In the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit and destined all of mankind to some miserable aspects of existence. No one knows exactly what the forbidden fruit was, but the image that most people have in their head is that of an apple. There’s a plant in WNY that goes by the name of apple – specifically the May apple – but it’s not an apple. I would, though, consider it for the most part to be a forbidden fruit. The May apple is a fairly common springtime wildflower that can be found in forests, woodlots and hedgerows. It can form fair-sized colonies on the forest floor — it’s not uncommon to see a dozen to a few dozen plants in one area. They can be readily identified by their tell-tale umbrella-like appearance. The May apple stands a foot to a foot-and-a-half tall. At the top of its split stem are two large leaves that are deeply-lobed, giving it appearance of having multiple leaves when really you are just seeing 5 to 9 lobes. Those two leaves cover a fairl...

  May is an incredible month for birdwatchers. We are blessed by the return – or passing through – of birds that are countless in both species and numbers, from shorebirds to songbirds. Among the most beloved by birders are the warblers, the so-called “butterflies of the bird world” due to their incredible colors, small size, and constant movement. As much as we want to admire them it can be a struggle at times -- they give us eye strain and neck strain. Due to their tendencies to not like human proximity and to spend much of their time in the tree tops it’s over difficult to get a good picture, let alone good view, without some really good lenses or field glasses. There is one species, though, that accommodates our interest: the palm warbler. They are the most trusting of warblers. I experienced that again firsthand last weekend when my family and I took a hike around Alfred University’s Foster Lake, which is a warbler mecca during migration. Despite constant education on the ma...

  It seems like Western New York forests are under constant attack, in wars that they can’t win. In the early 1900s, chestnut trees were exterminated from our woodlands by chestnut blight. Dutch elm disease wiped out impressive stands of elms from the 1950s through the 1980s. Ash trees have been all but eliminated by the emerald ash borer over the past 15 years, about the same time beech trees began their decline due to beech bark disease. The hemlock woolly adelgid keeps making itself known in the region. As our forests reel from those diseases and pests, and are forever changed, more pestilence is piled upon them. Another threat being posed to WNY forests is oak wilt. Until only recently, oak wilt was almost unheard of in New York. There was a small outbreak in Glenville in Schenectady County in 2008 that was contained and then found to have recurred in 2013, which was also contained. Then, in 2016, some was found in Islip on Long Island. Then along came some local findings. In...