Hi all, As I walked back home up Mt Pleasant Road just now, a Black-capped Chickadee scolded at me and as it flew up through the vegetation it became trapped by some burdock seedheads. Of, course the more it struggled the worse the situation became, but I was able to hop the ditch and release it. This reminded me of the unfortunate goldfinch that Joel Baines found dead totally stuck in the hooks of burdock around this time last year.
Burdock is a truly evil plant in my opinion, and as an introduced species it has not place here. I encourage bird-lovers to eradicate it wherever they can. Putting it on the compost heap is not enough—I think it should be burned. Yes, New York State has a ban on open burning, but you may burn "brush" and I think one could argue that burdock falls under that category. Here is what the DEC website says: "In towns with a total population less than 20,000, you may burn tree limbs with attached leaves. The limbs must be less than 6 inches in diameter and 8 feet in length (also referred to as brush). However, this is not allowed from March 16 through May 14 due to the increased risk of wildfires." http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/58519.html (Anyway, I promise not to tell if you won't!) By the way, as I pulled the chickadee free it grabbed a hold of my finger surprisingly painfully with its little bill and held on until I let it go. I love how feisty they are! Marie Marie Read Wildlife Photography 452 Ringwood Road Freeville NY 13068 USA Phone 607-539-6608 e-mail [email protected] http://www.marieread.com http://www.agpix.com/mari -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
