This has been a great autumn to be outdoors. Photographers are in the preserve capturing the wonderful scenery. Red maples are bright orange-red, but losing leaves quickly. Sugar maples and yellow birch are turning yellow and American beech are starting to brown. I have had great success rolling logs to find salamanders in the last week. Spotted salamanders and red-backed salamanders seem to be close to the surface during this mild weather. Autumn meadowhawk dragonflies are perched on fallen leaves soaking up the last intense sun rays. Bumble bees are still visiting late season flowers. Squirrels and blue jays are busy collecting the bounty of beech nuts this year. On warm days turkey vultures and monarch butterflies continue their migration south. Hopefully you have a chance to get out and enjoy the fall colors while they last. Look for wild turkey scratching in the leaves on the trail in search of insects and nuts.

By Mike Adriaansen

Tree foliage continues to change color despite our current heat wave with temperatures reaching 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Virginia creeper vines are showing off their bright red colors. Grape vines and black cherry leaves are yellowing. Ash trees and black walnut trees are also changing colors. Red squirrels are busy gnawing through the tough shells of black walnuts. Listen for their alarm call when they are disturbed from their perch. Painted turtles rest on logs soaking up the intense sun rays before retreating to the water. Autumn meadowhawk dragonflies lay eggs in tandem by rhythmically dabbing their abdomen on submerged logs in the ponds. American beech tree branches are loaded with beechnuts this year. These nuts will provide great forage for white-tailed deer, squirrels, turkeys, and other birds this autumn. Milkweed plants are releasing their fluffy seeds in the wind. Monarch butterflies are emerging from their chrysalis and beginning their long flight south. Next time you are on the trails, look for beaver lodges with freshly added mud and sticks.

Snowshoeing in September…faux fly-fishing…pond critters… and exotic animals from the Buffalo Zoo. While these are some perennial Fall Festival favorites, we thought we’d share a little about new things at the 2017 Fall Festival, happening Saturday, September 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Did you know Mrs. Julia Reinstein, Dr. Victor Reinstein’s second wife and a patron of Friends of Reinstein Woods, was the Cheektowaga Town historian for many years? We think Mrs. Reinstein would be excited that one of this year’s new exhibitors is Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village. Another new exhibitor is the US Department of Agriculture’s APHIS program, a group that works to protect the United States from illegal imports of exotic species.

Friends of Reinstein has invited the Yogurt Shack to provide a cool, sweet treat to top off your meal from Boy Scout Troop 500’s food stand. A portion of the Yogurt Shack proceeds will support Friends of Reinstein Woods.

This year’s festival theme is “The Great Outdoors,” and so we’ve added a Wildlife Spotter’s Challenge to the outdoor fun, along with Nature Play Stations for kids! Additional, we’ve invited some special guests to lead short hikes through Reinstein Woods (see the schedule of events).

If you like making things to take home, several exhibitors are offering crafts for kids this year, including Buffalo Audubon Society and Cheektowaga Youth & Recreation. That’s in addition to the nature craft-making sponsored by Reinstein Woods, including pine cone owls and wooly bears!

Like other years, there will be something for everyone, rain or shine. Click here for all the details, and we’ll see you on the 16th!

With summer fading away the cicada’s buzz softens and katydid’s chirps become prominent each evening. Monarch caterpillars are fully grown and will soon form their chrysalis. This year is a bumper crop for beechnuts. These nuts will provide great forage for deer, squirrels, and turkey. Black walnuts have grown almost to the size of baseballs. The abundance of wind storms this year has produced a lot of tree fall on beech tree trail. Openings in the canopy are greening the forest floor beneath. Ruby-throated hummingbirds and Baltimore orioles still visit our feeders, but they will soon head south for winter. Goldenrods and white snakeroot are beginning to show some color. Brightly colored leaf hoppers and tree hoppers can be found on trailside plants if you look closely. The pink fragrant water lilies on lily pond are still as vibrant as ever. Hawthorn fruits are ripening. Leaves in the preserve remain green, but soon ash trees and Virginia creeper will begin to change.

By Michael Adriaansen

Summer is not officially over until the Autumn Equinox arrives at 4:02 p.m. on September 22. We know the days get shorter until the winter Solstice – but let’s not think about the “s” word and just enjoy the upcoming palette of color that nature so easily paints for us!

Reinstein Woods will certainly be a hot spot this fall as activities abound to get us outdoors. Our annual Fall Festival is by far our most attended event and has something for all ages to enjoy. I encourage you to attend – it truly showcases Reinstein Woods and all it has to offer.

