Tucker County Cormorants

Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) are not a common sight in the mountains of West Virginia.  These were at the Thomas Dam, in Tucker County, WV on October 3, 2011 in the late afternoon. It was a rainy, foggy day and this photo was taken at 400 ISO. The birds only stayed for about 3 minutes. They were gone by the time my cameras lens was covered with mist. there were twenty-nine Cormorants present, when I first stopped the truck.

(c) High Virginia Outdoors 2011

PROJECT HEALING WATERS-Mountaineer Chapter of Trout Unlimited

We will hold the October Chapter meeting at 7pm Tuesday, October 11 at the Benedum Civic Center in Bridgeport. We will be discussing our possible involvement with Project Healing Waters. This is a group that has partnered with various fishing clubs and organizations to promote the therapeutic value that our sport can bring to the traumas of war. Our local Veterans Hospital in Clarksburg has contacted Project Healing Waters and asked for a program here. The Veterans Service Partnership Coordinator for Trout Unlimited contacted us in the hopes that our chapter might be interested in helping to start a program here in Clarksburg. If we think that we have a group of volunteers interested in working with this program, one of the Project Healing Waters representatives would be willing to come and talk to us at our November Meeting.
In addition to discussing our interest in participating in Project Healing Waters, Jason Manning and Tom Byers will be giving a talk and presentation on fishing for Northeast Steelhead. If you’ve never fished the tributaries of Lake Erie and Ontario, or if you’ve lost count of your trips up North, Fall is here and these BIG fish will soon be running in from the Lakes. Come and get the fever!

Wildflower of the Month/October

Asters,asters everywhere; blooming in the cool October air. It is hard to look anywhere outside and not see a representitive of the Aster family. There are 27 recognized species growing wild in the Mountain State. They also have a tendancy to hybirdize freely; therefore, identification of individual plants is best left to those experts; with a lot of free time. The most showy of the bunch is the New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae), it is truly a stunning wildflower and it is in full bloom right now. It is the time of year to enjoy these wild beauties; they will not be there much longer.

The White Heath Aster above has numerous seeds, which are enjoyed by the Juncos all winter long.