent with equal zeal beautiful pastures and ugly waste areas. Maybe it’s because they appear the same time as ragweed and other allergens. What all of that does is toss some disrespect the way of some truly beautiful plants. Among them are the asters. These abundant bright flowers run a gamut of colors, from white to yellow to lavender. They appear about month before our leaves change colors and can linger until the last of the leaves fall off the trees, supplementing our brash fall colors in the process. The asters all feature star-like, multi-petaled flowers, appearing in bunches that can number from a half dozen to two dozen on one single plant (those plants can stand anywhere from one foot to six feet in height). Some flowers are no wider than a penny, while others are nearly the siz...

  Many worm-like insects and arthropods like grubs, beetle larvae, centipedes, and millipedes aren’t the most popular creatures in the world. Seeing such crawlers can make a person’s skin crawl and even just hearing the word “maggot” can turn someone’s stomach. Oddly, though, caterpillars get a free pass. Maybe it’s because everyone knows they turn into things more beautiful in adulthood -- butterflies and moths. It’s more likely that they’re accepted because some caterpillars are far more colorful than plain white grubs. But, can those varied hues temper what would otherwise be disconcerting sentiment towards crawlers if the observer discovered that they don’t turn into butterflies?   Would the insects’ outcome later in life affect how you see them in their youth? I bring that up because we are now in early fall, which is the season for sawfly larvae. They are out feeding as they prepare for a winter slumber that will see them as pre-pupae or pupae. These little crawlers lo...