Friends members can tour the Erie County Saw mill (who knew we had one!) on Saturday September 30. Also, remember that our annual Friends of Reinstein Woods membership meeting is Tuesday, October 17 where you can meet board members and socialize with other members. If you are wondering how the Friends group interacts with NYSDEC both financially and in its day to day operations, this meeting will most likely answer your questions. Buffalo Audubon’s Mark Carra will entertain as John J. Audubon. I encourage members to attend, and if you’re not a member, you can join that evening.

Lastly, our annual art, wine & cheese show Nature’s Gathering takes place Saturday, November 11 at Knights of Columbus on Union Road in Cheektowaga.

I would like to thank everyone for their generous contributions over the past year as the Friends closes its fiscal year in October. Whether you donated to an appeal, bought plants from the Native Plant Sale, or volunteered, you made a difference. I would also like to personally thank the board of directors, volunteers and community partners who attended meetings to begin the process of developing an updated strategic plan. This is an exciting process that will steer the future growth of Friends of Reinstein Woods. We will elaborate more on this plan at the annual membership meeting in October.

Hope to see you soon at the Woods!

Enjoy and Respect Nature,

Terry Boyle

We would like to share some news with all members of Friends of Reinstein Woods! Many of you may already know of this news, and some of its impacts are already being seen around the preserve, but we feel it deserves some special coverage.

In 2015, a member of the Friends of Reinstein Woods graciously left us a large and unexpected gift as part of her estate. Dr. Carolyn Tasa was a Friends member since 2009. She worked in our community as a professor of Anthropology and Psychology at ECC for several years. She was a lover of animals and nature, and her special gift to us has and will allow us to further our mission.

This generous gift came as quite a surprise. The Friends of Reinstein Woods board of directors met to decide how best to use these funds that were given to us all. We felt so grateful to know that another person loved this place as much as we all do, and she took action on that feeling to plan this extraordinary gift.

Some of the improvements that have been made with Carolyn’s gift include:

• Acquiring new equipment for the “Day in the Life of the Buffalo River,” a field experience for more than 300 students annually,
• Acquiring new taxidermy mounts, and protect existing mounts from moth infestations with custom-built enclosures for the mounts most frequently used in education programs,
• Providing public Wifi for visitors and for use in programs, such as the recently held “Nature Tech” spring break series for kids,
• Improving our education programs by purchasing insect nets, skulls, and a display board,
• Increasing our operational efficiency through new shelving units to hold snowshoes and education program supplies, an updated computer for the office manager and a laptop for the naturalist interns, and
• Replacing a broken refrigerator and freezer to store items used for Friends’ events and fundraisers.

The donation is also supporting our current strategic planning process, enabling us to strengthen the long-term health of the organization.  The remaining majority of the gift has been invested wisely by our finance committee to provide future income for the Friends and support future needs.

If you would like more information about making a planned gift to Reinstein Woods, please contact Stefanie Ecker at (716) 432-0397. Gifts do not have to be large to be meaningful, and a planned gift can be a great option for many of us.

-Stefanie Ecker, VP of Friends of Reinstein Woods

The extreme rain we received last week has led to an explosion of mushrooms and Wildflowers around Reinstein Woods. Wild bergamot, purple coneflower, butterfly weed, and swamp milkweed are in full bloom. Wild bergamot has attracted pollinators such as bumble bees, silver-spotted skippers, and other skipper butterflies. Banded longhorn beetles, yellow-collared scape moths and other butterflies can be seen on purple coneflowers. Look for monarch caterpillars on the leaves of swamp milkweed and common milkweed along the sunny trails. Staff witnessed a goldenrod crab spider capture and kill a bumble bee that was visiting a wild bergamot flower! Goldenrod crab spiders are able to change color from white to yellow to pale green depending on the color flower they hide in to ambush prey. American goldfinch can be seen collecting seeds from Canada thistle. Newly emerged leopard frogs, American toads and spring peepers are common along the ponds. A doe with fawn twins and a turkey hen with baby poults have also been encountered on the trails. Soon we will hear the night sounds of crickets and katydids.

Members of Friends of Reinstein Woods enjoyed a private tour of the Buffalo Botanical Gardens. Attendees were impressed with the recent renovations and updates to exhibits. This tour is an example of the great member-only programs we offer. See a list of our upcoming Member – Only Programs here.