**Clam River, Clam River Reserve. Note the river may have freshwater mussels but not clams!**

FALL LUNCHEON: Join us at the annual Fall Luncheon! See old friends, make new friends, enjoy a nice meal and an interesting presentation on the Deadly World of Raptors in our area!

• Where and when: Moscatiello’s Italian Restaurant, 99 North Greenbush Rd (Rte. 4), Troy, on Sunday, November 8, 12:00 to 3:00 PM

• Cost: $25 per person. The Club partly subsidizes the meal.

• Meal: The buffet includes salad, rolls, penne marinara, meatballs & sausage, and eggplant parmigiana, followed by mini cannoli.

• Meeting & Speaker: After the meal we will have a brief business meeting followed by our feature presentation.

Speaker: Samantha Carouso-Peck, Head Ornithologist and Educator, Grassland Bird Trust

Presentation: The Deadly World of Raptors: Secrets of the New York Grasslands

Forget everything you thought you knew about birds of prey - some of the most unusual, ingenious, and beautiful raptors live right here on the grasslands of Upstate New York. Meet the owl who hunts during the day, nests on the ground, and has the most peculiar courtship display. Learn about the hawk who hunts like a ghost, dances in the sky, and keeps a harem of females. See the world through the eyes of a tiny falcon who hovers like a helicopter, feasts on bugs, and can see in colors beyond human perception. Join Dr. Samantha Carouso-Peck for a fascinating inside look at the secretive lives of the birds of prey in our backyard.

Reservations: Use this link to pay online, via this website. Or you can mail your $25 check made out to “Taconic Hiking Club”, to: Taconic Hiking Club, c/o Margaret Parks, 9 Tokay Lane, Schenectady, NY 12309. (You may also use a link on the Outings page, Luncheon posting, to pay online.)

Due Date: Thursday, November 5.

PHANTOMS OF THE PASTURE: THE WOLF PINES OF THE NORTHEAST

If you hike through the regrown, second-growth forests of the northeast, you will eventually stumble upon an ecological anomaly. Amidst stands of slender, dead-straight maples, birches, and young hemlocks, a single, titanic Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) will occasionally loom like a multi-limbed sentinel.

Its trunk is squat and massive, bursting into thick, heavy boughs that reach out horizontally before hooking skyward. In the world of forestry, these eccentric giants are known as wolf trees, or more specifically, wolf pines.

A Living Map of Agricultural History

**Wolf pine on Clam River trail - pic by Nancy McKiernan**

To understand the shape of a wolf pine is to understand the history of the region’s landscape. Trees growing in a dense forest matrix must compete fiercely for sunlight, forcing them to channel their energy into tall, narrow trunks with minimal side-branching. A wolf pine, however, did the exact opposite.

During the early to mid-19th century, European settlers cleared up to 80% of the native forests in northeastern New York for timber, tillage, and sheep pastures. Farmers often spared a single, robust white pine in the middle of a clearing to serve as a property boundary marker or to provide a canopy of shade for livestock during sweltering summer days. Blessed with wide-open spaces and uninhibited access to 360-degree sunlight, these isolated pines flourished laterally, spreading their limbs low to the ground.

By the late 1800s, the agricultural tide turned. Farmers abandoned the rocky, stubborn soils of northern New York for the fertile plains of the American Midwest. The vacant pastures slowly reverted to forest. A new wave of fast-growing, opportunistic trees cropped up around the old pines, eventually enveloping them in a tight, crowded canopy.

Why "Wolf"?

The term was popularized by mid-20th-century foresters who viewed these ancient pasture relics as greedy predators. They believed the sprawling giants "devoured" precious sunlight and soil nutrients, preventing the straight, merchantable timber trees around them from thriving.

High-Rise Apartments for Wildlife

While early industrial timber managers sought to cull them, modern conservation biologists view wolf pines as invaluable ecological treasures. Because the surrounding second-growth forest is relatively young, it lacks structural diversity. The aging wolf pine fills this gap by acting as a biological hotspot.

Avian Real Estate: The horizontal, heavy limbs provide ideal nesting platforms for large raptors like broad-winged hawks and bald eagles. Songbirds are drawn to them 20 times more frequently than to standard forest trees, using their high perches for singing and hunting.
Microhabitats: As these trees enter their twilight years, their shade-starved lower limbs slowly die back, leaving behind deep cavities, peeling bark, and rotting wood. These micro-niches provide essential shelter for flying squirrels, bats, woodpeckers, and insects.

Today, organizations like the Northeast Wilderness Trust actively protect these areas—such as the newly established Wolf Tree Wilderness Sanctuary in the Champlain Valley. Walking past a northeastern wolf pine is more than just a brush with nature; it is a direct encounter with a living monument that witnessed the clearing, abandonment, and ultimate rewilding of the American Northeast.

OUTINGS: Refer to the THC website outings page for details about the outings and how to register. We schedule on a monthly and short-term basis, so check the website periodically.

Wednesday, September 2: Williamstown Rural Lands, Williamstown MA C+
Wednesday, September 9: Lulu Brook to Parker Brook Loop Hike - Pittsfield State Forest B
Friday, September 11: Erie Canal Cycle Schenectady to Amsterdam
Monday, September 21: Thatcher Park B-
Wednesday, September 23: Thomas & Palmer Brook Reserve, Great Barrington, B-
Wednesday, October 21: Stony Ledge via Haley Farm Trail, B+

QUOTE: “Anyone who thinks fallen leaves are dead has never watched them dancing on a windy day.” - Shira Tamir

September Newsletter 2026